BYOB at Gary Danko?

[MJT]

Anyone bring their own wine to GD, any stories or experiences or tips to share? I have a 1991 Palmer that I'd like to open and since I don't cook I figure dinner at GD would be a good excuse to open it up.

[cyncity]

Small fee... if you order a nice wine off the list they eat the fee.

[MikeW]

Danko's wine list is so overpriced that it absolutely makes sense to pay the $35 corkage unless you have money to burn.

Some great examples on Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I bought the 2000 for $45 from Premier Cru, and the 2003 for $55 just a few months ago.

Château de Beaucastel 2003 225
Château de Beaucastel 2000 270

[Robert Lauriston]

$225 is 2.5 times the undiscounted release price of $90.

[MikeW]

2.5 times wholesale, not undiscounted release price is the standard of a good value wine list. The same bottle is $180 at the Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton, and $190 at Michael Mina, two other non bargain wine list restaurants.

So you think the wine list is well priced?

[waffleman]

There really isn't a "standard" markup. Restaurants do what is right for themselves. You should expect see a higher markup and to pay more at a restaurant like Mina or Danko and less at a Macaroni Grill. Even so, most saavy restaurants don't use a categorical margin or markup. You start off with a basic markup and then adjust to market - it's like that in most any business.

For example, on the Mina list, just taking a peek. The 2003 Phelps Insignia is $595. That wine is about $80 wholesale. That wine is $350 at Danko. You probably have a bunch of silly midwesterners stay at the St. Francis hotel, drop by Mina, see the 2003 Insignia (thinking it was the WS WOY) and jump all over it.

There is a cost associated with maintaining a cellar and a sommelier staff - and guess what? the consumer pays that cost. Restaurant people aren't in the business just to feed you and not make a profit.

[Carrie 218]

I've BYOB to Gary Danko but in my case, I also bought something off their list AND offered a taste to both the sommelier and my waiter. The corkage was waived in that regard...

[TonyP]

If you bring a '91 Palmer to Gary Danko, the sommelier(s) will probably hope to taste it (before they toss you out for not bringing a '90).

[Melanie Wong]

Hey Tony, 89 over 90 Palmer any day. (g)

[Husky]

Last time I was at GD, I brought an old Gaja Barbaresco and ordered a relatively expensive white from their list -- they did not charge me a corkage...

[zin1953]

They charge corkage . . . or not. But you're certainly free to BYO there, and they won't hassle you for it.

[Robert Lauriston]

Corkage is $35.

http://www.garydanko.com/site/winelis...