Comments on: Last Week @ Avanti: Read the comments! http://christinawaters.com/2007/05/20/the-dish-of-the-moment/ Smart Mouth Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:09:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: picky sometimes, persnickety othertimes http://christinawaters.com/2007/05/20/the-dish-of-the-moment/#comment-724 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 19:08:34 +0000 http://christinawaters.com/2007/05/20/the-dish-of-the-moment/#comment-724 I'm not a wine law expert, but as I librarian I'm pretty good at searching for such things. I couldn't anything on the ABC website that says previously opened bottles can't be brought in. All I could find is "There is no overall prohibition that prevents a business, when properly licensed, from allowing an adult customer to bring in his/her own alcoholic beverages and have those beverages served to guests.... The licensee remains responsible for any violations of law that might occur, such as furnishing alcohol to minors...." I guess the last part is the rub, since if someone brought in distillates it would violate the law--or maybe it would only violate the license. Anyway, it would be RIDICULOUS for ABC to enforce this--and to operate a Sting!?!? They have 2 enforcement agents all of Monterey and Santa Cruz county! Of course they can bring some in, but with underage drinking fairly rampant it would be completely nuts to do a sting like this. But maybe there is some rumor going around and Avanti was scared? Not unreasonable. I’m not a wine law expert, but as I librarian I’m pretty good at searching for such things. I couldn’t anything on the ABC website that says previously opened bottles can’t be brought in. All I could find is “There is no overall prohibition that prevents a business, when properly licensed, from allowing an adult customer to bring in his/her own alcoholic beverages and have those beverages served to guests…. The licensee remains responsible for any violations of law that might occur, such as furnishing alcohol to minors….” I guess the last part is the rub, since if someone brought in distillates it would violate the law–or maybe it would only violate the license. Anyway, it would be RIDICULOUS for ABC to enforce this–and to operate a Sting!?!? They have 2 enforcement agents all of Monterey and Santa Cruz county! Of course they can bring some in, but with underage drinking fairly rampant it would be completely nuts to do a sting like this. But maybe there is some rumor going around and Avanti was scared? Not unreasonable.

]]> by: deborah http://christinawaters.com/2007/05/20/the-dish-of-the-moment/#comment-679 Sat, 26 May 2007 15:11:22 +0000 http://christinawaters.com/2007/05/20/the-dish-of-the-moment/#comment-679 I do believe the issue lies not at all in bringing in wine but rather the opened bottle. It is well know and reviewable law that the ABC does not allow this. Many restaurants do not have hard liquour licenses, and Avanti is one. The possibility of hard liquour being carried in seems far fetched but is just the type of infringment the ABC is looking for. It behooves the restauranteur to be vigilant. A gracious explanation of this policy was observed by this writer at the time of the exchange and no fault could be given to the owner. Avanti remains a dining establishment to be proud of in a town of this size. I do believe the issue lies not at all in bringing in wine but rather the opened bottle. It is well know and reviewable law that the ABC does not allow this. Many restaurants do not have hard liquour licenses, and Avanti is one. The possibility of hard liquour being carried in seems far fetched but is just the type of infringment the ABC is looking for. It behooves the restauranteur to be vigilant. A gracious explanation of this policy was observed by this writer at the time of the exchange and no fault could be given to the owner. Avanti remains a dining establishment to be proud of in a town of this size.

]]> by: miss picky http://christinawaters.com/2007/05/20/the-dish-of-the-moment/#comment-661 Wed, 23 May 2007 02:45:29 +0000 http://christinawaters.com/2007/05/20/the-dish-of-the-moment/#comment-661 Well obviously we expected to and did pay a corkage. The corkage was not at issue. The owner didn't claim to have a problem with us bringing in a bottle of wine (we were well aware that the corkage was $15), just with us bringing in a bottle that we had ALREADY OPENED. Although she claimed there was a "law" banning us from doing so, no such "law" exists. If a restaurant has a problem with patrons bringing in wine, the obvious solution is to raise the corkage to a level that will either discourage patrons from doing so or provide adequate compensation to the restaurant so that they don't mind. I have paid a corkage of $30 before to bring in a wine, and I thought it was well worth it. I'm not bringing in my own wine to save money. I'm bringing in my own wine because most restaurant wine lists do not include what I want to drink. Plus very few restaurants can really offer the kind of wine service that would justify a high corkage (ie. a decanter and decanting service; specialized wine glasses). From my standpoint, Avanti's owner's attitude was just offputting and made poor business sense. Had I not been permitted to have my wine with my meal and for some strange reason chosen to eat there anyways, I would not have ordered a bottle of wine and they would have made less money off of our table than they did (since they got the corkage). The only wine service that was provided was the use of wine glasses. I'd already opened my wine, and I poured it myself. Why can't restaurant owners just be upfront about their policies instead of hiding behind silly (and false) excuses? Well obviously we expected to and did pay a corkage. The corkage was not at issue. The owner didn’t claim to have a problem with us bringing in a bottle of wine (we were well aware that the corkage was $15), just with us bringing in a bottle that we had ALREADY OPENED. Although she claimed there was a “law” banning us from doing so, no such “law” exists.

If a restaurant has a problem with patrons bringing in wine, the obvious solution is to raise the corkage to a level that will either discourage patrons from doing so or provide adequate compensation to the restaurant so that they don’t mind.

I have paid a corkage of $30 before to bring in a wine, and I thought it was well worth it. I’m not bringing in my own wine to save money. I’m bringing in my own wine because most restaurant wine lists do not include what I want to drink. Plus very few restaurants can really offer the kind of wine service that would justify a high corkage (ie. a decanter and decanting service; specialized wine glasses).

From my standpoint, Avanti’s owner’s attitude was just offputting and made poor business sense. Had I not been permitted to have my wine with my meal and for some strange reason chosen to eat there anyways, I would not have ordered a bottle of wine and they would have made less money off of our table than they did (since they got the corkage). The only wine service that was provided was the use of wine glasses. I’d already opened my wine, and I poured it myself.

Why can’t restaurant owners just be upfront about their policies instead of hiding behind silly (and false) excuses?

]]> by: avanti fan http://christinawaters.com/2007/05/20/the-dish-of-the-moment/#comment-660 Wed, 23 May 2007 01:16:29 +0000 http://christinawaters.com/2007/05/20/the-dish-of-the-moment/#comment-660 argh! No scallops this Sunday. The wild salmon was served with the peas and fava beans and was fantastic - the wild nettle ravioli was also a pleaser. All in all another good meal at Avanti - and - I am yearning for those scallops. A few weeks ago at Saint Micheal's Alley in Palo Alto they teased us with scallops in wasabi sauce as a special that wasn't yet ready due to our early dinner time. The elusive scallop. argh! No scallops this Sunday. The wild salmon was served with the peas and fava beans and was fantastic - the wild nettle ravioli was also a pleaser. All in all another good meal at Avanti - and - I am yearning for those scallops. A few weeks ago at Saint Micheal’s Alley in Palo Alto they teased us with scallops in wasabi sauce as a special that wasn’t yet ready due to our early dinner time. The elusive scallop.

]]> by: Christina Waters http://christinawaters.com/2007/05/20/the-dish-of-the-moment/#comment-656 Mon, 21 May 2007 21:22:54 +0000 http://christinawaters.com/2007/05/20/the-dish-of-the-moment/#comment-656 Here is the word on why restaurants have issues with patrons bringing in wine, from one of our top restaurateurs: The issue of mandating that a bottle have a cork in order to establish a "corking" charge is a non-issue. (Think of wine with a twist-off cap). The charge is really a service charge and can be applied to any product or service, but is usually confined to wine and cakes that are brought in and served. The charge is a partial reimbursement for lost sales but also for wine chilling, ice, wine glasses that are provided (and sometimes broken), bussed and cleaned once more with soap and super heated water, and of course for the proper table service for opening and pouring throughout the meal. Restaurants basically sell two products: Food and Beverages. If restaurant operators were to allow people to bring in their own wine and/or foods and then serve those products without some compensation they would soon be out of business. That fact is often overlooked by guests who would never think of buying 5 quarts of oil at COSTCO and then bringing them into an auto maintained shop and asking the local car mechanic to put their car on his rack and change their oil. Here is the word on why restaurants have issues with patrons bringing in wine, from one of our top restaurateurs:
The issue of mandating that a bottle have a cork in order to establish a “corking” charge is a non-issue. (Think of wine with a twist-off cap). The charge is really a service charge and can be applied to any product or service, but is usually confined to wine and cakes that are brought in and served. The charge is a partial reimbursement for lost sales but also for wine chilling, ice, wine glasses that are provided (and sometimes broken), bussed and cleaned once more with soap and super heated water, and of course for the proper table service for opening and pouring throughout the meal.

Restaurants basically sell two products: Food and Beverages. If restaurant operators were to allow people to bring in their own wine and/or foods and then serve those products without some compensation they would soon be out of business. That fact is often overlooked by guests who would never think of buying 5 quarts of oil at COSTCO and then bringing them into an auto maintained shop and asking the local car mechanic to put their car on his rack and change their oil.

]]> by: miss picky http://christinawaters.com/2007/05/20/the-dish-of-the-moment/#comment-647 Sun, 20 May 2007 02:58:49 +0000 http://christinawaters.com/2007/05/20/the-dish-of-the-moment/#comment-647 That all sounded really good, but when we actually went to Avanti, there were no scallops. The worst thing was that the hostess met us at the door and told us that we couldn't bring our wine in because we had already opened it. This seemed odd because we have frequently brought pre-decanted wine into other restaurants with no difficulty. She basically accused us of pouring hard liquor into a wine bottle so that we could bring it in to her restaurant. She also suggested that we might be undercover ABC agents trying to entrap her so that the ABC could take away her liquor license. Talk about paranoia. Since we had reservations and a guest with us, I just wanted to have dinner and drink my wine, which she eventually permitted us to do. Had we not had a guest, I would have just walked out. And then the meal was terrible. Gloppy tasteless leek and potato soup. Very overcooked fish on a tasteless artichoke and beans set that included very few of the featured artichokes. Thank god we had brought wine so that we had something to drink. We won't be back. We had been to Avanti several times before and never been impressed, but this was by far the worst meal we've had there. That all sounded really good, but when we actually went to Avanti, there were no scallops.

The worst thing was that the hostess met us at the door and told us that we couldn’t bring our wine in because we had already opened it. This seemed odd because we have frequently brought pre-decanted wine into other restaurants with no difficulty. She basically accused us of pouring hard liquor into a wine bottle so that we could bring it in to her restaurant. She also suggested that we might be undercover ABC agents trying to entrap her so that the ABC could take away her liquor license. Talk about paranoia.

Since we had reservations and a guest with us, I just wanted to have dinner and drink my wine, which she eventually permitted us to do. Had we not had a guest, I would have just walked out.

And then the meal was terrible. Gloppy tasteless leek and potato soup. Very overcooked fish on a tasteless artichoke and beans set that included very few of the featured artichokes. Thank god we had brought wine so that we had something to drink. We won’t be back.

We had been to Avanti several times before and never been impressed, but this was by far the worst meal we’ve had there.

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