One dozen bottles plus a magnum of Champagne at $150 per bottle corkage for a special lunch at La Grenouille.

[Mark_Golodetz]

The most nonsensical corkage story I experienced was at EMP years ago under the Danny Meyer regime, and when Daniel Humm was cooking there. At the time, you were allowed to bring X number of bottles, after which you had to pay an additional “dedicated sommelier fee.” Maybe $300? Don’t recall exactly. Okay, we got it - John Regan was the somm at the time and very good, lots of work for the restaurant, etc.

So we followed the rules, brought the correct number of bottles, and also bought a $1500 bottle of the list.

When dinner was over, and very good, one diner pulled a 375 of very old Yquem out of his bag - I think from the 20’s. We asked politely if we could open it ourselves, use the glasses we already had on the table and pour a small glass each. The answer was a firm "yes, but then you’d have to pay the “dedicated sommelier fee.”

So we’d, what, retroactively get a dedicated sommelier for the evening?

They were in the right to want to enforce their policy, but it made zero sense under the circumstances.

i love this story so much because so much of DM’s ethos is ensuring that his staff finds a way to say “Yes” to their diners - sounds like they followed orders quite well!! insanity.

Similar story about five or six years ago, which was my last time there. And not just because of this incident.

Four of us brought a bottle each to di. The last bottle opened, a '93 Rousseau Chambertin was corked and obviously not served. I always bring an extra bottle or two for these kind of situations, so I asked them to open one of my back-ups. We were told we had reached our four bottle limit and if the back-up was opened we would incur the $300 fee plus the corkage for all five bottles.

Even worse. Bad enough you lost the Rousseau, without the restaurant deciding to take advantage. Definitely not the way Danny Meyer would have played it.

The four bottle limit is stupid anyway; leads to clueless staff making bad decisions

[Merrill_Lindquist]

I love this restaurant, both for the food and the ambiance. Diane Kessler and I went there perhaps 5-7 years ago, and the corkage was $80. For 2 people bringing one bottle worth well more than $80, it became a no brainer. When they realized I was ITB, they poured us a nice Champagne on the house.

My guess is that a large party of “wine snobs” is not something they encourage. The restaurant has been there forever, and to my knowledge, has no difficulty filling the seats.

I would look elsewhere for a place who is anxious to serve you.

“Wine snobs”? That is somewhat dismissive and very insulting. The dinners are carefully put together and require a lot of time to organize. Many of the wines are sourced from Europe, which means extra work. We choose times when the restaurant is unlikely to be busy to minimize any disruption.

We are easygoing and friendly, we tip well, and if the staff is interested, we are happy to share some of the wine. Not sure where the “wine snobs” comment comes from, but if it reflects your experience, I think you may be in the wrong profession.

Oh boy.

[ybarselah]

Similar story about five or six years ago, which was my last time there. And not just because of this incident.

Four of us brought a bottle each to dinner. The last bottle opened, a '93 Rousseau Chambertin was corked and obviously not served. I always bring an extra bottle or two for these kind of situations, so I asked them to open one of my back-ups. We were told we had reached our four bottle limit and if the back-up was opened we would incur the $300 fee plus the corkage for all five bottles.

did they ring a bell behind the bar to note the occasion?

[Stuart_Roberts]

Which high end restaurants in NYC allow BYO for a high or unlimited number of bottles per table for any corkage fee? Last time I checked the highest bottle limit I could find was four (EMP). Most were either zero or max of two. I’m surprised Grenouille agreed to such a high number of bottles, even if we find the fee excessive.

[Ray.Tuppa_sch]

Which high end restaurants in NYC allow BYO for a high or unlimited number of bottles per table for any corkage fee? Last time I checked the highest bottle limit I could find was four (EMP). Most were either zero or max of two. I’m surprised Grenouille agreed to such a high number of bottles, even if we find the fee excessive.

A number of high end restaurants in NYC will waive the bottle limit if you are in a private room.

[Mark_Golodetz]

Which high end restaurants in NYC allow BYO for a high or unlimited number of bottles per table for any corkage fee? Last time I checked the highest bottle limit I could find was four (EMP). Most were either zero or max of two. I’m surprised Grenouille agreed to such a high number of bottles, even if we find the fee excessive.

Stuart,
I think the response to your question has been a deafening silence. Personally I prefer not to broadcast the names of restaurants, but be assured, there is no shortage. And not one tried to cap number of bottles. In fact, more wines mean more corkage.