Echoing Frank Bruni's cries for proper eatiquette, Eric Asimov writes a laundry list of wine-service grievances on the Pour today. “What especially annoys me is when I’m asked repeatedly to order the wine before I’ve had a chance to look at the menu or before I’ve had a chance to discuss it. This happens more than you might think and always conveys the idea of the hard sell, of a restaurant pushing the profit-making wine and beverage program in an effort to maximize your consumption and their bottom line,” he writes. Another moneymaker is “the eager hand of the waiter who will not stop pouring your bottle until you’ve consumed half of it before you’ve even received any food.” The restaurant forgetting to present wine until halfway through the meal is worse, and a waiter pouring too slowly is just as frustrating. One option is to tell the restaurant how you would like to be served, but if you want to make Asimov happy, don’t touch his bottle at all. He “prefers to be in control.”
Decisions, Decisions [Pour/NYT]
Read more posts by Alexandra Vallis
Filed Under: eatiquette, eric asimov, oenofile
