I have a dinner coming up at Oriole in Chicago. I plan to bring two bottles, one the ‘89 Lynch-Bages. It needs a longish decant, plus has been in my experience a bottle that is corked more often than the average. Does anyone know if there is a law preventing people from bringing an opened bottle into a Chicago restaurant?
Thanks in advance.
Did you try asking the restaurant?
If that is a law, is it really one you would actually follow? I always decant my older wines at home and bring them in to the restaurant. A complete waste of a nice bottle if you don’t.
It’s not a question of whether you would want to follow such a law.
It is a question of whether of whether the restaurant would follow the law.
The person brining the bottle needs to know in advance.
Don’t.
Always call and ask restaurant beforehand.
you need to call the restaurant.
I always bring previously opened wines to restaurants in Chicago, including Oriole. Never had an issue. That said, I’m not sure if there is a law that prohibits it.
My advice is to call the restaurant if you are concerned. There is not a more accommodating restaurant in town
There is a solution, born of experience.
After a very upsetting experience here in Tampa, specifically at Haven where I was reminded that open bottles are both against the law and restaurant policy and furthermore that they would not even allow an open water bottle into the restaurant, the solution became obvious.
First keep in mind, whoever you speak to when you call might not be the person on the floor at the time. Therefore my suggestion is this: open the bottle of wine before you go, decant as long as needed, pour the wine back into the bottle and put the cork all the way in. I mean ALL the way in so without a careful inspection of the cork no one would ever know it had been removed. Even if the wax or foil is gone.
There used to be a BYOB only fine dining restaurant in Chicago. It was up the street from Alinea IIRC but it was a few years back. Can’t remember the name either and asked the 2 people I ate there with and they could not remember. Food was great and they had awesome stemware and terrific wine service. They just didn’t have a wine list. It was awesome.
Do you mean Goosefoot or El Ideas? Both have allowed it(though neither are near alinea)
OP,
I’ll echo what David and Nick have said: call the restaurant.
I never had a problem with open bottles when I lived in Chicago, but I also had relationships with those who made the decisions
Maybe Schwa? Schwa was BYOB only when it opened. I don’t know about now.
The somm at Oriole is very nice and easy going, although I think he may be leaving soon. It’s tough to get in touch with Oriole by phone - but I think bringing this wont be an issue at all.
No chance it was Schwa. Jim said terrific wine service and at Schwa they treat their patrons with contempt.
Sorry. None of those sound right. I really don’t remember. I SEEM to remember walking by Alinea on our way there as I think we stopped outside and talked about it as one of the people I was with knew someone who worked there at some point.
Food was great. Service was terrific.
BOKA, perhaps, it is just up the street from Alinea
How old is an older bottle you’re decanting in advance, I would never decant an older bottle and then bring it to a restaurant. Double decanting adds a lot air. Younger wines, ok. YMMV
That sounds right.
Who knows, could be 40 - 60 years. I always give my older wines a lot of air anyway so it’s not any different than when I’m drinking at home.
I frequently will decant for sediment, as I don’t often go to restaurants with impressive wine staff (usually the server opens and pours).
It’s almost next door. Not BYOB. In fact, they tend to always have your wines on the menu.