Bringing your own wine

The rules, such as they are

• One bottle per two guests.
• $35 a bottle, waived entirely on the Tuesday supper.
• It must not be a wine already on our list. If it is, we will happily open ours instead and there is no fee at all — you were going to drink the same thing.
• A 750ml still or sparkling wine. Not spirits, not beer, not a magnum without asking first.

The part that actually matters

Tell us when you book. Sofia will have the right glasses out, she will decant it if it needs decanting, and she will get it to the right temperature rather than handing you a warm bottle and a corkscrew. None of that costs anything, and it is the difference between bringing a good bottle and drinking a good bottle.

Why there is a fee at all

Because a table drinking its own wine still uses the glassware, the service, the storage and the seat, and wine is a meaningful part of how a restaurant this size stays open. $35 is roughly what we make on a bottle at the lower end of our list. It is not a penalty and it is not a profit centre — it is us not losing money on you drinking something we did not sell you.

Birthday cake yes, other outside food no. You may bring a cake for a birthday and we will plate it, cut it and charge $4 a person for doing so. We cannot take any other outside food, and this is a health code obligation rather than a preference: we are responsible for everything served in this room and we cannot be responsible for something we did not make or store. The same applies in the private room, where people ask most often.