By Galen Eagle
The new bring-your-own-wine legislation is cooking up a debate in Centretown between restaurateurs who encourage the program and those who insist it’s bad for business.
The Ontario government passed the BYOW law last month, allowing restaurant customers to bring their own wine to eateries taking part in the program.
Under the new voluntary law, restaurants can charge a corkage fee to open and serve their customers’ wine.
In addition to bringing their own wine, customers are allowed to leave with unfinished bottles.
Licensed restaurants wishing to participate in the program must apply to the Ontario Alcohol and Gaming Commission for permission.
So far, only 10 restaurants in Ottawa are offering the service.
The East India Company in Centretown was the first restaurant in Ottawa to be approved. Anish Mehra, manager of the family business, says his restaurant was eager to take part.
“Restaurants are here to benefit the customer,” says Mehra. “If we can improve a guest’s experience then why not?”
Mehra admits that some sales will be lost, but he says his customers should have the right to enjoy a reasonably priced drink with their food.
“Most nice bottles of wine come in the $20 range. So they bring in a $20 bottle of wine, they pay the $10 corkage and they’re still ahead of the game,” says Mehra.
Stephen Beckta, one of Canada’s leading wine experts, owns Beckta Dining and Wine on Nepean Street. The restaurant offers the BYOW service on Sunday and Monday nights.
Beckta, who charges a $20 corkage fee and boasts one of the larger wine lists in the city, says the program is perfect for customers who have been saving that unique bottle of wine.
“If somebody has a really special bottle of wine that they bought years ago and they want to showcase it with wonderful food, we want to provide the venue for them.”
Beckta says he first became accustomed to the idea while working as a sommelier in New York City.
“Bring your own wine is just part of doing business there. It never seemed to be a problem. I liked the freedom of it,” says Beckta.
But the program has met strong opposition in Ottawa and most restaurants have decided not to take part.
Kamal Al-Nousseyri is the owner of an upscale Lebanese restaurant, Kamal’s Bistro, on Somerset Street. He says he is absolutely against the program.
“Why don’t they bring in their own food too?” says Al-Nousseyri, adding that the BYOW service would be a death sentence to his business.
“A corking fee isn’t going to pay my rent. It’s not going to pay my staff and it’s not going to pay my dishwasher,” says Al-Nousseyri.
He says his establishment depends on wine sales and he doesn’t understand why people would even want to bring their own wine.
“If they want to eat here, they have to drink here. It’s a fine restaurant and it’s a whole package,” says Al-Nousseyri.
“I have a liquor licence for a reason. I don’t have it so that I can let them bring their own liquor. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Andre Giroux is the owner of Bistro 115, an upscale French restaurant in the Byward Market.
He says that owning a business like his is difficult enough without allowing his customers to drink for free.
“We can’t afford to do it,” says Giroux. “I work seven days a week. I’m not rich and a lot of restaurateurs are in the same place.”
Other restaurants are taking a wait and see approach. Dino Iafelice is the owner of the Johnny Farina eatery on Elgin Street. He has applied for the program but is not advertising it to his customers.
While he is far from excited about the service, Iafelice says he applied for the licence just to be safe.
“We don’t want to be left out,” says Iafelice. “At first I was extremely insulted how someone could decide what to do in my business. Now, it’s just wait-and-see.”
One thing restaurateurs agree on is that the demand for the service is small.
Both Mehra and Beckta say very few people have been interested. Until that demand grows, customers who want to bring their own wine will have to limit where they choose to dine.
Only 212 out of the 17,400 licensed establishments in Ontario are currently taking part in the initiative.