Restaurant Awards issue

I like that it lists places that allow corkage. I discovered some local places that allow it which we did not know and which is not that common here. Otherwise, I do not find it that useful.

I think of the issue as a nice reference book. When traveling to an area for the first time I always refer to it for ideas on where to head for dinner.

I never would have found Bellisios in Duluth without it!

The issue does nothing for me but it is wine related so I won't complain.

It looks pretty sitting in my bathroom. Although I liked the one with the ballon on the cover, that one matched the coloring in the bathroom better.

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Santa Cruz Mountains Vintage Chart

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Originally posted by BillyBoy:
The regular award is, in my opinion, almost meaningless anymore. I go into a restaurant that has that plaque on their wall and a very mediocre wine list and service.

What do the rest of you think? Am I alone? What do you think of this issue?

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You read my mind. I was looking at the list thinking how amazed I was that some of the places I don't like going to because of a poor wine list were on the list!

Its a huge money making issue for them. I read an article in the NY Times last year and it said all you really have to do to make it on the list is to send in the form and your check.

We thought of sending in our wine list and menu from a BBQ and seeing if we could make the list next year.

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Santa Cruz Mountains Vintage Chart

The problem as I see it is that the awards are virtually fraudulent and are based upon the submission of a wine list (with a fee) to WS and that WS does not verify that these wines are even in the cellar of the restaurant. Many many times I have been in such award winning places and multiple consecutively requested bottles were not in stock.

Dick

IIRC, only the "Grand Awards" are given out based on the merit of the restaurant. As others have pointed out, the rest of the awards winners simply pay for inclusion.

I am really surprised that this hasn't gotten more attention in the past.

I'm more interested when they focus on a region (ie - Sonoma, Napa, Willamette Valley, Walla Walla, etc.) I find those to be very useful when making vacation plans.

I like the little snippet write-ups they do for some of the restaurants. I do like the corkage indicator thingie, too.

These days I skim the mag and don't really read too much of it anymore. Just waiting for the subscription to expire...

www.vinocellar.com -- Mm-Mm-good

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Originally posted by rbond444:
The problem as I see it is that the awards are virtually fraudulent and are based upon the submission of a wine list (with a fee) to WS and that WS does not verify that these wines are even in the cellar of the restaurant. Many many times I have been in such award winning places and multiple consecutively requested bottles were not in stock.

Dick

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This has happened to me too, but I have found it useful for some restaurant guidance when visiting a place I don't know.

Steve, you have a good point about using it for restaurant guidance when away from home. Sometimes I can even download a menu on line although that doesn't necessarily mean the chef will prepare the meal well. At least, i'll have the knowledge that it is a restaurant that serves food (and maybe wine) that i'll enjoy.

Dick

Especially after reading the NY Times article TERPS mentions I have really been annoyed with this issue. They basically publish it to make a ton of money and yet we have the privilege of paying for it. I understand advertising, so please don’t go there, but if it takes a fax machine, a filled out form and a check, what is the point of this? I guess I just don’t understand the point of it. Sure I look it over to see what is out there, but I have never made a dining decision because of their list. The few times I have selected a restaurant that appears on the list I was “shocked...shocked I say” to find the list didn’t actually seem to fit the numbers that appeared in the newspaper—further adding to my suspicion.

For a few years now I have been threatening to go in with a few friends, make up a restaurant name, send em a list and see if we get a certificate. My lousy local newspaper/fish wrapper always publishes these glowing little stories about the restaurants that won such a “prestigious” award.

I personally enjoy looking for restaurants in my area that are on the list and give them a try. For example, the Blue Star is on the list, I'd never eaten there before, and as a result thereof, I took my wife and daughter there last weekend and discovered a fantastic restaurant in an area of town I personally would never have thought to have a great wine and food lover's menu. That is to say, but for the W.S., the Blue Star would not have had my business and I have now found one of the best restaurants in my area which I will patronize as a regular, not the least reason for which is that it served a very good grappa in a fine piece of crystal with a 2 ounce pour for a price I found acceptable. I've eaten at restaurants that serve grappa by the thimble full, priced as if gold, and felt abused after seeing what I was getting for what I was paying. So, this last issue of W.S. was a wonderful issue for me.

Personally, I look forward to this issue each year. I have been traveling a lot lately and I make sure to look up restaurants in the cities that I am going to to see where I want to try to eat. Is it a big moneymaker for WS, of course it is, but then the magazine is supposed to be a moneymaker.

As to whether the awards are phony because all it takes is the submission of a wine list, and that could be dummied up, one has to rely on the restaurant to be honest in presenting its list. There are just too many for the staff of WS to visit each and every one.

I do have a couple of complaints about the list. There is a restaurant located in Olney MD (very near my house) that is listed. It says that the corkage is $10. Not in MD my friend, and expecially not in Montgomery County, MD. No corkage permitted.

But the restaurant does have a nice list, especially for Montgomery County. Is it huge, no, is it well thought out, yes. And reasonably priced for the area.

When in doubt, open another bottle.

I appreciate those posters who came to the defense of the Dining Guide in our August issue, and would like to respond to some of the criticisms.

First, if you deleted the entire Dining Guide, you would still receive a "normal" issue of Wine Spectator, with tasting reports, other features and the usual departments. So it's not like you are "paying" extra for this.

Second, if you look at the history of our Restaurant Awards program, it is not a "huge moneymaker," as some have alleged. We administered this for free for 20 years. Now there are more than 3,500 restaurants in the program; we have two staffers whose primary responsibilities are administering the program, and we devote enormous resources to make sure that it is run as well as possible. Our goal is to encourage restaurants to pay attention to wine, and to direct our readers to restaurants who care about wine as much as they do. Not to make money on the program.

Finally, I am sure it is true that some restaurants obtain awards based on fraudulent representations of their wine programs. We inspect every Grand Award, but cannot visit all the others. If you find restaurants that don't deserve their awards, I hope you will let us know. We will take action.

But on the whole, I believe that the restaurants that earn awards are generally sincere in their passion for wine, and certainly far more interesting to wine-loving diners than the vast majority of restaurants without awards. I also believe that over time our awards have stimulated restaurants to take wine more seriously.

In my opinion, the New York Times article that attacked the program was one-sided and unfair; most of the restaurateurs who were quoted in that piece let me know -- and wrote the Times, too -- that their comments were distorted in order to deprecate Wine Spectator. Amanda Hesser, the writer of that article, has since been disgraced for her own ethical lapses. So consider the source before you accept the message.

We believe that wine is an important part of the dining experience, and we encourage restaurants to take wine seriously, at whatever level is appropriate to their overall ambitions. I believe our Awards program benefits wine lovers who like to eat out. It's not perfect, but then, life rarely is. I don't see any other program that does as much to encourage restaurants to take wine seriously. Isn't that the goal?

Thomas Matthews
Executive editor

Thomas: I can appreciate the fact that you can't visit all the restaurants. But for the list to be meaningful, there has to be some form of inspection and andectodal evidence of merit. Looking at an outdated list tell one little. I was at an "Award Winning" restaurant this week. While the list was OK, they didn't stock a single Bordeaux glass. All red wines were served out of the same "universal" red wine (Burgundy) glass. Wine service is every bit as important as the wine list. Perhaps more so. The only way to judge this is through a personal visit.

Here's what I propose. You could vastly shrink your list of winners such that only those places that get visited can win the award. Or better still, with the 7,000+ members on this board, and the countless others who subscribe to the magazine, you could initiate some sort of system like Zagats whereby posters could rate and comment, and WS could give out awards based on actual customer satisfaction. You do your annual reader's poll in this manner. Why not the restaurant issue as well? Who knows better if a restaurant is truly worthy of a wine award then your readers, and the faithful who post here?

Regards. Jimmy V.

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Second, if you look at the history of our Restaurant Awards program, it is not a "huge moneymaker," as some have alleged. We administered this for free for 20 years. Now there are more than 3,500 restaurants in the program; we have two staffers whose primary responsibilities are administering the program, and we devote enormous resources to make sure that it is run as well as possible. Our goal is to encourage restaurants to pay attention to wine, and to direct our readers to restaurants who care about wine as much as they do. Not to make money on the program.

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According to the article, there were 763 first time entrants, and 2885 renewals. According to the web site, the required fee is $200 per (at least for the upcoming year, I don't know what is was for the current listings).

Gross revenues: $729,600. Gross additional cost: two full-time staffers (assuming they work full-time on this, above it says "primarily").

Admittedly, there would be more overhead if true cost accounting is done, but these are the direct costs laid out above.

Either this is extremely profitable, or I would like to know where to submit my resume to become one of the two full-time staffers.

Mike

I used to enjoy the issue, but there are too many restaurants and the issues seem redundant from year to year. I think the restaurant issue should be every other year.

Thanks for bringing this our attention, tlily.

The wine list at Montrachet is excellent, though overpriced. My complaint is with the sommelier/pest who poured himslef a glass of every wine he decanted. He did this at a remote station without asking permission, then took each glass of wine he poured for himself into the kitchen.

DEAR MR. MATTHEWS, AND ALL OTHER FORUMITES--

I am a restaurateur who takes the WS awards program seriously. I earned an Award of Excellence of which I am justifiably proud, and I have every single wine on my submitted list in stock.

I am also a regular forumite who not only takes this forum seriously, I have adopted a pricing policy (retail + $10 corkage) based on what I have learned from my fellow forumites.

Although I have never been shy in my criticism of WS when I feel it is warranted (and have accordingly absorbed my share of punches here), I have the highest respect for WS as the single greatest resource for wine lovers in existence.

That the Restaurant Awards Program might have become marginally profitable for WS should trouble no one; WS has covered many thousands of stories to no one's benefit except the reader.

And so, WS, my only suggestion is that you provide a forum section on which forumites might post reviews of restaurants on which you have conferred your WS Award of Excellence or better. As an honest player, I would welcome such scrutiny.

pass

Normally I'm a defender of the awards program, although usually with my normal smart ass style. In this case, given this is a Grand Award winner, that the staff has defended in the past, I would like to see a response to the Montrachet thread. The editorial staff had asked us to report what we felt were short comings in individual restraunts, and although I think Montrachet did not fall outside the definition of the program, the experience of a dozen or so board members here was below sub standard.

I might as well pile on then. A waitress told us they were full that night so we could each have only one large wine glass, either Pinot Noir or Cabernet. We could have as many small white wine glasses as we wanted. It was only after repeated requests to different staff including the sommelier that we were given one other large glass in a very patronizing manner.

By the way, you may substitute the word "appropriate" for "large" in the preceding paragraph.

Montrachet underwhelms me. Last time I was there, we got the check and they had forgot to put the booze on it.

3 martinis
2 bottles of wine
3 ports

$300+

So, like the gentleman I pretend to be, i point out the error to the waiter.

His repsonse: "damn!"

He walks away and comes back and slaps the new check on the table, and spins on his heel and walks away.

NOt even a thanks, much less waving something on the bill, which is what I would have done in his place.

Wow!!! I don't know how your experience was, but if the same thing had happened when we were there on Monday night, I would have kept my mouth shut!!!

mw

My wife and I had a brief debate about keeping our mouths shut and we were both sorely tempted, but we did the right thing.

Proof that doing the right thing sometimes has it's own rewards:

After leaving Montrachet, we went home and..ahem...put the effects of the wine to use.

Long story short...wife ends up pregnant from that night. This after us trying for two years to get pregnant and spending like 20 grand on fertility treatments.

So, maybe the good vibes ending up giving us our daughter. Best 300 bucks I ever spent. (waiter still pisses me off, though)

Food was mediocre, BTW. Place feels...tired.