Saw this in a WS email. Definite sign of the times and great for those in CA and Vegas...

Corkage

jb

JB-
We dined at Pinot Hollywood last week and might I add, the attitude of the wait-staff was not only accommodating, but downright cheerful-"you brought in wine..great! Well let's get it open!" Perhaps they have also taken a lesson from Cafe Bizou (3 locations; Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Pasadena) offering $2 corkage with a statement on the menu "we encourage you to bring your own wine" ;
recently voted by Zagat as So Cal's most popular restuarants.
Regarding Patina; if you ask me, $20 corkage--more than happy to pay it!
PE

I would gladly pay $20 corkage at Patina. It is my favorite restaurant in CA. Considering we just paid corkage of $25 for 17 bottles last night (ouch!), that sounds good to me.

jb

I received a mailer yesterday from the Patina Group of restaurants in LA. In the mailer it said the following;

BYOB… and it won’t cost you a dime! We are proud of our wines lists and know that diners will continue to enjoy the available selections. However, we have many customers who have extensive cellars and we want to encourage them to enjoy these special bottles at their favorite Pinot restaurant. Holidays and special events excluded.

Now this is a great marketing idea to engage people who like to BYOB. Here is their website.

www.patinagroup.com