Well, I have been struggling with this for a few weeks now, as Revlis knows. I have to change the venue for the VinoCellar Anniversary Dinner. We are still on for the same night, Sat Oct. 25th 7pm, but now we will be dining at Mark's Restaurant in the Mark Hotel. It is located on the Upper East Side at 25 E. 77th St. just off Madison Ave.

Now, I know you all want to know why and what about the checks already sent in?

Why? Well, I made an arangement with Amuse for our dinner back in August. Basically, the person who made our arrangement is no longer with the company. When we agreed to hold the event there, she was aware of how we intended to pay by writing checks to Amuse, so 1) I didn't make anyone feel weird about writing checks to someone (me) they had never met, and 2) I didn't have to play accountant for 40-50 people out of my personal checking. It made my life easier and put your mind at ease that this was no scam. About 10 days ago, Amuse called me and said that they could not accept all these checks from different people and that I had to send them back to you all, have you write out additional checks to me, deposit them, and write one $5000+ check to Amuse. When I informed them that I had already discussed our method of payment with the event coordinator, I was told she no longer works there and the manager is not "comfortable" with this arrangement. They also gave me some stupid excuse of their accounting software didn't allow for this many payments. Whatever happened to going to the bank and filling out a deposit slip? Anyway, I then spoke to 2 additional "managers", each one more belligerent than the next. Exasperated, I finally told them I would call them back.

I started to wonder, if this is the level of service I'm getting when trying to simply PAY IN FULL for an event a month and a half away, what kind of service will we recieve once we get there. In addition, and I know this is somewhat selfish on my part, I couldn't, in good conscience, REWARD Amuse with a $5000+ evening when I felt they were being unreasonable and downright rude.

This past Monday, out of the blue, I get a call from the restaurant manager at Mark's. He said he hadn't heard back from me and was just checking if we would still be interested in holding our event there. It was like karma! I took a trip into the city with my son and checked out the restaurant. It is beautiful, classic Upper East Side NY. Zagat has rated the restaurant 25 for food, 25 for service and 25 for ambience. This is a step up from Amuse.

So here is the Good, the Bad and the Ugly:

The Good - we will now be eating in a better restaurant and definitely be recieving better service. Corkage will be a measly $10/bottle, so we won't have to hesitate popping corks. I will be sitting down with the chef this week to specificly match the food with the wines we plan on drinking. We will still be having Hors D'ourvres, and 4 courses. The price will be less than at Amuse. I am getting the final price tonight.

The Bad - I will have to return all of your checks, or if you prefer, rip them up. You will then have to re-write checks for the new dinner.

The Ugly - I apologize for this big mess and take full responsibility for the inconvience it may cause anyone. I also am sorry to those of you that already booked rooms close to Amuse wanting to stumble home. The new venue is just a cab ride away.

As you can see, the good outweigh the bad and the ugly, so I hope you all are still as jazzed about attending as I am. And those of you who didn't send in your checks yet have a second chance. The new deadline is Oct. 1st. Once again, I apologize for any inconvience.

jb

j_b,

It looks to me you made the correct call. Putting something together like this is a big project. Even though I'm not going to be there I thank you for hanging in there for the group. You guys will have a better time because of it.

Don't be silly, jb. No apology is necessary. We all owe you for your dilligence and thoughfulness. As far I'm concerned, why not just rip up all the checks and we'll send you new ones made to whom and for what amount you specify? Thank-you so much for doing this for us.

JB...

Ditto to what Board-O said. I don't think any of us could do as well as you've done for us under the circumstances.

Hey, between now and then, you may get even better offers!

I agree - just tear up the checks, and we'll send you brand spanking new ones.

Keep up the good work!!!

jb,

ditto the above. you were probably more polite with them than i would of been. i would of told them to...well forget about it. i made mine out to you so we are still cool, right? anyway i am still looking forward to this event in a big way and the afterparty is still on, i just need to find out where i am staying then i will let you all know.

by the way does anyone know the zip code for this place?

10021-1711

nevermind i just found it.

thanks skwid

anthony, you don't need to send another payment. I will probably give you some $ back.

I'm glad you guys are still on board. It's gonna be a great night. Anyone else interested, there is still plenty of room. We can have up to 50 and right now if no one drops out, we are around 30-35.

I'll have the price by tomorrow and will tear up everyone's check who requests I do so.

jb

Just tear up our check jb. When you post the final cost tomorrow be sure to re-post your mailing address just to be safe.

Anybody ever stay at the Bentley? It is on the Upper East side and running $189.99 a night special right now. I'd prefer (and highly recommend) the StanHope but they're running closer to $275.00 a night right now. There's always The Mark Hotel itself if you have some serious dough.

yea i was thinking of getting the pres suite at the mark

We stayed at the Eastside Marriott last time. I know TJ and DaveMcI did also. They have a gym. I don't know if they'll let me back in though.

Why did you puke in the lobby?

I thought about staying at the Mark. Then I checked out the prices. HOLY SMOKES! Five bills is a wee bit out of my price range. Thank goodness the dinner will be more reasonable. Maybe they have a special rate for offline coordinators.

jb

we could all share one room

It is threads like this (and the good wine info) that keep me coming back to this site.

I am very envious of those that will attend this event- much the same as I am about the Napastravanganza.

What impress's me the most is that while JB is concerned about others feeling strange sending a check to complete stranger who has so far taken time to organise and plan a dinner and wine expirience of enviable qualities, he fails to recognise that if this restaurant is in driving/cabbing distance of his house it will be his cellar that is raided by a bunch of friends.

No, I am a good 1hr 15min from NYC so my cellar is safe, so to speak. I will be staying in the city that night like everyone else. Although, my cellar is fair game for those who love wine and come for a visit.

Thanks for the compliment, BTW.

jb

It may be safe then, but I go right past your home town on the way home!!!

Oops.. forgot.

JB - feel free to tear up my check. I'll send a new one as soon as you let us know who and how much!

LOL!

Can just see it. A convoy of cabs making there way out to JB's cellar.