Top London chefs go BYO to boost business

12 April 2012

London's Michelin-starred restaurants are embracing the classic value deal usually associated with students and cheap curry houses - bring-your-own drink.

Diners can bring their own wine or champagne to accompany their meal in 50 venues, including the two-starred Ledbury in Notting Hill, after the creation of a BYO club.

They avoid big restaurant mark-ups by paying a small corkage fee. The annual club membership fee is £99.

Restaurant owners hope the offer will fill the empty tables that have appeared during the economic slump. The trend has also spread among some of the best restaurants in Glasgow, Manchester and Edinburgh.

London restaurants which have joined the BYO Wine Club include Tom Aikens, Arbutus, Club Gascon and Boisdale. They all charge about £50 per person - or more - for a meal without wine.

Jennifer Cowan-Savio of the London Fine Dining Group, whose restaurants Aubergine and L'Oranger have signed up, said: "Everybody is watching the pockets at the moment, but we don't like to think of it as desperation. The time has come to be more flexible with diners and more hospitable."

But she added that a £4.99 bottle "would be a little bit insulting". She recommends avoiding turning up with anything worth less than £12.

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