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+--- Thread: help: need sommelier advice! (/thread-20502.html)
- newsguy - 12-30-2000
hi,
we're going to bern's in tampa for new year's eve dinner. it's supposed to be a great steakhouse with one of the better wine lists in the country.
my questions are these: exactly how do you tip a sommelier? i've only recently gotten into wines and have yet to go to a fine restaurant and order a few bottles. can u add the sommelier's tip to the wait staff's tip at the end when the bill comes. how do you denote that this part of the tip is from the sommelier?
and, if the sommelier is helpful, but i choose the wine based on my own knowledge, how much of a tip should that require?
as always, thanks! i'll let you all know what we drink.
keith
- mrdutton - 12-30-2000
Last we ate at Bern's we didn't have the pleasure of a Sommelier. Our waiter was also our wine advisor and server.
The wine was good; the steaks were NOT cooked to our specifications. We tipped appropriately based on the overall quality of the meal and the service.
I ordered medium rare and got medium. My Wife ordered medium and got well done. My Mother and Father ordered medium rare and got well done. The joint was crowded that evening and we did not want to push the issue, so we did not send any of the dishes back.
The wine we chose was super. I have since found out that the winery no longer exists, so we had a bit of a rare pleasure with our two bottles of wine, as it were.
We had seperate reservations for the dessert room upstairs. The atmosphere was quieter, the service was better and the desserts and port wines were tremendous.
Overall our experience at Bern's was okay. Okay enough that I'm willing to try them again, maybe..... We will be in Tampa area this coming March.
But let me tell you about Shell's Seafood Restaurant. A local Florida favorite in Tampa and Brandon. No long wine lists, but really decent family fare for the seafood lover.
Now let me tell you about the steak house at the Waldorf....... The Bull and the Bear. The entrance is on Lexington Avenue, so you don't have to make the long, arduous trip through the lobby...... If you are ever in NYC go there.
Then there is also Smith and Wollensky on the east side..... man do they ever serve a mean filet. And don't forget Peter Luger's Steak House........ they are about the best of the best.
Tip the waiter about 15 to 20% of the overall cost of the meal, less any tax, if you think he/she deserves it..... In one instance I left a penny - the waitress picked an argument with me. That was a firm "NO NO" in my book.
The tip for the Sommelier, should you have the pleasure, is seperate from the waiter's tip. I'm not sure of a percentage point on that one, but I'd tip him/her based solely on the pleasure that his/her wine suggestion added to the meal.
I've tipped the Sommelier at other places between five and ten dollars - depended on the wine and the service provided. And that was at a meal for just my wife and I; not for a larger party which might command a larger tip.
[This message has been edited by mrdutton (edited 12-30-2000).]
- winoweenie - 12-31-2000
Hi newsguy. I`ve had some marvelous expewriences at Berns in both large parties (40 plus ) and jes ole` lonesome me. Sorry you had a bummer MrD. You should have said sumpin` to , probably young Bern, cause it`s hard to fix something if youse don1t know it`s broke.As far as tip, If you have a sommelier my way normally is 5-10% of the wine. Bern`s waiters are normally informed so what MrD suggests is okie-dokie. Hope you have a wunnerful` nite. HNY. winoweenie