Trends for locally produced ingredients – not for the wine list
Anyone that pretends to know me is aware of my love of food and restaurant. I love to go out to new food scenes and try new treats. I must say that restaurants that put some thoughts into their menus and are showing a preference in local food score more points for me. My parents used to own a restaurant and I understand that fresh, locally produced food, mean the difference between a great plate or an average one.
I am blessed to live in a city where local food is just as common as stop signs. I have been a bit frustrated lately to find that so many places that claim their dedication to local food have no local wine on their wine list – that’s right zippo localo vino, no American wines, only Europeans. Some say that it is because European wines go well with the food and that domestic wines are too heavy. Well, to that I say booooguuuus – they are plenty of great balanced wines made domestically. More likely it is because foreign wines are easier to mark up because patrons can’t recognize the names or because the wines are not available else where (make the mark up invisible). This mark up shell game is silly – think about the cost of a coke, or a coffee, or anything on the menu for that matter, do you think the customers does not know there is a markup?
Why are restaurant owners keep ignoring the fact that in grocery twice as much domestic wine is sold versus imports (and the trend is accelerating)? And why not having local wines or your menus? When I go to Michigan – I want to try a Michigan wine, when I go to New York – I want to try a New York wine. The last two times I went out I had only European wines on the menu and I ended up drinking water in one instance and beer in another. Not that I don’t like foreign wines at all (I buy and drink my fair share) but in a local restaurant I want to have the possibility of drinking a domestic wine. I am not suggesting boycotting foreign wines but at least give them a shot on your wine list and see what happens. Gee, you might sell much of it.
