WHILE most every restaurant in town is coming up with cut-rate menus to fill seats in this bleak season of Madoff and misery, high-end Midtown Italian spot Alto has popped the cork on a different kind of deal.
The elegant eatery at 11 E. 53rd St. (212-308-1099) is waiving its $60 corkage fee on any bottle of wine you bring through September (lunch or dinner, one bottle only per table permitted).
It’s not quite as if Peter Luger let you bring your own porterhouse – but it’s close. Alto, like Veritas and Cru, is a restaurant where the house wine cellar is central to its existence.
MORE: Rules of Bringing Your Own Wine (BYOW) to High-End Restaurants
Although Alto is justly famed for Michael White’s compelling and creative Northern Italian cuisine, it’s also renowned for its 2,600-bottle wine list that includes one of the world’s best Italian collections. As if to make the point, one of its dining rooms is framed by cliffs of bottles behind glass rising all the way to the ceiling.
Since it opened 3 1/2 years ago, Alto has counted on selling tons of vino to offset its high rent and astronomical food and labor costs.
Sales to oenophiles and hedge-fund free-spenders helped see Alto through a slow start in 2005. Last year, the list presided over by head sommelier Eric Zillier was one of only three in the world to earn Wine Spectator’s “Grand Award.”
With such a prestigious treasure trove of vintages, it wasn’t surprising that Alto charged $60 bottle for corkage, a price meant to discourage the casual practice of bringing our own bottles. Now, suddenly, we’re invited to show up with whatever’s lying around the house and not be charged a dime for the privilege.
This, despite the fact that, although Alto sells bottles up to $3,000, it also has hundreds of choices for $150 and less, and there are good bottles for as little as $45.
I asked chef/partner Michael White: What’s going on?
He said that while sister restaurant Convivio in Tudor City is thriving, “People forgot about Alto a little bit.”
He said Alto’s dining room business is “on the same par as last year,” but acknowledged the loss of parties in its two private rooms has hurt.
“In November and December, you put away the nuts to save for January and February,” White said. “We were fortunate that in December our parties were down only from 46 to 35” – compared to lots of restaurants whose owners privately admit to losing all parties.
But, like just about every expensive restaurant, Alto clearly is feeling the strain. Of course, a publicized BYOW policy runs the risk of inviting cheapskates who spend as little as possible or bring bad jug wine to accompany highly refined dishes.
Will Alto’s floor crew accommodate BYOW customers cheerfully?
“Sure,” White said. “I don’t want us to be known as a restaurant only for special occasions. I’m from the Midwest, and I want to be known for Midwestern hospitality.” That “hospitality” also includes a new, three-course dinner option for $75 in addition to the four-course, $85 option.
The new policy is great for diners, but it could boomerang on Alto. What happens if people come in with their own bottle of wine and don’t order another bottle?
White considered that for a moment. Then he laughed, “They’ll have great food.”