Regardless of what we’re spending, I’m noticing more and more a serious service issue problem in Milwaukee restaurants. Many servers have never been taught how to properly open a bottle of wine, which should be an elementary training topic. As a result more often then not, we end up with a broken cork, which brings tiny pieces of cork floating to the top of our wine glasses. Perhaps more dishearteningly, I am usually greeted with a look of utter amazement and disdain from my server if I ask for a new bottle (which we reserve for occasions when we’re purchasing a more expensive bottle, or when the amount of cork makes the wine utterly unquaffable). When I’m spending $30-$100 on a beverage, I fully expect that it be served to me in pristine condition, because in most places, that will jump our dinner bill well over a buck a head.
This is a phenomenon I just don’t understand. Having worked as a server and trainer for over 15 years and having opened numerous bottles of wine and champagne (and yes, I occasionally broke a cork -- which sometimes cannot be avoided even with the best of techniques) I would never expect a customer to drink a bottle of wine peppered with cork, regardless of how expensive or inexpensive the bottle was. To wine purists, asking someone to do so is akin to directing them to drink a cocktail containing a fruit fly.
Add to that the cost margin on a restaurant bottle of wine and you rapidly understand that the loss of a bottle of wine is fully covered even if the server does need to bring you a new bottle. In other words, the markup covers the cost of a mis-opened bottle of wine AND the new bottle to replace it, so there should be no reason NOT to rectify this simple problem.
Restaurateurs typically provide their wait staff with wine bottle openers, and a simple 10-minute instruction on how to use these wine openers and how to handle a situation where the cork accidentally flakes prior to sending them to the floor would save both wine enthusiasts and Milwaukee servers hours of disappointment and frustration.
In the meantime, the cork continues to float.
Amy L. Schubert is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has worked in every aspect of bar and restaurant operations. A graduate of Marquette University (B.A.-Writing Intensive English, 1997) and UW-Milwaukee (M.A.-Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, 2001), Amy still occasionally moonlights as a guest bartender and she mixes a mean martini.
The restaurant business seems to be in Amy’s blood, and she prides herself in researching and experimenting with culinary combinations and cooking techniques in her own kitchen as well as in friends’ restaurants. Both she and her husband, Scott, are avid cooks and “wine heads,” and love to entertain friends, family and neighbors as frequently as possible.
Amy and Scott live with their boys, Alex and Nick, in Bay View, where they are all very active in the community. Amy finds great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and passions for food and writing in her contributions to OnMilwaukee.com.
