Experiencing the delicious cuisine of Michelin-starred chef Julien Lucas, while sipping wine from your personal cellar, is now possible at La Villa de Camille et Julien.
Julien Lucas, chef from La Villa, recently introduced a corkage fee of 30 euros per bottle every Wednesday evening.
What is BYOB or corkage fee?
BYOB stands for “bring your own bottle” and allows restaurant’s guests to bring their own bottle of wine to drink during diner, in exchange for a certain fee owed to the restaurant owner – a corkage fee.
In practice, before leaving your house, you choose the bottle of your choice from your cellar, and when you arrive at the restaurant, the sommelier opens it, decants it and serve it throughout diner.
A desire to make the restaurant more accessible
Since COVID, the restaurant business has undergone enormous change. This, coupled with rising inflation in recent months, has had a significant impact on frequencies in restaurants, particularly Michelin-starred ones, as well as way of consumption.
“We’ve noticed a drop in bottle sales recently, partly due to customers’ desire to drink less alcohol (their proposal for a non-alcoholic wine pairing has been very successful, editor’s note), but also due, I believe, to the more restrictive budgets of part of our clientele,” confides Chef Lucas.
As a result, Julien Lucas has embarked on a personal reflection. “We’re aware that a meal in our restaurant has become increasingly expensive, and we’re keen to make our cuisine more accessible.”
The express request of some customers to bring their own bottle of wine has gradually given rise to the BYOB’s option, in the chef’s mind. “I also learned that chef Alléno allows customers to bring their own bottle one evening a week (in his 1-star restaurant Le Pavyllon in Paris), so the idea caught on,” comments Julien Lucas.
A win-win situation!
With this offer, “everyone wins”, reports the chef. “We need customers, and our customers benefit in terms of budget and experience too”.
Indeed, no doubt that being able to bring along a quality bottle, chosen from one’s own cellar, is the promise to even better enjoy the fine cuisine prepared by the chef, enhancing as a result the whole gastronomic experience.
For the moment, the corkage fee only applies on Wednesday evenings. “We’ll have to see how customers respond to this offer, so we can adapt” concludes the chef.
From spring onwards, it will also be possible to have Michelin-star diner at home, with the chef Julien Lucas himself preparing diner in your own cuisine. Having always in mind to make his cuisine more accessible. Cheers to that!
Image: La Villa de Camille et Julien