Bringing stems to a restaurant...

If I know the restaurant and know their stemware and would prefer mine, I do bring my stems. If I'm uncertain I keep them in the car until I get an idea of the protocol and what stems they have. I use the Riedel box the glasses came in generally. I've borrowed people's black Riedel glass cases but don't like them much except being black they are a bit more "subtle" and they have a shoulder strap which is nice.

For one restaurant here in ABQ, the owner actually keeps 8 stems for me and my wine buddies. We give her a LOT of business.

I want to but my wife would REALLY think I'm a dork then. As if she doesn't think I'm the biggest nerd on the planet already.

Brandon Miller wrote:I want to but my wife would REALLY think I'm a dork then. As if she doesn't think I'm the biggest nerd on the planet already.

I think that's what's kind of stopping me as well. Although she loves wine, she thinks I'm too geeky about it. So if I brought my own stems (especially for a dinner with just two of us) she probably would put a piece of white tape between my eye-glasses while I was sleeping to let me know how much of a nerd I am.

Yoni Ovadia wrote:

Brandon Miller wrote:I want to but my wife would REALLY think I'm a dork then. As if she doesn't think I'm the biggest nerd on the planet already.

I think that's what's kind of stopping me as well. Although she loves wine, she thinks I'm too geeky about it. So if I brought my own stems (especially for a dinner with just two of us) she probably would put a piece of white tape between my eye-glasses while I was sleeping to let me know how much of a nerd I am.

Pfft, my girlfriend would leave me if I did that with her. That said, I don't mind too much depending on the restaurant. If they offer free BYO and have horrid stems, then I'll bring my own.

I have brought my own stems to a few of restaurants. None of them has objected or seemed to mind it at all. I enjoy the wine more from a good glass and that in turn enhances the meal. Occasionally I have gotten approving comments from neighboring diners.

First real date with the now permanent GF:

We're going to a BYO in New Hope, PA and I'm bringing an older Ham/Russell PN. I'm on the phone with her confirming the date and I ask "Would you feel uncomfortable if I brought my own stems". She says NO WAY, PLEASE DON'T. So just to be [i]safe[i] I call the restaurant and very candidly ask the hostess "How wine friendly would you say your stemware is?". After she confirms my suspicions, I pack Riedels, [/color](in a Riedel bag Mel,)and wait for Stacey to arrive, as we are leaving from my place. She gets there and parks her car and we go to get into mine and she sees the bag in my hand. She asks what it is and I tell her. Well she starts backing up and saying "No Way, NO WAY" and I told her "You haven't even been out with me once yet, are you going to try to change me already?". So she says nothing, gets into the car, and in a minor act of defiance kicks off her shoes and puts her bare feet up on the dash. NEW CAR + FIRST DATE

Long story short, when we got to the restaurant and saw the standard coke bottle thick ugly five ounce glasses on the table, and then she had the wine out of a good pinot stem, her skepticism abated. We still laugh about that one a lot.

Ian Dorin wrote:Loucas, it's on 27 in Edison. Really good food, big portions, and well priced.

Was just there last week with Mazen and Stacey tasting through some of his stuff and of course I brought.
Now she insists on it.