Michelin-starred restaurant charges £135 to ‘bring your own booze’


A Michelin-starred eatery is slapping a minimum £135 corkage fee on customers who bring their own booze.

The trendy Dorian restaurant, nestled in London’s Notting Hill, has become a viral sensation with nearly 50,000 followers on Instagram.

However, the restaurant’s owner admits that it’s struggling to make ends meet from food sales alone.

To help resolve the problem, the eatery is following in the footsteps of other restaurants and upping additional dining experience charges. Dorian, owned by Chris D’Sylva and run by head chef Max Coen, is now charging £100 for BYOB corkage, with a maximum of one 750ml bottle only per booking.

Dorian is also asking that “in return” at least one bottle of a similar retail value is also enjoyed from their list, after noticing that guests have tried to “game the system” by rolling up with multiple bottles of wine.

Dorian’s extensive 24-page wine list boasts prices ranging from a modest £35 to an eye-watering £6,600 for a 1996 bottle of red La Tache Grand Cru Domaine de La Romanee-Conti.

According to Dojo, the average UK corkage fee per bottle opened on-site ranges from £12 to £15 for still wine, £15 to £20 for regular sparkling wine and £20 to £35 for champagne.

The owner took to social media to explain the corkage fee increase, stating: “We think we’ve finally landed a simple, universal solution for corkage that gives guests the opportunity to bring ‘that special bottle’ for the occasion, whilst not jeopardising the fundamental sustainability of the restaurant. To give insight, transparency and context to our policy, our business is not sustainable on food sales alone.”

Chris added: “Although guests try to game the system by rolling up with multiple bottles, to extract the lowest cost experience for themselves, with a complete disregard and respect for the fact that it’s financially impossible to put out our quality of food, using superior produce and offering the best quality of life to the best young talent in London, without the sales of wine.”

He explained that wine sales “crucially fund the food and team as an ecosystem” and noted that without them, they’d have to double the price of their offerings.

Despite the steep corkage fee, which is added to meals costing between £50-£79 per person as per SquareMeal, the establishment continues to receive rave reviews. It’s been dubbed a “Notting Hill jewel” with “amazing” meat by recent diners.

However, some patrons suggest giving it a miss, claiming the “hype isn’t worth it”. On the topic of the new corkage policy, one customer said: “£100 to drink your own wine! Would you also ask a table of tea total non drinkers to pay the same?”

Another chimed in: “50 plus a wine from the list is acceptable. 100 + wine from the list is obnoxious.”

Yet another defended the policy, saying: “Beyond reasonable given the outstanding list, the quality of the food, the top-tier stemware, and the excellent service.”

Dorian has been contacted for a comment.

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