MAURICE HUNTER

Press, 12 April 1978, Page 10

MAURICE HUNTER

In the 17 months since the Sale of Liquor Amendment Act, 1976, became law. the proprietors of 18 of about 60 Christchurch restaurants and grill rooms have obtained permits for their customers legally to consume their own wine on the premises during the course of a meal. One would have thought that the proportion would have been higher by now but. although obtaining a permit is not particularly difficult, it is not all plain sailing. In addition to favourable reports by the Department of Health, the Fire Board, the Police Department, and the Inspector of Licensed Premises, the applicant must await a hearing by the Licensing Commission after paying his $25 application fee. It may seem to be a great deal of kerfuffle but it does ensure a minimum standard for diners. One effect of the amendment is that it automatically cancels the previous provision for patrons to take their own wine into any unlicensed restaurant between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bring Your Own permits may be operated from 12 noon to 11.30 p.m., so although we may no longer have a boozey breakfast, we are at least able to enjoy wine with lunch or an evening meal. As one permit holder expressed it, “It is a pleasure now to be able to leave the bottles on the table.” And a pleasure for the diners too. Drinking illegally and having to keep the bottles out of sight created a hole-in-the-corner atmosphere which is no way to enjoy wine and food The amendment also sets a maximum corkage charge of 50c a bottle. Some of the proprietors to whom I spoke were quite defensive in explaining their attitude in making the charge, and it appeared to be that they had been taken to task about it on more than one occasion. In their defence. I feel obliged to say that I consider it to be quite reasonable, taking into account that glasses have first to be provided, breakages replaced, labour employed for longer to wash and store them, empty bottles to be disposed of, and

the fact that the wine drinkers occupy tables for a longer tune than those who are not. We may also drink the wine of our choice rather than experiencing the frustration of choosing from a list only to be told, “I’m sorry, sir. That wine is not available at the moment.” Almost one-third of the permit holders did not agree. They said that breakages are an occupational hazard and that most of them occur in the kitchen. There is no charge on the diner for plates which are broken during washing, for instance, and they look on being able to provide the service as an extension of the normal facilities. Although there is no obligation on permit holders to display a notice to that effect, it amazes me that no one does. Surely the advantage is obvious. When I was in Melbourne a few years ago. the place was sprinkled with “Licensed for 8.Y.0.” notices, and it was for one of these that 1 looked when choosing a place to eat. In any case, there is now a large enough selection of restaurants and grill rooms to satisfy diners of all categories—those who like to have their ear drums shatered by high decibel sound, those who prefer muted background music, or those who do not like any sound but the sizzling of a juicy steak on a hot plate. Corkage is charged at Britas, Casa del Sol, Chung Wah. Samuels (but not at lunch time), Swiss Chalet. Gallery Coffee Lounge. Iron Horse, Coachman. Hard Rock Cafe, The Coffee Pot, Far East. La Dolce Vita. The Adonis, and to my knowledge, the only permit held outside Christchurch, The Pepper Mill at Amberley. Corkage is not charged at Dymand’s Steakhouse, The Sorbonne, Wino's Pizza Parlour, Silver Grill, or Matthews. In Auckland it is possible for patrons to take their own wine to some licensed restaurants. Three of the most prestigious allow it only if you have something special which you wish to try, and they make sure that it is something special by imposing a corkage of $2 to $3 a bottle. Others do not encourage it but allow it at a corkage of 50c. Now there’s a thought: