BYOB Like a Wine Scion...or This Guy

Chicago is a great, big, fat awesome city, and I definitely put BYOBs on the list of reasons why. It was a completely foreign concept to me when I moved here 10+ years ago. Drive-thru package liquors? Suuuure. Everyone knows that's a stellar idea for beverage enjoyment while making the roads safer. But the thought of bringing your own wine into a restaurant? It only meant one word to me: corkage.

My friend Don, of the French Laundry fretting below, is presenting a BYO Basics class on Thursday, March 12th, at his shop Just Grapes on Washington. You should go. Why? Because, as he astutely points out, our city has literally hundreds of BYOs, and, "We aren't talking second-rate establishments or fly-by-night joints that can't afford a liquor license. These businesses are shining examples of the culinary ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of our great city." Places like Schwa, Think Cafe, Coast Sushi, HB, and Bonsoiree. Places we love for letting us trot in with a bottle or two we've been dying to open.

Date: Thursday, March 12th
Time: 6 PM - 7:30 PM
Cost: $25 before March 6th
Place: 560 W. Washington Ave.

Jean Iverson, author of BYOB Chicago, will share BYOB etiquette, a brief history of this restaurant species in Chicago, and other helpful tips for picking your pairing.

Oh, and I'll be there.