The Finest Wining and Dining for Free Everywhere

“Knowledge enormous makes a God of me . . . .
as if some blithe wine
or bright elixir peerless I had drunk . . . .”

-- John Keats
Hyperion: A Fragment

I’ve always loved eating in fine restaurants and enjoying the best foods and wines. For many years, I was helped in this love by my profession. Management consultants normally charge their meals while traveling as expenses to their clients. If you don’t over spend, you can try a number of wonderful places that you would never otherwise eat at while you are traveling.

But that beginning was modest compared to my next experience, when I became director, strategic planning for Heublein, Inc. in the 1970s. Heublein was one of the largest vintners and wine importers in the world, and top restaurants were important outlets for company wines. So we were encouraged to eat at the best places and order company wines at company expense. I could handle that, and I’m sure you could, too.

Naturally, I became curious though when a trip to the men’s room in a world-famous San Francisco restaurant led me past small wine bins with people’s names on them – and one of the names was that of my boss, Chris Carriuolo! When I returned to Farmington, Connecticut, I asked Chris about it. He told me that most of the best restaurants let diners rent private wine bins where they can store their own wines that the restaurant doesn’t carry. He told me to drink anything I wanted from his bins when I was in one of those restaurants, and told me where they were. Life was sweet!

I thought that it was going to be hard to top that approach to fine wining and dining. But I found a better one. Carol Coles and I founded a series of executive organizations in the 1990s that focused on developing the next generation of best practices. Our members were senior executives at the largest companies, and the members expected to dine and drink well. Most of our meetings were in New York, and members wanted to go to new, top-rated restaurants using part of their membership fees.

Well, I could handle that . . . and enjoyed many great conversations and wonderful meals as a result.

But later I found out that I didn’t understand the potential for restaurant dining at all. A good friend has a brother, whom I’ll call Jim (rather than his real name), who is a restaurant reviewer. She wanted us to meet Jim. Jim wanted to eat at a restaurant in Boston that is famous for not taking reservations and where the wait can last for hours. I counseled against this choice. She said, “But you don’t understand, it’ll be all right.”

At the appointed hour, we found her at the check-in desk with her family. She smiled and handed the maitre d’ a card and asked to speak to the owner. The maitre d’ turned ashen and raced off. The owner jogged out seconds later and grasped our friend in a big hug and kissed her as enthusiastically as if she was the Blarney Stone. He then grabbed her hand and said, “How many you? When will Jim be here?” He took us to the best table in the restaurant and sat us down . . . and said, “Have what you want. You are my guests.” Naturally, we inquired of our friend what was going on. Our friend said that restaurants always comp her brother because he’s so famous that he cannot sneak into a restaurant without everyone recognizing him. The restaurants are hoping for good reviews and want to make a positive impression.

When Jim came in, a big fuss was made by the owner, the maitre d’ and our waiter. Jim paid no attention. He was focused on ordering for each of us. He was going to review the restaurant and wanted to be sure that he could taste everything. We ordered enough food for 25 people and took most of it home. Later, he wandered off for a private tour of the kitchen . . . which we were invited to join.

I asked Jim how often he does this, and he said, “At every meal I can.”

Donald Trump, eat your heart out!

Although I was sorely tempted to become a restaurant reviewer, I feared for my waist line. But I remain available for duty whenever Jim comes into town.

Almost every publication does some kind of restaurant reviewing. Some of them even have budgets to pay for the meals. A friend of mine did even better. He started writing travel reviews for airline magazines, and gets free trips as well as free meals.

You may have to start by paying for your own meals. But after you’ve produced some good reviews for your local publications, you can contact better-funded organizations to see if you can get a budget to support your fine dining interests.

Also consider how your usual work or professional association could be tied into a dining expense account. Perhaps you could cover an event for the organization’s newsletter, or become a representative for an important company meeting.

Many restaurants need publicity and cannot afford a press agent. You can approach the owners and ask if they would like you to bring lifestyle writers and restaurant reviewers to dine. Naturally, part of your fee would be to enjoy free meals!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell