I'd rather drink theirs

By Paul Fulford on Feb 28, 08 06:27 PM

Hands up anyone who can name a restaurant on mainland Europe that doesn't serve alcoholic drinks and expects you to take your own.

Me neither. I've yet to encounter such a place in France, Italy, Greece, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Spain or anywhere else I've visited abroad.

It's our outdated licensing laws that put constraints on whether restaurants can sell you booze. And behind these laws lies an equally antiquated, nannying attitude that somehow we'll become hopeless alcoholics if things are relaxed.

It doesn't matter a jot that most foreign countries have much more liberal licensing rules yet nothing like the drunken yobbery witnessed in any of our pwn town and city centres.

I can understand those who like BYO on the basis that it means you don't have to pay to hugely marked up prices charged by restaurants - usually well over three times the shop price for a bottle of plonk.

But personally I like the thrill of selecting a wine from an unknown list to suit the dishes I've chosen - a match that doesn't happen if you've already carted along your grog.

The only place to drink your own booze is in your house...and that's what I'm going to do now.

Cheers!