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iPads Make Restaurant Wine Lists Interactive, Sell More Bottles

by Terrence O'Brien on September 22, 2010 at 07:20 AM

iPad Wine List Apps
The iPad has a new use in several restaurants, including the famous Bone's steakhouse in Atlanta, as a digital wine list. Diners are supplied with a ten-inch tablet, equipped with an automatically updating list that offers not only the name and price of a wine, but a description from the source vineyard and reviews from critics. Bones is reporting that, since the introduction of the iPad wine list, sales of wine bottles have increased by 11-percent. Some sommeliers are worried that an interactive menu with reviews and pairing tips could make their services unnecessary. One of Bones' owners, Susan DeRose, also expressed concern to the New York Times that diners might be preoccupied by the gadget and that it could overshadow the fine-dining experience.

Of course, not everyone is worried that an interactive menu will destroy the traditional dining experience. Waiters and sommeliers appreciate the ability to update their wine inventory in real time. They've also found that patrons are more confident in their selections and more willing to try unfamiliar varieties of wine when they have the iPad app as a guide. And customers still ask the opinions of their servers when weighing their options. As long as the iPads aren't left at every table, and as long as diners don't go without speaking to a human being, we'd say our nation's sommeliers and waiters have nothing to worry about.

Tags: dining, food, ipadapp, restaurant, restaurants, sommelier, top, wine

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