Chances Are: Restaurant Etiquette

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“Are stereotypically polite Brits drinking faulty wine to avoid the awkwardness of sending it back?”


Chances Are Restaurant Etiquette

With the 2017 Michelin Stars awarded last week, we observe the restaurant etiquette of the stereotypically polite Brits. In upmarket Michelin Star restaurants you can often be served unfamiliar food accompanied by wine chosen for you by a somellier (a trained wine professional), so in these somewhat intimidating surroundings does the customer feel like king? We focus in particular on the potentially awkward process of sending back the wine chosen to wash down that foie gras.

Due to our scepticism around self-report, our Chances Are Bites use a survey technique called the ‘unmatched count technique’ (see here for details) to uncover the true frequency of an event across the population. As shown in the above graphic, this technique is particularly useful when investigating the frequency of embarrassing or socially taboo events like pornography use and reality TV voting that are most likely to be inaccurately disclosed.

Though the Chances Are Bite was developed to probe the under-reporting of social taboos, it has also revealed social boasts that respondents over-report with the same aim of fitting in to a social ideal. Our first example was the claim that 35% of respondents had asked for a promotion or pay rise when in fact only 12% of the population have.

As shown in the above graphic, the topic of sending wine back to a restaurant was in fact our second example of a social boast, rather than a social taboo due to the awkward nature of the interaction. We found 18% of respondents to state that they had previously sent wine back, while the true underlying rate in the population is just 2%. This indicates it is perceived to be socially impressive, perhaps due to the confidence required or a level of expertise in wine.

Of the 18% who claimed to have sent wine back to a restaurant half of them thought it was corked, though the natural occurrence of corked wine is thought to be around 5%. Legal obligations of a restaurant state that wine must be of satisfactory quality, fit for consumption and as described by the seller. Though these requirements are slightly ambiguous, corked wine can be viewed as unfit for consumption and therefore covered by this law. However, 27% of those who sent wine back claim they just did not like the taste which is not covered by this law, and therefore it is at the discretion of the restaurant whether they will replace the wine.

With only 2% of the British population revealed to be sending back wine, corked wine is being drunk either because the fault isn’t noticed or simply to avoid the awkwardness. So the next time you’re unsure about the quality of the wine it’s perfectly acceptable to ask the server or somellier to taste the wine too. Then at least British manners can’t spoil your meal.

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