738 thousand bottles of wine at R.J. Grunts?

After getting the nifty $10 gift certificate to LEY (ty lthforum), I decided to look at the menus and found that R.J. Grunts claims to have "just under 738 THOUSAND bottles of wine in its' cellar.

Has anyone visited said cellar? I just cannot believe this is true. And if it is, certainly these bottles are enjoyed at other LEY establishments... it's not as though R.J. Grunts is a wine lovers paradise - how could it be? I can't imagine trying to par a great wine w/ the cottage cheese and romaine on the salad bar. Or the burger, or the .... whatever. It's just not a wine place, IMHO.

Please inform me, if you can.

Yeah, 74 times as many as Smith & Wollensky? Only if it's the LEYE corporate cellar, I agree-- or a joke.

RJ Grunts website wrote:Our wine cellar contains more than 12 thousand varieties totaling just under 783 thousand bottles. The items listed below are today's choices. The complete list with future service dates is available for viewing at the National Archives, Old Grape Div.

http://www.leye.com/restaurants/menus/grunts_1.htm#drinks

According to some quick calculations:
65,250 cases * 1.8 cubic ft/case = 117,450 cubic ft

So even if their "cellar" has 12 foot ceilings, it would need around 10,000 sqft of floor space to hold that much wine. That doesn't include room for aisles and shelves. Maybe they have a multi-level underground complex below the restaurant.

I went to the website of the National Archives and, under the subject index (clickable from a menu bar at the top), was unable to find a listing for "grape" or "old grape" or "wine." Leading me to believe it's a put-on. Which would be right in line with the rest of the Grunts menu ("dedicated to the neurotic compensation of eating," and all that). Yet it doesn't read like a put-on. Strange.

Okay, when you read the whole thing it's obviously in keeping with the "humorous" tone of Grunts' menu.

Now that Dr. T.J. Whipplesnicker's Old-Tyme Sandwichatarium and Beerateria ("By Appointment to the Crowned Heads of Europe, and Their Stomachs Too") has closed, that leaves Grunts as the only place offering such 70s whimsy with your teriyaki chicken sandwich and Cajun fries.

Man, you are making me feel old. You are talking about a restaurant that opened in the heyday of Boone's Farm apple wine and Mateus rose, aimed at a clientele of stoners with the munchies.

Of course, it's a put-on. Is there are a restaurant in the world that stores 3/4 million bottles?

Well, I feel both old AND foolish. Ah, there's no fool like an old fool.

And I loved Matus Rose. Hee hee.

LAZ,

"Boones Farm and Mateus"...
Don't forget Lancer's Rose, Annie Greensprings, Cold Duck, Crackling Rose, and the inimitable Ripple.

"stoners with the munchies"...
I was a Zig Zag Wheatstraw man, myself... or did you prefer JOB...???


'Amazed that I still have functioning brain cells...
=gordon=

bryan wrote:Well, I feel both old AND foolish. Ah, there's no fool like an old fool.

Don't worry. Grunt's will be a fun trip into nostalgia. (I haven't been there in a while and I understand it's been updated some, but not too much. Last I heard, Rich Melman's son was the manager.)

I think if you'd seen that wine comment on the cartoony menu in the restaurant, you'd have got it. Some things don't webify well. (Of course, gordon_k has a point about brain cells....)

________________
LAZ

"If you can remember anything about the Sixties, you weren't really there." -- Paul Kantner