The Blindingly Obvious Way to Save Money on Eating and Drinking Out Us Food and Drink Pros Have Been Doing for Years

Does anyone else do this?

For nearly 10 years I lived in a place with not a single good place to eat out.

If you talk to any service pro — especially if they don’t live in a big city —they’ll tell you the same. Local eating and drinking often sucks and it is becoming prohibitively expensive, especially for hospitality workers whose jobs typically command low wages.

So what do you do when life and passion revolves around what you put in your gob but you can’t afford to do so? Or you’re not prepared to eat yet another mediocre meal out at some crappy local joint?

You do what all us food and drink pros do but no one else seems to.

You make your own home the best restaurant and bar in town.

If you want a way to save some serious cash, this is it.

Welcome to Bar Brown

Bar Brown was what my husband and I affectionately called our kitchen and dining room, back when we actually owned such things.

Bar Brown’s wine cellar was always well stocked. The fridge was always full of food we loved to eat. The tunes on the stereo were our favourites. Even the glassware and crockery was perfectly suited to our needs.

Sometimes it was full of people. Or sometimes it would be just us.

Eating at home meant we could afford to buy better quality produce. We got good at cooking. We indulged our geeky wine side and opened bottles of wine we could only ever dream of buying in restaurants.

Bar Brown was better than almost any restaurant we ever went to.

This was our life for the 10 or so years we lived in that town and owned our wine store and bar.

Because eating at home like this is a damn sight cheaper and more interesting than any boring, middle-of-the-road dinner out.

Eating out for eating out’s sake is so 2022

Unless you’re a Rockefeller, you’ll probably struggle to afford to eat and drink out on the regular these days. It seems I’m not the only one who has noticed —

My friend

Rocco Pendola

has sworn off eating mediocre food in mediocre settings for astronomical sums of money.

He’s a clever man, that Rocco.

You wanna know how much more you’re paying for food and wine?

In most cases, a bottle of wine bought in a retail store will work out something around twice the cost price, once you factor in the retailer margin and taxes. That means if a bottle cost a wine store $5 from their supplier, they’ll likely sell it for around $10 or less.

I’ve seen restaurants charge up to 7 times cost price.

When it comes to food, restaurants tend to work on 3 times markup whereas even a decent gourmet store would only run up to 2 times.

Make no mistake here, I am not in the business of trying to discourage people from dining out. Service was my career for nearly a decade after all. And I know firsthand that the costs of running a restaurant can run amok which is why their markups are higher than retailers.

What I am I am tired of however is eating and drinking crappy food and drink in crappy settings for stupid money. Places I know the owner cares of little more than filling their kitchen and floor with underpaid, undertrained workers and pocketing the profits.

In my experience, when it comes to neighborhood joints, the difference in price between the excellent and the mediocre is often negligible because people who care about their establishments tend to work to lower profit margins. So if you do your research right, you could and should have a great time eating out. It should be a pleasure. And you should do it with gusto, if that’s your thing.

For the other evenings, the ones when eating out is just something to do because you can’t be arsed to cook or you want a date night, Bar Brown — or whatever your version will be called — could be your answer.

And you don’t need to own a fancy home to make it work for you. In fact, once I sold my home, I took Bar Brown on the road.

You can make it work from anywhere.

How’s your own kitchen set up?

To make your own Bar Brown, you don’t need much more than the food and drink you love and ideally, one or two people you love too. I’ve seen as many versions as I’ve got service friends.

I’ve seen people once their kids are in bed, sweep the toys away, turn down the lights, and get eating and drinking (Bar Brown is perfect for young families who can’t get out of the house).

I’ve seen people who still live at home and keep their wine under their childhood bed, make their version of Bar Brown once their parents have eaten their own dinner.

I’ve seen people with no dining room table and just a tiny kitchenette grab some cushions and get everyone on the floor.

I’ve even set up my version in a French caravan with three wine trade friends, wine, and an obscene amount of cheese, charcuterie, and baguette foraged from the local market.

The most important element is that you’re excited about what you have on the table.

How to set up your own Bar Brown

For you curious types, this is how I set up Bar Brown in every single short term place I stay in:

Two courses of food, ideally with snacks beforehand. I learned how to eat like this in France where two courses are not unusual. I always have olives in the house which come out with the first glass of wine. Perhaps a few slices of charcuterie, cheese or roasted chickpeas. Then a salad. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it just has to be delicious. The second course is whatever I want to eat that night. I usually make it smaller to account for the appetizers.

Some decent wine, beer or drink of choice. Don’t forget, you’re saving a packet on your booze bill compared to a restaurant, so you can plump for a slightly nicer bottle if you like. Again it doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive, just what you love and what gets you excited.

Proper glassware. I’ve written about this before but if you’re in any way interested in drinking better wine, decent glassware goes a long way. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just the right shape.

Music on the stereo. Whatever floats your boat.

Lower lighting. Because no good comes from bright overhead lighting.

Time. Carve it out for this. Make it a habit. I know you’re tired, I know life is busy. You’re going to have to prioritize this shit if you want to benefit from it.

Sobremesa. This is the Spanish word for the time after dinner when people sit around, drink a little more and chat. In Spain that can be until the sun rises. And whilst that might not be possible every single time, at least don’t run off to stick the telly on and watch in silence the second dinner is done. This is meant to be a connecting experience. The best of that happens at sobremesa.

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Believe it or not, it is possible to have a good time without going out.

We food and drink pros have been doing this for years. Yes, it helps that we love to cook but that’s not a deal breaker for making your own version of Bar Brown.

All you need is the right food, drink, and people.

For my part, tonight’s Bar Brown will be set up in my new Porto apartment. There will be some olives, a kale and parmesan salad, and a moussaka. There will be some Loire Valley Chenin Blanc and some Italian Nebbiolo.

I’m more excited about this than I would be if I were going out to the crappy pub with crappy food down the road. And it’s going to save me $$$.

It’s time for mediocre food in mediocre settings to die. Save your dollars for great dinners out. The ones you remember.

For the rest of them, Bar Brown welcomes you.