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Balthazar
A man walks into a bar ...
No, actually, he walks into a restaurant, in Perth, about 7pm on a Thursday night, gagging for a drink.
"A glass of white wine," he says.
"What have you got?" The waiter goes through some varieties. Fresh from a holiday in Spain, our man plumps for "an albario". A glass of wine arrives, no introduction, so the thirsty traveller has to ask for the producer's name. Hmmm.
Price points are important for context; the bloke is about to order $23 entrees, $47 main courses and later will discover "an albario" at Balthazar is $24. A glass. Holy bloody Toledo.
At this price point, in this restaurant - which has been around for many years and used to be so Frenchy, so chic - you get many things. You get waiters who drop cutlery and stack plates at the table. You get a room so dark as to be silly. You get music so loud...