The $15,000 Wine Locker
A hedge fund banker recently paid $15,000 to rent a rather tiny piece of Manhattan real estate for a year. That's the price for a three-cubic-foot wine storage locker at chef Daniel Boulud's new restaurant, Bar Boulud which will open later this year. There are 15 storage spaces total and each has a 36 bottle capacity. The first spot was sold at a charity auction for Citymeals-on-Wheels, and the fee will provide 3,000 meals for home-bound elderly people in New York City. Felix Salmon did the math on the pricey lockers and actual found that they are a bit of a deal for those who shop at the deep end of the wine list. He points out that if you are regularly drinking wines for that sell for $400 on a restaurant wine list you can probably buy the same wine for $150. At those prices you would only have to drink five bottles per month to justify the expense of the locker rental. Suddenly, the fee seems, dare I say it, reasonable.
