Hawksmoor promotes employee who mis-sold £4,500 bottle of wine

Hawksmoor has promoted the member of staff who earlier this year accidentally served a £4,500 bottle of wine.

The assistant manager handed out a bottle of Château le Pin Pomerol 2001, unbeknown to both them and the customer. It is the most expensive on the ‘rarities’ section of the restaurant’s list, with only 500 cases of the wine made.

The restaurant announced on Twitter yesterday: “Update: the wonderful human who made this mistake has just been promoted to general manager”.

The steak restaurant group turned the front of house blunder into positive PR, which earned it national media coverage when it put out a good-natured Tweet about the mix-up: “To the customer who accidentally got given a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001, which is £4,500 on our menu, last night – hope you enjoyed your evening!

“To the member of staff who accidentally gave it away, chin up! One-off mistakes happen and we love you anyway.”

In an interview with the Evening Standard, the employee has been revealed as Ellen Stott, who has been promoted to general manager at the steak restaurant group’s Edinburgh venue. The Standard reports the table had ordered a £260 bottle of 2001 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande.

Stott told the Standard: “I’m really delighted to have be promoted, but our wine manager has said that I’m still not allowed near the wine room.”

Co-owner Will Beckett added: “I think Ellen’s experience of what happens at Hawksmoor – both in terms of developing people and how to treat them when things go wrong (or right) – will stand her in great stead to be a wonderful Hawksmoor general manager.”