6 or 11?

Rolling the reservation dice is a game I find myself playing too often. When I first moved to New York, Babbo was the spot. Every day for a week, at 10:00 AM sharp, I went dialed my office phone furiously, hit a busy signal, hit re-dial, until you heard that melodious ringing. It is very similar to trying to win a radio contest. One day, I was the right number caller, and a reservationist took down my details. Huzzah.

I think with the opening of the Waverly Inn, something changed. It now was no longer enough to have the fortitude to spend a week hitting redial, it was about who you were. I fundamentally have a problem with this mentality. If are looking to create an exclusive environment, call it a club and charge dues. Restaurants are for everyone and everyone should have an (relatively) equal shot of getting in.

This is precisely the reason why I am a strong advocate of David Chang's Momofuku reservation system. It's all run via the Internet (meaning instant gratification) and there is no way to tell a VIP from a "regular" person. Rumor has it, Chang subjected his parents to his reservation system. It creates an equal playing field for diners and eliminates the high school cafeteria mentality of fretting about which table the staff deigned to seat you at.

Unfortunately, the Waverly has been a successful venture, so alas, Graydon created Monkey Bar, a similar type establishment in its exclusivity in midtown. Reviews are pretty tepid on the place, but the most interesting thing I read about the restaurant was how it judges its patrons based on how they are seated. The "pretty, young people" are seated in the worst tables in the "pit". These people are essentially typical diners around the city. The rest of the spots are saved for self-gratifying Conde Nast employees and celebs.

My last rant is reserved for the restaurant I'm most interested in trying: Minetta Tavern. I have tried on more than several occasions to get a reservation at what Bruni deemed the best steakhouse in New York. I approach it like Babbo but when I call in, at 9:00 AM sharp, I'm only offered tables at 6 or 11. This simply cannot be true based on the information that is given out to the public. Now reservationists seem to hold prime tables during prime time for VIP. To me, this is most aggravating at all. The Waverly owns the fact they are clannish, Minetta does not. I frankly would not care about the Minetta Tavern were it not such a food destination. At this point, I may just brave the horror of dining at 6 or 11.

Look, I like the Waverly and I was lucky enough to be gifted the clandestine e-mail to secure a table there. If I had carte blanche access to all these restaurants, this post probably would not even be written. New York has plenty of exclusive and clubby institutions, we do not need our restaurant's to adopt the same mentality.