"reservation" news and stories

Could a restaurant be so appealing, so irresistable, that you'd wait a year to get a reservation?

This one apparently is: Talula's Table in rural Pennsylvania, has been called the most difficult reservation to get in the country. Talula's is about an hour outside of Philly, has only one large farm table that seats 12, and is run by a husband and wife team. There's a store that sells cakes, pies, soups, and over 150 different kinds of cheeses (the co-owner spent her life studying cheeses).

But the real treat appears to be the restaurant. The eight-course tasting menu, which features fresh and primarily local ingredients, is the same every day for about 5-6 weeks, and then changes depending on what's in season.

The day that one NPR reporter visited, the menu was as follows: egg custard; mushroom risotto; hand-rolled rigatoni with snails; pampano roasted with a mango-saffron broth; pork osso bucco; lamb; blue-raisin chutney semolina; and for dessert - deep breath - a coffee-infused bavarian creme with bittersweet and white chocolate over a piece of buttery shortbread, covered in a blood orange jelly.

And for the record? If you want a reservation, call them tomorrow starting at 7 a.m. The first person to call that day gets the next reservation a year from now, and the process repeats itself the next day, and the next, and the next...

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Getting a reservation at El Bulli, rated as the best restaurant in the world, can be very difficult. The restaurant not only has limited seating, but is open for only 6 months out of the year. Most diners have to plan at least 6-12 months in advance just to try to get a reservation - and once you have it, you're going at whatever time it's for.

Oh, you didn't know that Aunt Bessie was going to be ill when you made your resevation last July? You can't make it to dinner?

Just sell the reservation on eBay.

Evidently, one member of a party of four diners could not make the trip, so the remaining three are auctioning off the final seat at their table on eBay. The winner of the auction must find their own travel to Barcelona and accomodation while there, but they get to have dinner at El Bulli  - which normally costs €170/$215, without wine - on June 17th at 8pm. Bids start at $1,000 and the auction ends on June 14th.

You can view a photo set of a recent meal at the restaurant here to get an idea of what you're in for.

[via eGullet]

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With very few exceptions, I have never had a problem getting a reservation at a restaurant that I wanted to eat at. Holidays like Valentine's Day can pose their own problems, of course, but I am speaking of an ordinary night out. If I have not been able to get a reservation, I go somewhere else. If the restaurant is closing when I walk in, I go somewhere else. Some people don't want to go somewhere else, though, and either bribe the hostess or outright lie to get in. They have fake reservations. A fake reservation is what some diners use to get into restaurants that are full or closing, knowing that most restaurants will not question their claim. But here's something they may not know: they're not fooling anyone. The restaurant knows that you're faking.

No matter how much you want to eat at a restaurant, it's not going to be as satisfying if you're faking. Service will be slower because the staff is slammed. The staff will be annoyed that they have to hang around for hours after closing. You'll get annoyed because your waiter is brusque, or not all the specials are available. Try using OpenTable.com to make your reservation based on existing availability. This way you won't have to fake it.