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Why It’s Getting Harder To Land A Reservation
I had a happy surprise this week, when two friends with whom I worked at the New York Times popped up in New Orleans. They invited me to dinner, and asked me to pick a place.
Since they were only here for a few days, I asked if they’d like to eat at Commander’s Palace. I live across the street and have a gift card that I want to use. They enthusiastically said yes, so I got on the restaurant website, fairly certain I could find a table.
I thought my chances might be good, since it was mid-week, and Jazz Fest was finished. What better time to get a last minute seat?
I was startled to find nothing available that evening — or in fact, for the next four days, according to the reservations system. I called the restaurant, hoping for a cancellation, but a sympathetic employee told me the place was booked solid for the night.
We found another spot to eat, and had a delicious meal, but the experience alerted me to a situation that’s occuring in restaurants across the country. There simply aren’t as many restaurant tables available, even though customers are eager to return.
The main reason: shortages of staff
After I previewed this story in Friday’s update for CulinaryWoman Community members, Ti Martin called me up. She and her cousin Lally Brennan are co-proprietors of Commander’s, inheriting the role filled by Ti’s legendary mother, Ella Brennan. (As it turns out, my balcony overlooks Miss Ella’s former house, which is a favorite spot for Garden District walking tours.)
Far from being upset that I highlighted her restaurant, Ti said she was happy that I was tackling this topic, which has begun showing up in culinary publications such as the Wall Street Journal.
She said there is one key reason why restaurants are limiting their bookings: the shortage of staff. Despite the recent gains in the job market, restaurants are still struggling to fill the jobs that existed before 2020.
Many now employ far fewer people on staff than before the pandemic. In Ann Arbor, Sava’s, a longtime favorite near the University of Michigan campus, had 110 staffers before Covid struck. This week, it re-opens following a lengthy renovation with a staff of 60. It plans to only serve dinner until fall, when it hopefully can offer some form of all-day dining.
The staffing crisis is prompting all kinds of noticeable changes, led by the reduction in available seats. In Commander’s case, Ti needs to match her available tables to the number of people who will cook and wait on guests. Given the current climate, staffing is just too uncertain to promise the seats that she once could offer, she told me.
She has closed some of Commander’s various dining rooms, and limits lunch service to Thursday and Friday (there is also brunch on Saturday and Sunday, as well as dinner every evening). Opening and closing times remain fluid, as you can see from the notice above.
There also is no way she can predict exactly how much volume the restaurant can handle more than a few days in advance.
This is admittedly frustrating for people who are trying to plan business meals, family gatherings and other events in the short to medium term. Nobody in the industry wants to disappoint their customers, but they also want to ensure that the customers who do get seats receive the kind of experience they expect.
What guests can do
As I found out from my Commander’s experience, it’s important to plan ahead, if you want to eat somewhere specific on a specific night.
You also need to be flexible about the time. Before Covid, reservations at 5:30 pm were considered loser times. Nobody cool ate that early; everyone strived for that elusive 7:30 pm slot, when a place was at its peak.
Well, that 5:30 pm time now might be the only one you can get. Or conversely, you might have to eat later than you want. My friends and I ended up with an 8:45 pm reservation, and we were not the last table seated.
Needless to say, it helps to have a list of alternative choices if you can’t eat at the place you’d hoped to go. We wound up at La Petite Grocery, always one of my favorite places, and my friends were delighted with the meal and the service.
If you do snag a table, do everything you can to honor your reservation. No-shows not only hurt the restaurant, you may have taken away someone’s chance for their top choice.
And when you get there, be nice. You’ve seen those “be kind to our staff” signs on restaurant doors and websites. The owners mean it.
Any contretemps with a customer could prompt a restaurant employee to quit, knowing they can easily get hired elsewhere. Do the house a favor, and help them keep their people.
What restaurants can do
Communicate, communicate, communicate. It’s never been more important to let guests know what’s happening.
Facebook and Instagram have become crucial ways for places to keep patrons informed of daily changes, as well as text alerts. Although websites and email matter, customers probably don’t think to check them automatically.
As soon as schedules change, let people know, as Dear Margaret did in Chicago last week. (It reopened on Friday.) It’s so frustrating to arrive for a meal and find a sign on the door, or no sign at all, just a dark interior.
To their credit, restaurants are thinking on their feet, which they had to do during the pandemic.
They probably thought the worst would be over by now, and hopefully it is, in terms of illness. But big challenges still remain, for guests as well as establishments.
Restocking Restaurant Funding
When restaurants were struggling in the depths of the pandemic, Congress stepped forward with three rounds of assistance.
Given the enormous demand, not every business was able to get a loan or grant. For months, the Independent Restaurant Coalition has pushed for more help.
This week, the Senate is supposed to vote on another $42 billion for the Restaurant Restoration Fund. The House has already approved a measure with the money.
It is not a slam dunk, however. For one thing, there are more timely crises on the Senate’s radar, like efforts to help Ukraine and the baby formula debacle.
The bill also needs 60 votes, meaning 10 Republicans would have to join all 50 Democrats, assuming every Democrat would vote for it (never a guarantee any more).
Stay tuned to see whether help arrives.
First, Starbucks. Next: Delivery Workers?
The unionization drive among Starbucks stores is picking up speed. More than 70 have now voted in favor of organizing, despite fevered efforts by Starbucks to thwart them.
With baristas joining forces, who might be next? It could be delivery workers. Fledgling efforts are popping up in New York City and elsewhere, Eater reports.
That might seem counterintuitive, since food delivery is considered the ultimate in gig work. But as the union movement gains steam among industries, the sheer number of delivery people suggests the right organizing appeal could find willing participants.
Men In Suits
The experts say you should switch off your phone two hours before you go to bed. But to relax at the end of the day, I often scroll through Instagram Reels.
Amid videos showing fancy desserts and cooking techniques, I recently discovered two young male dancers whose performances never fail to make me smile. One reason is that they each perform in business suits.
Kakefuda Takuro - @kaketaku85 - dresses as a Japanese salaryman, albeit one who could seamlessly become the eighth member of BTS. His dancing skills are jaw dropping. Kake-San mixes things up, sometimes dancing alone, occasionally with a partner and with backup dancers who echoes his moves. His enthusiasm is infectious, and he loves interacting with his fans.
The other is Kjetil Krogstad - @kjetil.krogstad - who is from Norway, whose scenery features in his videos. In real life, he is not a performer, but manages a kindergarten.
Kjetil has a slight culinary connection. He has recorded a series of videos in which he dances while sipping coffee, or at least while holding a coffee cup. Nothing ever spills - at least, not on camera.
I heart them both, and hope you will enjoy them, too.
Keeping Up With CulinaryWoman
I am a lifelong fan of Zabar’s, the legendary New York City deli. When I was a student at Columbia University, and had some extra cash, I would jump on the bus or the subway and ride down to Zabar’s, to eat and shop.
Of course, it’s familiar to anyone who’s watched Nora Ephron’s film You’ve Got Mail (“Happy Thanksgiving back” or the NYC episode of Somebody Feed Phil.
So, it was exciting to see the Wall Street Journal review my book and pair it with Lori Zabar’s new book about her family’s business.
I love Zabar’s so much that this print is in my kitchen (you can follow the artist, Melanie Reim, @melreim, on Instagram).
You can find my book - and Lori’s - from Amazon or at Bookshop.org, which distributes sales to independent booksellers.
Last week, I did two virtual book talks, and I’m happy to speak to your organization about my book or other topics.
Feel free to reach out to me at CulinaryWoman at gmail dot com. I’m on Instagram @michelinemaynard and my new account is @micki_in_nola for my New Orleans adventures.
Covid cases seem to be on the rise again. I took a break from wearing a mask after I got my second booster, but I’m going to be careful and I hope you will be, too. See you next week!