Say it's 8 p.m. on a Saturday night. What's the wait for a table?
Maybe 45 to an hour.
Is there anything I could say or do to make my wait shorter?
If they're really polite and a regular and they're wearing good things, depends on the way they present themselves. Some people they walk in and they lie, they say they have reservations. A lot of times it happens, Fridays and Saturdays when everybody is sold out and they can't get in anywhere, they put on nice clothes and they go out and they say, "We have a reservation. It's your mistake. We called and we made a reservation." And we have to deal with it.
How do you deal with it?
Well, I usually act like they have one. Mistakes can happen. Maybe someone answered the phone and didn't put them or someone canceled the reservation by mistake. So I have to deal with it. What's my strategy Friday and Saturday night when we're sold out? Always a few seats for VIPs left. Always I have Plan A and Plan B.
Has anyone ever tried to slip you money or give you gifts?
Oh yeah. Of course.
Does that ever work?
It works all of the time. I'll make it happen.
Oh yeah? So you accept the money or gifts?
Yeah, of course. You can't turn those away. That's your job. That's how you get paid sometimes, with tips. I learned something a long time ago [from] one bartender who's my friend. He gave me some money as a tip and I turned away the money. I said, "No, don't worry about it. I'll just help you." And he said, "Listen, if your father comes to your bar and orders a beer and tips you, take the money."
So if the restaurant's booked but somebody comes up and gives you money and asks for your help to get in earlier, what do you do? How do you make that happen for them?
As I said, I always have a few seats available for last-minute VIPs, so I take one of those seats and I give it to them. Usually, Friday and Saturday, almost every day when I look at the book, I have my plan. I brief my staff what's going to happen and who's who on which table, whose anniversary, whose birthday, who is gluten-free, stuff like that. So when that happens, I have to brief my guys again and change the plan, changing tables, everything. It's very hard for me to keep the balance in the dining room.
How so?
Just look at the dining room. For example, you cannot have two African-American next to each other. Or two Chinese or Japanese next to each other. It kind of looks like a different section just for this race. I have to split them around and it depends. If someone for example wears a nice suit with a nice watch, nice lady, I'm not going to sit with him a guy wearing just a khaki and a shirt. You have to have the balance in the dining room. (...)
What's the most outrageous request that you have accommodated?
I've been in a situation that I have to present the ring for engagement. All the time. I act like I'm taking the dessert to a table and I put the ring on a plate, cover it and I go to the table and I tell the lady, "Listen, the chef saw you not eat that much so he sent you an extra course. But the real chef is this guy next to you. He made that at home and bring it with him and I just put it in the oven, warm it up and I brought it to you. And I take the cloche off and she see the ring and he finishes the rest."
That's cute. What's your success rate for accepting the proposal?
Well, so far in 13 years, I saw only one reject.
How many proposals have you done?
Maybe 300-400.
by Amy McKeever, Eater DC | Read more:
Photo: R. Lopez
