How many restaurants do you know that don’t take reservations? I’m pretty confident that in the coming years you’ll know of more and more. And you’ll probably also be frustrated on occasion having to wait for a table.
But at least you’ll most likely get a table. That was not the case last week when I spent a good hour wandering around the Mile End in search of dinner. I wanted something upscale to replace L’Un des Sens, whose online booking system had confirmed my 7pm reservation, but whose windows were shuttered for renovations when I arrived (I got a phone call the next morning from management explaining the mistake and hoping to ameliorate the situation with what I think the restaurant rep explained would be along the lines of a free meal…I have yet to hear back again to confirm. I’m getting a bit skeptical).
So, on a Thursday night I had to find a replacement restaurant last minute. My usual go-to would be Café Sardine – reasonably priced, always delicious, and no reservations, so I’d be guaranteed a table within about a half an hour, which is not bad. But I’d been there the week before and wanted to branch out. I’m not a huge fan of Lawrence with its pig, gluten, and dairy-heavy menus, as lovely as I know their kitchen is, and as much respect as I have for their chef, servers and sommellier.
So I bounced down to Comptoir Charcuteries et Vins. I’d been there when it first opened a few years ago and had an amazing dinner. Then I went again on a long date once about a year later. All my food intolerances had been accommodated, and the atmosphere was perfect. Add a single glass of organic, biodynamic, natural wine and I was ready to give this place a medal. But then I went with a friend about 6 months ago and was given at least one plate with gluten on it, despite having informed my server many times. Fortunately I was sitting at the bar and when I saw something looking gluten-y I asked the chef. the plate went away, and I was quickly served another without the ingredient in question. I was not, however, given any replacement, and the $15 price tag suddenly seemed like a big waste for a small fillet of fish on a bed of…nothing. Then the other dishes came the same way. Why was I paying the regular price for half dishes that really didn’t taste that good because there were only half the flavours involved? So as much as I love this restaurant’s concept and homemade charcuterie (conceptually, not in taste, since I don’t generally eat pork or beef), I can’t get behind it.
And it didn’t matter anyway, because when I went to give this place a 4th shot that night when L’Un des Sens was closed, they couldn’t fit two more people in until 9:30pm at the earliest.
So I went back up St-Laurent to Hotel Hermann, the new small plates place with yet more biodynamic wines and avant-garde dishes in the style of Sardine but with the prices of Le Filet. Also full. Of course it was. It was Thursday after all.
And this is where the “we don’t take reservations” concept works well. It’s more for people who can’t be bothered to make reservations in advance (or decide only last minute to go out for dinner). But it would have been perfect for me. I will admit that normally I hate restaurants that don’t take reservations. In general I believe that a restaurant meal is a special occasion, and it’s something to be shared with two people, thus requiring forethought. And if you think about it in advance, then you can also make a reservation in advance. At least a day in advance. I’m not talking a week here, though I’ve been known to do that. And Montreal isn’t Copenhagen, whose most famous restaurant, Noma, is booked for the next year solid.
Then there’s David Chang, who’s known for his “no reservations” policy – turning his restaurants into accessible houses of casual fine dining (the oxymoron, as with most morons, doesn’t sit well with me). And his restaurants that do take reservations, like Ssam in Manhattan, are more egalitarian about it, with no queue-jumping by money-ed or celebrity patrons. Plus the reservations must be made online. Chang’s most recent venture in Toronto (4 restaurants in the Shangri-La hotel – a tasting menu place, a straight-up restaurant with entrees and mains, a bar/lounge, and a casual noodle place) has ramen-seeking foodies in lines around the block, I’ve heard. But maybe those lines are only for the noodle bar? For those who are willing to pay $250 for a meal maybe get the luxury of making a reservation?
And that’s what it’s most often about – luxury, like at the new Maison Boulud in Montreal that’s also getting rave reviews. They’d never not take reservations. What would people say? What genteel gentleman would willingly wait 30 minutes with his gown-attired lady on a given evening, even if it was in an armchair in the lobby of the swanky Ritz-Carlton?
So my situation was unusual – I had made a reservation, only to have it canceled and end up reservation-less in search of dinner in a restaurant-dense area. But there are lots of people who just don’t figure it’s ever necessary to make a reservation. And this, to me, is arrogant. You think your patronage is so important that you can just waltz on in to any reservation and expect a seat? What about restaurants that arrange tables just so for parties of different sizes in advance (most), and ones who want to know how many people to expect to not not waste food or staff resources? They may always be full on a Friday, but on a Tuesday night they could have either chefs chain smoking all evening out of boredom, or be slammed by a party of ten. And the restaurant has to pay that staff to hang around either way. And just be glad the gown-attired ladies in your last-minute party of 12 don’t hear the cussing come out of the kitchen when the group arrives reservation-less.
Where’s the respect? I respect what those chefs do and so choose to warn/inform them that my party is coming. But on the other hand, Cafe Sardine will make a lot more money by stuffing the restaurant all night, flipping the tables more often by filling them as people arrive, instead of holding a table empty until a party’s 8pm reservation while a hungry group shows up at 7 and is turned away. The server sees his tips slipping away, and the owner sees the same for his profits.
So where did I end up that night of no reservations? At La Chronique on Laurier. It’s got a great reputation and I’d only been there for lunch. And it was only a third full. Not for quality reasons, but for price reasons. Dinner at L’Un des Sens can be under $50 per person with a glass of wine including tax and tip, and if you really go all out it won’t cost over $80. I’m talking a bottle of wine, 5 courses including dessert, tax and tip. Cafe Sardine – about $45 per person unless you indulge in a handful of well-made cocktails by Graham or Dave. Comptoir – about the same, but stick with the stellar wine list.
La Chronique? $80 per person all-in, and only if you have a tiny appetite. Wine is about $15 per glass (from a Wine Spectator award-winning list, mind you), the ambiance is wonderful – elegant, romantic, and no blasting indie post-punk orchestral folk pop. Okay, I sound like a grandmother when I write things like that, but as sexy as it is to have to lean all the way across the table so your date can hear you, it’s nice to be able to sit back, have a comfortable conversation and feel like royalty without the pomp), and the food is good. I just wish there was more of it. My $40 main of roasted fish was a little too firm, but very flavourful, and the reduced sauce was perfect with the few pieces of carrot. But that’s all there was. I couldn’t eat the bread, of course.
It really was a good overall restaurant experience, and our sommelier/server was funny and knowledgeable. I think he was a bit tickled by the young people enjoying dinner in such an older-person kind of restaurant. He probably doesn’t see much of the under 30 crowd. So La Chronique – thumbs up. And of course, dinner is what you make of it. So good company and a laissez-faire/chill attitude (laissez-faire is the term for the 30-plus reader, chill for the under 30, wiwth the ven diagram overlapping from 20 to about 35 so as not to hurt anyone’s feelings) make a big difference in enjoying a meal instead of being frustrated and upset by a bunch of restaurants being full or closed.
The irony is that this is the type of place where you’d expect to have to make a reservation because it’s so upscale. No one who comes here to spend $250 on a meal would be willing to wait outside. But because it’s $250 for a meal for two, they wouldn’t have to. Mile End hipsters aren’t racing down to La Chronique on Thursday nights to spend their hard-earned booze money on $40 fish at what’s certainly not an “it” place. So there’s no line, and no problem getting a table last minute.
I think reservations are great, until the system fails you. Inevitably, there will eventually be a night where you don’t have a reservation and get turned away. And maybe, if all restaurants didn’t take reservations, you’d have been willing to wait 30 minutes, or more, or hold one of those annoying buzzers that lets you know when your table is free. But that’s Toronto. That’s New York. Here, we call ahead, we plan, we look forward to, and we’re treated with the same respect we give the restaurant. And when that doesn’t work, we just cross our fingers and hope some place has a few seats free and can stuff us in before their next pre-planned party arrives. Or we splurge at some place without a line. Or order take-out.
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