299811 Fri Feb 11 17:05:47 -0800 2005 48 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1663113 At the request of the moderators, I am reposting this from the Manhattan board: Ok, so I'm a little bit proud about what I did last night, and also a little bit embarrassed. It normally is not my style to do something like this, but I did it, and was amazed at how well it worked. I wanted to get a last minute reservation for two at a restaurant that is reputed to be one of NYC's most difficult reservations. On this board, this particular restaurant generally is highly regarded, although there are some that think it is overrated and overpriced. I called the reservations number and was surprised to actually get through at about 5:00pm yesterday. I asked for a table for two, and was told that one would be available at 9:45. I asked if I could possible get one at 7:30 or 8:00, and assured them that we would be ordering some good wine. She said I'd have to speak with the maitre d' and put me on hold. He came on the line and I gave him the same pitch. He told me to come in at 7:30 and he would take care of me. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised: all it took was a vague promise of ordering a nice bottle of wine and I was able to get a prime reservation. So we showed up and I introduced myself to the maitre d'. He promptly showed us to a table, and I slipped him $50 to thank him. (I generally am a generous tipper, but have never tipped a maitre d' -- let alone bribed my way into a restaurant -- before in my life.) Five minutes later he came back to the table and handed me a business card with his cell phone number written on the back. He told me to call him any time, and he would take care of me. We had a wonderful dinner, and did in fact order a very nice bottle of wine. Assuming the maitre 'd honors his word (I have every reason to believe that he will), I'd say it was $50 well spent. Fri Feb 11 17:05:47 -0800 2005 0 Nor'easter 1 1663118 Congratulations. I just would avoid restaurants where that was likely to happen. I don't stand in line for restaurants -- no matter how wonderful they are -- that don't take or reasonably honor their reservations, and I don't bribe to squeeze in. About the only way I would is if a dear friend was suffering a terminal illness and made this as a special request of me; otherwise, never. The practice encourages a lot of bad restaurant behaviors I think are best left to rot on their vine. Fri Feb 11 17:22:01 -0800 2005 1663113 0 Karl S. 2 1663120 Agreed...various server/hostess friends have told me that when the grossly-overtipping sorta customer doesn't do so on occassion, it unvoluntarily makes them annoyed, as they come to expect it... While the person you tipped picked up a nice bonus, what about the customer who had a 7:30 reservation and was forced to wait til 8:15 for their table? That person will leave with a bad view of the restaurant and the restaurant/owner will suffer because of it... None of this is your problem, as i tend to think that all is fair in love and food...but i have to agree that it encourages the sort of restaurant behavior that is best left in places like Los Angeles... For high contrast, go to Tokyo, where there is zero tipping and the restaurant workers are proud to make both their customers and the restaurant owner happy with their good service... Fri Feb 11 17:39:10 -0800 2005 1663118 0 Simon 3 1663122 Having been the customer (party of 4) who waited until 9 pm to be seated for our 8 pm reservation while a well known celebrity (party of 2) walked right in (no reservation; we overheard the exchange with the hostess), I was sufficiently piqued to never patronize that, or any, restaurant that takes bribes or dishonors their reservations. We got absolutely NO consideration for the wait, either - nothing but a weak apology. I wanted to leave after 20 minutes, but was outvoted by my dining companions. Yes, this was in Los Angeles. Fri Feb 11 17:51:19 -0800 2005 1663120 0 LBQT 4 1663126 I would be pissed if my reservation were not honored because some celebrity or some briber got my table. But I suspect (and I could be wrong) that this particular restaurant, any many popular restaurants, do not take reservations for all of their tables because they know that (1) they often have regulars, celebrities and others who they want to be able to be in a position to accommodate at the last minute and (2) the tables will not go unused because they are always in a position to put walk-ins at an unused table. Fri Feb 11 17:59:40 -0800 2005 1663122 0 Nor'easter 5 1663141 Yes, one place I worked we would save a handful of tables throughout the evening for last-minute concierge reservations or other VIPs. Fri Feb 11 21:13:38 -0800 2005 1663126 0 babette feasts 6 1663148 In the instance I described, the place was full. They gave our four top to this celeb and his guest. It wouldn't have been so offensive if there had at least been another open table....... Fri Feb 11 23:37:57 -0800 2005 1663141 0 LBQT 7 1663429 You really should have voiced your displeasure firmly, but politely (and acknowledging the unique situation the restaurant is put in when celebrities show up). You likely would have gotten better treatment (maybe some drinks or the like). Most places are open to this kind of treatment...but ONLY if you say something. Don't speak up? They, more often than not, just assume you'll sit there and take it. Thu Feb 17 09:25:34 -0800 2005 1663148 0 Matt M. 2 1663428 I think one of the worst things a restaurant can do is essentially not honoring your reservation. There is a very hard to get reservation in Manhattan that my wife and I secured. We arrived right on time and waited well over an hour (closer to 2 hours). The only saving grace was they were offering h'ors devours and drinks, but I think they typically do this as they typically make people wait. What really irked me is the small bar area is packed with backed up reservations and somebody walked in (no reservation) and was offered a table right away. Granted, he was a regular, but I find that insulting and I vowed not to return. Thu Feb 17 09:21:35 -0800 2005 1663118 0 Matt M. 1 1663124 As a wine fanatic, I am curious which special bottle you ordered. How was the wine list, in general? E-mail me privately if you don't want to disclose the name of the restaurant. Fri Feb 11 17:57:12 -0800 2005 1663113 0 Foodude 2 1663127 2000 Gaja Barbaresco It wasn't a huge wine list, but there were many desirable (if pricey) choices. Fri Feb 11 18:01:48 -0800 2005 1663124 0 Nor'easter 3 1663128 Was that wine ready to drink? Sounds young to me. Fri Feb 11 18:06:14 -0800 2005 1663127 0 Karl S. 4 1663130 Yes, it's young, but very drinkable. I am sure you can appreciate that the older Gaja Barbaresco's get much more pricy very quickly. Fri Feb 11 18:09:29 -0800 2005 1663128 0 Nor'easter 5 1663132 Oh, yes. My problem is that a lot of restaurants boast wine lists with wines that are nowhere near optimal drinkability (I understand the overhead costs involved with aging wines properly) but still charge a pretty penny for wasting a bottle of what might have been a much better bottle of wine. That practice is a good sign of a restaurant that is not worth its value in terms of its wine list. Fri Feb 11 18:36:25 -0800 2005 1663130 0 Karl S. 1 1663125 I'm more amazed that you're proud of bribing a maitre d' with an outrageous tip. You should hear what the staff says about ostentatious tippers. Fri Feb 11 17:59:37 -0800 2005 1663113 0 Jim H. 2 1663129 I don't understand your comment on a couple of levels. (1) I very descretely tipped the maitre d' after I had already gotten what I wanted. I didn't flash a fifty and ask for a table. How is that ostentatious? (2) I remarked in my original post that there was an element of embarrassment to this story, too. Again, I didn't walk in flashing cash and asking for favors. The only favor I asked for -- a desirable reservation -- was granted before I even got to the restaurant merely based on a promise to order a nice bottle of wine. (3) We tipped the wait staff very well, too. Not in any ostentatious way, just they way I normally do: I added a tip to the tab and that was that. I hope the wait staff wasn't too upset that we tipped well! Fri Feb 11 18:07:35 -0800 2005 1663125 0 Nor'easter 3 1663135 Take it from me, I've worked in a few restaurants and the staff LOVES ostentatious tippers. Just so long as you spread it around. Fri Feb 11 19:26:00 -0800 2005 1663129 0 Spud 3 1663140 In other words, you didn't actually bribe your way into a restaurant. Fri Feb 11 20:45:16 -0800 2005 1663129 0 Caitlin McGrath 4 1663151 As I indicated below, I'm a bit taken as to the use of the word "bribe" here. A bribe is payment to someone to betray a trust. A "tip", on the other hand, is provided "to insure prompt service". So, for example, my tip to my building doorman becomes a bribe when I give it to have him do something he is specifically not supposed to, i.e., leave his post to move my car. Sat Feb 12 04:50:03 -0800 2005 1663140 0 JanetG 5 1663158 Or when the captain gives a briber a table out of order that makes the restaurant overbooked.... Sat Feb 12 09:15:51 -0800 2005 1663151 0 Karl S. 6 1663162 >>Or when the captain gives a briber a table out of order that makes the restaurant overbooked....>> That's assuming that someone lost a table. If (as someone suggested) the restaurant keeps a few spare tables, no harm done. If they don't, and they bump people, I'd say it's their fault, not the customer's. Sat Feb 12 14:03:06 -0800 2005 1663158 0 bibi rose 7 1663163 Well, the bringing customer creates the situation for the abuse: so they are both wrong. And even Emily Post (2004 edition, no less) deems that a major fault when it happens. Sat Feb 12 14:07:12 -0800 2005 1663162 0 Karl S. 6 1663168 And the OP didn't do this. He told the reservationist he'd be buying a good bottle of wine, got the able, then gave the host $50. So he didn't "bribe his way" into a restaurant, as he claims in his thread title. Now, if that $50 gets him in without a reservation next time, I guess he'll have bribed his way in. Sat Feb 12 18:03:05 -0800 2005 1663158 0 Caitlin McGrath 5 1663227 "To insure prompt service" is an urban myth that exploits the similarity of the words insure and ensure. Link: http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/tip.htm Mon Feb 14 10:23:06 -0800 2005 1663151 0 john clark 5 1663395 I diagree. A tip is given for services rendered. Abribe is given to either secure prompt service or service out of the norm. You "tip" your doorman at the holidays, or AFTER he leaves his post to move your car. You BRIBE him by slipping him the money up front, when you ask. For the record, I would say this gentleman TALKED his way in to this restaurant, and bribed his way to having potentially excellent access to future tables. Wed Feb 16 15:51:12 -0800 2005 1663151 0 Matt M. 2 1663137 "You should hear what the staff says about ostentatious tippers." That's the funniest thing I've heard all week! We _love_ ostentatious tippers! (Especially when there's no bribe attached, but the tip is made after great service with no pretense.) Fri Feb 11 19:34:54 -0800 2005 1663125 0 KB 3 1663225 Being on the receiving end of gifts, in my business, it makes one tend to think that the gift giver expects special treatment. It throws everyting off. I would rather not receive a gift and treat everybody equally. Mon Feb 14 09:36:38 -0800 2005 1663137 0 ValL 4 1663275 My God! What do you think slipping the maitre d' $50 cash is all about? Not only does the diner expect special treatment, but soon the maitre d' expects to be paid off, and those that do not cross his palm do not get good tables ( or find themselves next to the kitchen door). I will not patronize a restaurant where payola is required. Mon Feb 14 23:29:07 -0800 2005 1663225 0 Jim H. 2 1663226 "outrageous tip" Does that mean we should be able to bribe our way into a hard-to-get reservation for less? What is the going rate? Mon Feb 14 09:37:57 -0800 2005 1663125 0 danna 1 1663133 So.......are you going to have to grease him with a fifty every time you call his number for a reservation? Just curious. Fri Feb 11 19:25:06 -0800 2005 1663113 0 Spud 2 1663136 I've thought about that. It could be his expectation. Whether I choose to do that remains to be seen. Even with my new found access, I suspect I wouldn't go more than a couple of times a year. It really is a decadent place. Fri Feb 11 19:34:30 -0800 2005 1663133 0 Nor'easter 1 1663154 Having worked as a hostess at one of those restaurants, I have seen the maitre d` walk out with thousands of dollars on some evenings. He made enough money that he was able to open up his own private club in Manhattan. He stood up front all evening long counting his money. Addressing each customer with "Monsieur" and then turning me asking me which table to take them to. Of course, he never told me customer`s name, as he didn`t even know who it was... and to imagine that people actually followed him from that restaurant to yet another restaurant to yet his own private club..... Sat Feb 12 07:34:44 -0800 2005 1663113 0 aquavit 2 1663175 I don't know the restaurant business, but shouldn't he have shared some of that tip with you, being the hostess? Sat Feb 12 20:53:19 -0800 2005 1663154 0 torta basilica 3 1663223 yes, but Bruno is a slimy, selfish pig. besides, I would not want to have any part of his dirty money. I wanted nothing to do with his negative energy. Restaurant Daniel and Alain Ducasse New York is much better without the hog at the door. I have a clean conscious. he has to live with himself. Mon Feb 14 09:11:02 -0800 2005 1663175 0 aquavit 2 1663318 That is Bruno Jamais. His place on the upper east side is grotesque and cliche - ugly old white moneyed men and the Russian prostitutes they purchase. Tue Feb 15 14:35:14 -0800 2005 1663154 0 chowgal 1 1663165 this is a very very old practice, nothing new Sat Feb 12 15:39:59 -0800 2005 1663113 0 doc 2 1663206 Bribing the maitre d' with cash to secure a table is, I agree, an old practice. But I tipped him only after he gave me a table, which he was willing to do based on a vague promise that I'd order a nice bottle of wine. It certainly may have been the case that he expected a tip, but my facts still differ from the norm, where someone slips some bills into the maitre d's palm to see if that will help to open up a table. Sun Feb 13 20:37:35 -0800 2005 1663165 0 Nor'easter 3 1663266 One maitre d` would only take tips from the customers on the way out. He would push the captains to give "special service" to those guests who were going to tip and I believe that they often tipped more after a great evening (and tons of wine) on their way out than they would have on the way in... Mon Feb 14 21:26:31 -0800 2005 1663206 0 aquavit 1 1663381 Regarding "bribes": There are a few restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn that I go to regularly, which is not to say all the time, but when I am going out for business thay are my standard "go-to" places. After being there a few times, I made a practice out of ALWAYS tipping the front desk seating staff/concierge/maitre d' as a matter of course, also making sure that I knew them by name, and that they knew mine. After doing this a few times, I am now in a position to call any one of those restaurants thirty minutes before I want to go, no matter how busy the evening, and walk right in to a table with a ten minute (or less) wait. That's what I call business, not bribing. Making relationships that are based on money exchanging hands is business, and fine dining was never promised as a democratic experience. But I do agree that once you begin this practice, you are OBLIGATED to tip your contact EVERY time, even if you're not pulling a favor in that specific instance. That's the deal - it's all or nothing. Wed Feb 16 13:50:40 -0800 2005 1663113 0 MATSON JONES 2 1663383 how much do you for that kind of thing? $20? more? less? Wed Feb 16 14:40:17 -0800 2005 1663381 0 wurstle 3 1663384 Good question. It varies on the degree of difficulty and how well they come through for me, depending on what night of the week it is, how busy they are, how far in advance I'm calling, etc. If I've called in advance like any normal person would and made a proper reservation, a twenty is appropriate. It's just a way of saying "Hi, and thanks for putting me at a good table immediately and not making me wait in purgatory at the bar." If I'm calling on a Friday or Saturday at 6:00 for a 7:00 table for four, and they're slammed, and I walk in and am seated in ten minutes or less at a great table while there's people waiting at the bar over thirty minutes (or longer) for a table for their reservation, I give a C note. In between, $50 does it. Wed Feb 16 14:49:48 -0800 2005 1663383 0 MATSON JONES 4 1663388 thanks! interesting. Wed Feb 16 15:32:55 -0800 2005 1663384 0 wurstle 1 1663393 I am proud to say I have never bribed my way in to a restaurant. I have gone to many "hot" or "in" spots or hard to get reservation places as a walk in if I couldn't secure a table. My willingness to wait at the bar (and drink, of course), in combination with being very patient and very polite has just about always scored me not only a table, but a nice table. Respect often gets you as much as cash does, although maybe not as quickly. Wed Feb 16 15:47:45 -0800 2005 1663113 0 Matt M. 2 1663396 A perfectly honourable and appropriate method. I think the whole "bribing" or "tipping the maitre d'" thing works best when you patronize the restaurant enough so that being able to call on a moments' notice to secure a table really makes your life easier. Just going to random "new/hot" restaurants and offering money to the gatekeeper(s) to get in is probably not always the best approach. Wed Feb 16 16:09:55 -0800 2005 1663393 0 MATSON JONES 1 1663436 I don't believe bribing is necessary if you are going to a restaurant you frequent and are considered a regular. The money you're spending each time you dine should be sufficient enough to get you a table. I find the more I frequent a place, the more respect and perks you receive from the staff, not the other way around. Thu Feb 17 10:42:10 -0800 2005 1663113 0 Doreen 2 1663757 True, but only to a point. If you're not know as a "tipper" (or "briber," as the case may be) but do go to a restaurant repeatedly, you certainly should get some perks (a better table than is the norm, even better service than the norm, priority when calling in advance for a reservation, etc.). But if you don't "tip," try calling that restaurant on a Friday or Staurday night when they are fully booked with stand-bys at the bar at 7pm and tell them that you need a "good" table for four at 8pm, and see what happens. I'm sure they'll very nicely explain to you that they're fully booked, and good client or no, they'll be unable to assist you. At the restaurants where I have a "tipping" relationship with the maitre d', I would get that 8pm table. Thu Feb 24 14:08:20 -0800 2005 1663436 0 MATSON JONES 3 1663758 I agree absolutely. I frequent a local "pub" type place, and am a generous tipper. I also know of one gentleman who goes there and is a terrible tipper ( we are talking 5% here!!). I get great service, my pick of tables- whether I am alone or with others. I have seen him struggle to get the attention of the server in more than one instance- and I have even seen him asked to move from a 2 top table to the bar ( which has never happened to me) Thu Feb 24 14:27:31 -0800 2005 1663757 0 macca 4 1664844 Oy - 5%?!? Unless the service is awful, that's embarrassing! Mon Mar 14 15:39:37 -0800 2005 1663758 0 MATSON JONES 1 1663529 People in the restaurant bussiness are there to make money. If you don't have a problem 'being generous' then it's cool. Maybe people who tip better earn/deserve better service. Sun Feb 20 09:06:12 -0800 2005 1663113 0 Bob