The reservation wars are here — and we're all losing

Dear Pros,

You've got Kat this week. As if it wasn't abundantly clear by this point in our email relationship, I have raging ADHD. One of the ways this manifests is that I'll often get overwhelmed when I'm making restaurant reservations. When presented with infinite restaurants, time slots, seating options, experiences, add-on pairings, and the like, my brain will simply short-circuit and I'll wander off to stare at Instagram or the Hoboken skyline. Call it "buffet syndrome" or (as frequent F&W Pro reader Andrew Zimmern taught me) "analysis paralysis."

Reservation apps both have and have not helped me with this, because I love to explore but I inevitably end up in a state of panic. Hospitality pros like my friend and F&W contributor John Winterman also have app-based stress — but for different reasons. Winterman's most recent dispatch from the dining trenches is on the topic of what he's termed the "Reservation Wars," which he wages as an operator of the Michelin-starred Francie in Brooklyn. Apps and platforms like OpenTable, Resy, SevenRooms, Tock, and others are even more nuanced from the restaurant side.

He writes, "Dining out used to be a direct transaction between you and me — the maître d', reservationist, or owner. You called or walked in, relayed some information, and I held a table for you at the designated time. Many reservation apps are designed to make you think you have access, when in reality you see only 5:30 p.m. or 10 p.m. available. The free and easy transaction has become muddied and complicated because third parties have come between us."

"Human contact has been systematically removed over the past three decades in favor of marketing, convenience, and efficiency, but it isn't always convenient or efficient; it can be demoralizing," Winterman continues. "It's positioning dining as a competitive sport, and most people feel like they're on the losing side."

While he fully credits these platforms with making many facets of his business easier — filling previously difficult seating times, streamlining private dining, tracking customer preferences — he also offers a compelling explanation of the bind that restaurants are in if they opt for a single service (or none at all) and the very real pangs he feels as a hospitality veteran now removed from several steps of the guest experience.

Please give it a read and let Erika and me know what your experience has been in the age of reservation automation. Your response may show up in a future Pro mailbag. Meanwhile, I'll be spending the bulk of the next week and a half with my fingers hovering over the booking buttons for half of the restaurants in Charleston so I can maximize my dining time at the Food & Wine Classic.

See you at the table,
Kat

P.S. If you're headed to the Food & Wine Classic in Charleston, our editor in chief Hunter Lewis has curated an incredible Night Out With Food & Wine four-day series of exclusive, single-night dining experiences featuring renowned culinary talent, all in support of the local restaurant community. Grab your tickets now.