Scoring a restaurant reservation at a coveted hotspot in New York City once required a combination of skill, charm and savvy — until third-party, bot-driven scalper sites began selling them for astronomical rates.
Tourists and other deep-pocketed gourmands have used apps like Appointment Trader to skip the line over the holidays by paying $2,500 to reserve a table for two at Big Apple hotspot The Polo Bar, Side Dish has learned.
Other diners have committed to paying $350 a person at a restaurant in order to secure a hard-to-get rezzie at A-list magnet Carbone, via another third party app.
The practice has caused a divide among some in the industry who support the third-party apps and state officials, who passed legislation last week to crack down on the “predatory” black market for reservations.
The main issue for Gov. Kathy Hochul is that some of the “pay to play” sites cut out the restaurants from the process – unlike apps like OpenTable, Resy, Dorsia and Access, which partner with the establishments.
The new rules now levy civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation per day for unauthorized listings by the third-party apps.
“It’s simple. If third-party apps want to sell reservations, they should have a contract with the restaurant and not scalp them on the underground market to profit off the backs of restaurants,” New York City Hospitality Alliance executive director Andrew Rigie told Side Dish.
“This practice hurts businesses and workers when tables go empty and harms the guest experience when diners are seated under an alias.”
But Jonas Frey, the founder of “pro-consumer” Appointment Trader, called the legislation ‘horses—t.”
“Appointment Trader works because it’s so hard to get reservations at places like Carbone and Four Charles,” the Miami-based software engineer told Side Dish.
Big Apple restaurateurs like Stratis Morfogen, of Brooklyn Chop House, is also outraged by what he sees as government overreach with the new legislation, which he labeled “un-American.”
“These politicians have never run a lemonade stand, let alone created jobs. They should stay out of it,” Morfogen said.
“These apps are providing a service and people are willing to pay for it. It’s basic supply and demand. Economics 101. No one is getting hurt. Why should government get involved?”
Morfogen pointed to the popularity of third-party sites for tickets to the theater, concerts and sports events — and noted that many who flock to the city are locked out of landing a reservation. Frey agreed, adding that he hoped the law that regulates theater, concert and sports events, known as Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, could be ammended to include restaurants.
Morfogen did concede that if a person pays an app for a reservation and then fails to show-up, there should be a penalty.
Since the new law went into effect on Feb. 17, Appointment Trader has stopped offering reservations to Big Apple restaurants, although someone just paid $7,000 to score a table at London’s two Michelin-starred Indian sensation Gymkhana, Frey said.
Frey says his site does not use bots and that restaurants are welcome to participate for free, and share 50% of the profit with Appointment Trader, which also covers the cost of no-shows. The refunds, however, go to the initial person who booked the table on the site, not to the restaurants.
Other third-party apps like Access, which launched in December, have found success by partnering with restaurants.
Founded by Evan Felcher and Mattia Ros, the membership-based reservation platform guarantees “keys” for prime tables even at prime times — without minimum spends. If members don’t use their keys each month, they carry over to the next month.
Felcher and Ros first met in college on the competitive tennis circuit and reconnected when they both worked on Wall Street.
Basic membership starts at $1,788 annually and runs up to $11,988 for corporate memberships. It’s a subscription-based service that generates recurring revenues.
“I believe that the recent legislation is a long-awaited relief for restaurants,” Felcher said, adding that “restaurants saw their prime-time seats being stripped away without any control or opportunity for monetization.”
Calum Gordon, 27, an avid diner and Access member in the “automotive protection business,” says he likes the membership because there are no minimum spends.
With another app, he had to agree to spend $350 a person for four people to secure a table at Carbone.
“Believe it or not, it’s really hard to spend that much if you don’t buy really expensive wine, and there’s so much wasted food,” he told Side Dish.
We hear … Chef Eyal Shani is opening Shmoné Wine this week. The wine bar, at 65 W. Eighth St., is next to his Michelin-starred Greenwich Village restaurant, Shmoné. It’s the star chef’s first venture into the beverage space. “Wine is not just a drink, it is liquid poetry,” Shani says. The space is around 1,000 square feet and comes with 28 seats. The shop, formerly a tattoo parlor, serves curated wines with an emphasis on small producer, family-owned brands and growers from around the world. There are also small “hyper-seasonal” bites from some of his signature dishes, like Hot Jerusalem Bageland the Stretchy Stracciatella Pyrex Lasagna, as well as the “How we start our evening” section highlighting oysters, and “Bar Creatures,” with dishes like chopped chicory salad and deviled egg togarashi. Other menu items include a ‘cheese and charcuterie’ section and ‘pantry staples,’ with tinned fishes, olives, and a selection of fresh seafood.
The kitchen will be helmed by executive chef Orienne Shapira, who formerly led Shani’s team at HaSalon. Shapira will also be leading the kitchen next door at Shmoné. The vintages — from Germany, Italy and France — start at $16 per glass and $60 per bottle from wine director Yonatan Chaitchik, formerly of SAGA. The restaurant’s design is by Turjeman Yaakov of Jacob Turgeman Design. Eyal’s hospitality group, The Good People Group, encompasses 40 restaurants around the world, says partner Shahar Segal. That includes eight in New York, including Malka, Shani’s first kosher restaurant, Port Sa’id, HaSalon, Shmone and Shmone Wine.
We hear … Twin Tails had a stealth opening last fall at 10 Columbus Circle, where Landmark used to be, in what was once known as the Time Warner Center. It’s on the third floor, where its sister restaurant, Bad Roman, also stands. Both restaurants are part of Quality Branded. That’s the hospitality company from father-and-son team Alan Stillman (founder of T.G.I. Friday’s and Smith & Wollensky’s) and Michael Stillman, who launched Quality Meats, Quality (Italian), Zou Zou’s, Don Angie, San Sabino and more.
The menu is from chef/partner Craig Koketsu. Twin Tails is Quality Branded’s first Southeast Asian restaurant, featuring Thai and Vietnamese food, with some dishes from Cambodia and Laos, in a massive space that somehow feels quiet and grand, while leaning into an epic 80s feel. Think mirror paneled walls, floor to ceiling windows with Central Park views, and amber glass chandeliers, along with rosewood tables, green leather seats and velvet banquettes.
There’s also a speakeasy bar to have a salted lychee martini, Bangkok screwdriver or Sambal margarita before or after dinner. “We love Southeast Asian food. Growing up in Manhattan, there was Mr. Chow, which was modern, but nothing like this. The idea was to bring the design and narrative forward,” Michael Stillman tells Side Dish.
The design is by AvroKo. With 140 seats, the eatery is inspired by 1980s greats, with “It feels like the type of place you’d go if you were having an extravagant affair,” a fellow diner quipped. Dishes include raw offerings like yellowtail with watermelon nuoc cham and shiso; salmon with gaeng om, coconut milk and cashews and kusshi oysters with spicy clamansi shaved ice.
There’s also starters like green papaya and kumquat salad, as well as King Crab and uni buns, and green curry escargot. Main dishes include Dover sole with tom kha beurre blanc; crispy garlic shrimp and red curry sea bass, plus shared dishes like cho lon duck; and lemongrass ribs. Desserts include a Thai iced coffee affogato with Thai coffee caramel and roasted peanuts along with a selection of souffles like pistachio-pandan, coconut red curry and passion fruit.
