Chefs Reveal How to Get Into the Hottest Restaurants In Your City!!

Adrienne and Joe unlock the secrets to scoring the hottest tables in town, breaking down industry insider strategies for beating the reservation bots and getting seated at fully booked restaurants. In this episode, we also discuss: Why showing up at doors-open and working the cancellation list actually works Ditching reservation apps and the power of calling the restaurant directly Building genuine relationships with hosts, floor managers, and door staff How sitting at the bar is often the easiest backdoor into a sold-out room How front-of-house teams manage table inventory and holdbacks behind the scenes Why tweaking your party size or dining time dramatically improves your odds The newest technology in restaurant hospitality A behind-the-scenes story on accommodating the first lady and the Secret Service during a packed service Check out: Superhost by Slang Follow the show: @chefscutpod Follow Adrienne: @chefadriennecheatham Follow Joe: @insta.flamm

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:15Adrienne Cheatham?

  Today on The Chef's Cut, we are sharing the ultimate chef's guide to scoring an impossible reservation. We're going to give you our favorite hacks for getting into restaurants that are really hard to book. If you have a cancellation, call me. Don't release it back on the app. We're going to pull back the curtain on how restaurants really manage their reservation books.

• 0:34Joe Flamm?

  That's what we call the ghost tables.

• 0:36Adrienne Cheatham?

  And Joe shares the unbelievable story of the wildest reservation he's ever had to accommodate.

• 0:42Joe Flamm?

  He's like, listen, the three extra tables are for the Secret Service. I need the three extra tables.

• 0:46Adrienne Cheatham?

  Chef's Cut Nation, you know what time it is. Please take 10 seconds of your day to rate and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps.

• 1:03Joe Flamm?

  Something we get asked all the time, right, is like, well, how do I get in? You know, how do I get into the restaurant I want to go to? And I think like, people are mystified sometimes of like, oh, is there some secret code? Is there something secret number? Is there? And there may be some of that, but I think there's some really kind of easy hacks out there. That it's like, if you really want to eat somewhere, whether it's in your city, and it's a place you're like, oh, I always try to go here, but I can never get the table I want. Or if you're traveling, and there's, there's always that one for me. And I think for you too, right? If you're going to a new city, or if you're going to an old city where you're like, oh, man, I'm going to New York, I just really want to eat at Kabala, or I'm going wherever, and I just really, there's this one restaurant I really want to eat at. I'm like, so how do you get that? How do you get that grail

• 1:47Joe Flamm?

  reservation? How do you make sure you get that spot you want to eat? So I think, you know, you and I, we know how to massage it. We know how to work it. And I think people think for us, it's a lot easier, but it is, because we have a bunch of friends who do this for a living. So we can send a couple texts and, you know, usually know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody.

• 2:06Adrienne Cheatham?

  But we also use, chefs also use reservation apps too. It's not all bugging people on the phone, because a lot of times, we know our friends are super busy. So before I message a friend, I will check online and see what I can get. And I run into the same issues that everybody else does. Fully booked, only reservation available is 10:00 PM, you know, stuff like that. So we've got a few hacks that, like you said, we've worked in this industry for decades. We know the ways to get into the restaurants that we want to, and it doesn't always involve phoning a friend.

• 2:41Joe Flamm?

  Right. And these are the hacks that I tell people when I have friends who want those reservations. When they're like, hey, do you know anyone there? And I don't. I'm like, this is what I would do.

• 2:49Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yep.

• 2:50Joe Flamm?

  And so, this is the Joe and Adrian guide to how to get that reservation that you don't think you can get. So Aids, I'm going to let you open it up. What's, what's your first one? What's your go to when it's like, all right, we're trying to get in there, and we don't know anyone. We haven't had any success. What's your move?

• 3:09Adrienne Cheatham?

  My number one move is show up when the restaurant first opens. Opening time, if it's five o'clock, I am at the door at five o'clock. Because most reservations don't really pick up until 6:30. So from five o'clock to 6:30, there's gonna be a couple of tables open. So what you can do is show up at five, say, hey, I don't have a reservation, but do you have room for two people? One person, whatever it is.

• 3:40Joe Flamm?

  Whatever it is.

• 3:41Adrienne Cheatham?

  Go on in, have a great time. And they may say, yeah, but we have reservations at six, or we have reservations at 6:30. Not a problem. I'll be done by then. That is my go to.

• 3:51Joe Flamm?

  That's it. Cause you, you hear that a lot. Cause we'll tell people that a lot too, where it's like, you know, they'll say, hey, okay, you can have this table, but you have a 6:30 buyback. You know what I mean? I need that table back by 6:30. And I'm like, I'll get it done in an hour and a half.

• 4:05Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah. And a lot of restaurants reserve some tables for walk-ins. So if you get there on the earlier side, you're going to be the one to get that table that's reserved for walk-ins.

• 4:16Joe Flamm?

  And you never know. It's like, I think like, you know, showing up right when they open, it also gives you the ability to talk to someone who's right there. Talk to someone at the host and we're even like, listen, we can't do it right now, but I just had a seven o'clock cancel, and I can slide you in. I think going into it, you gotta go into it with a ton of flexibility. I think if you go into it with flexibility, say, hey, we got two people, we really want to eat here tonight. Here's my phone number. Anything cancels, I'll take it.

• 4:39Adrienne Cheatham?

  Absolutely.

• 4:40Joe Flamm?

  But if you show up when they open, I think your hit rate on when it opens is so hot. And that's what I use here. That's what I use in New York. But I also really, really found like, when I've traveled abroad, especially it's like in Europe, when people are like, you know, there's some restaurants, like, you know, Rome, Paris, wherever, that are notoriously hard to get into and get a reservation. I'm like, show up at lunch, right when they open, especially at lunch.

• 5:06Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah, nobody in Europe is eating that early.

• 5:08Joe Flamm?

  Like, if you're like, you know, like Rome, I feel like if you show up for lunch, like at 11:30, at a spot that's like a super popular spot in Rome for Romans, it's like, you're going to get a seat. Cause nobody's going to be in those seats yet, because you're way too early. So if you're sitting there waiting at the door for them to open, they're going to look at you sideways, but you're going to get a table.

• 5:25Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah. And that's, that's a great point, what you said about letting them know that if you have a cancellation, call me. Don't release it back on the app. Don't send it back to Resy or OpenTable where somebody who's got alerts set. It's like buying a house off market. I can say, you know what?

• 5:41Joe Flamm?

  It's putting a letter in a mailbox.

• 5:42Adrienne Cheatham?

  I'm in the neighborhood, you know? Exactly. Like, let me know, and I will come, I will walk back over here. I love doing that. And also at five o'clock, the night hasn't really started yet for the people who work there. So everybody's still in a good mood. You're not dealing with people who've had a rough night of work. So it's a great time to get to know these people, talk to them, develop a relationship. They see you face to face, and that goes such a long way.

• 6:11Joe Flamm?

  Right. And listen, like restaurants want guests. So showing up there and being like, I want to eat right now. I am a restaurateur, I'm going to do everything in my power to try to make that happen for you. And the other thing, like I always do, if it's a restaurant I don't know, I've never been to, if I'm in a city I'm not from, or, you know what I mean? Even if it was in my city, I'd be like, oh, if I'm talking to someone at the host and be like, okay, can I have your card?

• 6:33Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah.

• 6:34Joe Flamm?

  And, you know, get their card. And then like, maybe if they're just a host, like, I don't have a card. Like, okay, but here's my GM's card. Like, oh, great, cool. And I'll shoot them an email and be like, hey, I'm in town for three days. I would really love to have dinner at your restaurant. I know you're completely booked. I know you're fully committed, but if anything opens up over these, you know, I'm free for dinner, you know, tonight and tomorrow night. If anything's opens up, I will take it. Here's my name, here's my contact, just give me a heads up, and I'm in. And I've had a ton of success with that, when traveling, of like, just giving them a flexibility window, because they get that email, and they're like, oh, of course I want to make that happen.

• 7:07Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 7:08Joe Flamm?

  If I get that email from someone, I'm like, oh yeah, I'm going to figure something out for them. They're only here for two days. Like, I want them to eat at my restaurant. You know what I mean? I want them to experience that. And I'd say the other side of that coin is, I get people who come in, especially at Rosemary, who are like, oh, I love this restaurant, but you know, like, it's just so hard to get in. I wish I could come more. The second you say that to me, I'm like, here's my GM's card. Here's my DO's card. Here's my card. When you want to come eat, you send us an email.

• 7:38Joe Flamm?

  And we're going to make sure that you can come in.

• 7:40Adrienne Cheatham?

  That goes such a long way.

• 7:42Joe Flamm?

  Right. And I think it, you know, it's one of those things where people are like, that's how you become a regular. You know what I mean? Meet people, say hi. It's not just, you know, for industry people where we know people, but it's the people who like, say hi, who talk to us, who say they want to meet someone, you know? It's like, you make that connection. And I think like, the really savvy diners out there know that. I have our regulars are also regulars at other restaurants that I like. When I was in New York, I ate at Kabala. One of my regulars was there.

• 8:06Adrienne Cheatham?

  Oh, that's so awesome.

• 8:07Joe Flamm?

  Because he listens to the pod, and he was like, oh, you guys talk about Kabala all the time. So I wanted to eat there. So we were eating there at the same time on the same day, randomly. But you make those connections, and then it's like, you have it. Like, restaurants want regulars. Those are great for us. We love people who return. So if you help us build that bridge of how we get you there, like, it's really easy.

• 8:29Adrienne Cheatham?

  You know, building those relationships and getting to know those people starts with having a time. If you go at seven o'clock, if you go at eight o'clock, they're really busy. So you don't have such like, a great window to really capture this person's attention. So that's why I like to show up at five. If a restaurant opens at five, I'm shooting my shot at five o'clock, because that's when you'll have the best chance. And you can start off with a glass of wine or a cocktail. It's not like you have to, you know, order your food right at five o'clock. It's not like you're eating and you're out the door by 5:30. But you know, you can still take your time, leave by six, 6:30. And I don't know, at my age, I, I kind of like the early dinner too. I like to be back on the couch by nine.

• 9:12Joe Flamm?

  I love the early one. And I've, you know, I went, I remember, like, a decade ago, I was in Paris, and I really wanted to eat at Frenchie. I don't know if you've ever been to Frenchie?

• 9:20Adrienne Cheatham?

  No, but I've heard of it.

• 9:22Joe Flamm?

  It's tiny. You know what I mean? It might be 20 seats. Really, really cool restaurant on Rude de Nul. And they have a wine bar across the street. So we couldn't get into Frenchie. We're like, I will go to the wine bar, it'll be fun. But so I was like, I at least want to go see Frenchie. So we walked down there, walked to the restaurant, and it was early in the day. So I just was peeking my head in, and the chef was sitting in there. And he was like, hello, can I help you? And I was like, oh, no, I just, you know, like, I really wanted to eat here while I was in Paris. And, you know, I couldn't get in. I would love to eat here. You know, I don't know if there's any cancellations or anything, but let me know. And he said, can you come tonight? And I said, I can come tonight and anytime you want.

• 10:01Adrienne Cheatham?

  Anytime, right?

• 10:02Joe Flamm?

  And he said, okay, I'll put you in. And so I got a last minute reservation at the chef's counter at Frenchie. And he didn't know who I was. Me and this man had never met before in our lives. We've never met since.

• 10:13Adrienne Cheatham?

  Oh, wow. But you showed up on the early side. He's still taking his time, not quite busy. Yep.

• 10:20Joe Flamm?

  And I will tell you that anyone who runs into me, and is like, I really want to eat there, and it's just two of us, it's like, I'm going to figure out how to get you fed.

• 10:29Adrienne Cheatham?

  We did that at Una Pizza Napolitana. Steven and I had been trying to get a reservation. The place is always booked. You can never get a reservation there. And one day, we were downtown, and we're like, you know what? Let's just stop by. And it was early, it was still like, 5:15, 5:30. And we told them, like, look, we're downtown, happy to come back. If you get a cancellation, again, yeah, here's my cell phone number. And they're like, well, cool, we can get you in, because I'm sure we have at least like, one cancellation a night. And it might be in 30 minutes, it might be in an hour. Sure enough, we got a call a few minutes later. No problem, came right back for dinner. It was great. And other than that, we had been trying to get reservations there for like, a solid month.

• 11:21Adrienne Cheatham?

  What's your go to hack?

• 11:23Joe Flamm?

  Call the restaurant. If you can get somebody on the phone, get somebody on the phone. And I know I've said this on the pod before. I know I've said this to you in person before, because I answer the phone at the restaurant. So, you know, I mean, if I'm sitting next to a phone and it rings, I will pick it up. If it rings more than twice, I answer the phone. And if you get me on the phone.

• 11:41Adrienne Cheatham?

  You're like, sir, come on in.

• 11:43Joe Flamm?

  I'm gonna give you.

• 11:43Adrienne Cheatham?

  Party at 10? No problem.

• 11:45Joe Flamm?

  Right. Like, you know what I mean? It's like, I'm like, all right, well, if it got to me, like, I'm gonna give the people what they want. That's who I am. So it's like, if I pick up the phone and say, oh, yeah, I really want to get in, or I was really trying to make that four to five, or that six to seven, I'm like, yeah, I got you. I am in front of my computer right now. I have the world at my fingertips. I will make that happen for you. Because you got me on the phone.

• 12:10Adrienne Cheatham?

  Right. And that's something that a lot of people don't realize is the reservation apps, they don't have all of the information. You program what the availability is, but every restaurant leaves themselves some manner of flexibility, because tables run late, people linger after their reservation time. And if you're fully booked and on a set schedule, you're gonna fail at some point. You're gonna have tables that are waiting for too long. So you always build in some buffer. And if you're able to talk, you can get that.

• 12:45Joe Flamm?

  Well, it's also like, it gives you two things, right? Because if you're on the phone, you get the real time update of like, listen, if you come right now, I have a table that just didn't show up. Where are you? I'm 10 minutes away. All right, come here right now. I just wrote your name down.

• 12:59Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yep.

• 13:00Joe Flamm?

  Like, I'll get you in. Or you also, just also like in the idea of showing up, you have someone on the phone, so they can give you options.

• 13:09Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah.

• 13:10Joe Flamm?

  Where it's not just, you know, when you go on a platform and it's like, okay, I want 6:30, and they're like, no, there's no reservations within two hours of that time slot, right? What if you're on the phone with someone and you're like, oh, I'm looking for two? And then it's like, the way reservation platforms work too, it's like, you have to give them an amount of tables, right? You have to give them your layout and like, what you think the split's gonna be. Because like, you know, a restaurant, for example, like Rosemary's, 142 seats with the bar. But that's if, you know, every two top is two people, every four top is four people, you know what I mean? Every six top is six people, which is never the case. You know what I mean?

• 13:45Adrienne Cheatham?

  You've got threes.

• 13:46Joe Flamm?

  Some fours are gonna be threes, some sixes are gonna be fives, some twos have to be used as fours if you're overbooked with two tops or whatever. And that's what it is. It's like, some days where you have it where like, you know, you have way too many two tops. So it's like, a lot of your fours become twos, or you have way too many four tops. So you actually have more two tops in the system. But like, the computer can't react quick enough.

• 14:09Adrienne Cheatham?

  Right, right. They don't know that you can pull an extra chair up to that two top, or you can turn that four into a three.

• 14:15Joe Flamm?

  So I always tell like, friends when they reach out to me, and they're like, hey, can you get me a last minute reservation for your spot? I always say, two, always, no problem. There's always room for two. I can always figure out two. Some way, somehow, if you're flexible with me, if you gotta wait a little bit when you get there, if you'll roll with me, two, always. Fours and maybe. Sixes, we have it or we don't. Can't make a six top. You either have a six top or you don't. The six tops don't exist just in the ether.

• 14:41Joe Flamm?

  But it's like, two is always, because it's like, there's always a little bit away. There's somewhere, somehow, some way, that you can do it. But it's like, when you're actually talking with someone on the phone who could pull up the book, look at everything and be like, you know, who wants to get you in? It's like, yeah, you know what, actually, like, if I do this, do this. I can squeeze you at 8:30.

• 15:03Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah, because like, recently, we were making a reservation for Emerald's in New Orleans, and only thing available online was tables of two. And we had a party of three. And I was booking like, two weeks ahead, maybe three weeks in advance, because I really wanted to get this reservation, right? Loved the restaurant. And I'm like, only two is available? Only two? Kept checking, kept refreshing. Next day, only two. I'm DMing, I didn't hear back. A few days later, I said, you know what, I'm just gonna call the restaurant and see if I can get through to somebody. And I talked to this lady, and she's like, yeah, three people, no problem. That two top can accommodate three. Not a problem at all. But on the app, it was not giving me that option at all.

• 15:46Joe Flamm?

  Right. Because the app can't look at that physical table and say, oh, no, we can do a three at 31.

• 15:50Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah. And another thing that, that nobody talks about is the fact that most restaurants have in their system what we call PPX. So we always hold back one to two tables a night for those friends of the restaurant, a VIP guest, but it's, it's above a VIP. It's not just a celebrity. It's like, a friend of the restaurant. So when that PPX calls and say, hey, can I get a last minute reservation? Restaurants usually have at least one table held back for that.

• 16:22Joe Flamm?

  That's what we, we call the ghost tables.

• 16:27Joe Flamm?

  The nonexistent tables. So you have, you know, one sneaky one. And then it's always, it's always like, you know, me and my partner, it's always getting in trouble, because it's always the, who booked the ghost tables?

• 16:36Adrienne Cheatham?

  Oh.

• 16:37Joe Flamm?

  And then it's running, and you're like, and now all the softwares tell you who booked it. And it's like, Bill. And they always know it's me anyways, because nothing's capitalized in the reservation notes and everything spelled wrong. And they're like, you know, like, this was Joe.

• 16:50Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah, absolutely.

• 16:51Joe Flamm?

  Nothing says more than it was Joe of like, you know.

• 16:53Adrienne Cheatham?

  Than typos and no capitalization.

• 16:55Joe Flamm?

  There's zero capitalization. And I probably wrote the word bubs in there with a Z.

• 17:01Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah, that was a trick that I learned at Liberta Den. And we used to do it at Red Rooster also. Pretty much every restaurant I've worked at has that PPX special code in the system for just that exact moment that a longtime friend of the restaurant calls, and you want to be able to accommodate them. And then, if you don't get that, you can release the table to somebody else. But you keep it every night, just in case. And that is, that's the beauty of the PPX hold.

• 17:30Joe Flamm?

  I was in Milan with Tony Montuano, and we were having dinner at, there's this two Michelin star there called Amioi Nadia. It's been there for like, 60 years. Incredible restaurant. Just incredible. One of the best meals I've ever had. I've eaten there. And when we were there, we were there for, there's this big Italian food festival called Identitie Galosa. All the famous Italian chefs are in Milan that night. And apparently, Massimo Batoro showed up of Austria Francescana, and he wanted to eat at Amioi Nadia. And they had, you know, not a lot of tables at this place. They had no tables. So they set him and his chefs up in a four top in their office, and fed them dinner in the chef's office. And I was like, I was like, that's the coolest. That's the coolest. It's something, I've, you

• 18:14Joe Flamm?

  know, that happened 11 years ago, and I've never stopped thinking about it.

• 18:25Adrienne Cheatham?

  We cannot always pick up the phone. I get that restaurants are busy, and sometimes you can't get there in time before somebody hangs up. But it is getting easier with some of the new technology that we're seeing, because hospitality starts when someone calls, right? Before they walk in the door, no matter what they're calling for. Even if they're not calling to make a reservation, maybe that person is running late, or maybe they want to flag like, a severe nut allergy. And you cannot handle all of these interactions the same. People need to know that you care just as much as they do when they're calling about an issue that they feel really strongly about.

• 19:05Joe Flamm?

  Yeah. I mean, every interaction with a guest on any level is hospitality. You know what I mean? It's a reflection of the restaurant. And I know, like, you and I, we've talked about this before. You know, the technology that supports restaurants, you know, like, Slang AI, where they have the ability to answer the phone for restaurants when you have 100 things going on, can be a really useful tool. You know, I've been reading a lot more about this, kind of looking into it of like, how it would work, you know, in my stores. Because like, yeah, I'd love to always answer the phone. I'd love to always talk to them. But there's also, you know, a restaurant running. So, you know, with the newer stuff coming out, you know, I just, they just launched their Superhost, you know, which is like, their most advanced version of voice AI, I think, for restaurants in

• 19:48Joe Flamm?

  the world. And so with having the ability to have programs like that, that can provide hospitality, interact with our guests in the way we want to, from the restaurant's standpoint, like, right out of the gate, is a huge advantage.

• 20:03Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah. Slang AI's new gen tech is all about meeting the guest where they are, reading the room, and responding accordingly. So they pick up on tone, emotion, urgency. They pick up on all those things that guests have when they call, and they respond just like somebody from the restaurant would respond with care. But I actually tried it out, because I was really curious about this. Anytime somebody's launching a new version of a technology, I really want to try it and see if it's actually good.

• 20:34Joe Flamm?

  Right. Because there's always what they say, but you know what I mean? Does it do what it does?

• 20:38Adrienne Cheatham?

  Exactly. And so there's a restaurant that I went to in the theater district with my family. We had a great night. It's Carmine's. It's an old school Italian place in New York. And I had such a good time there. And I was like, you know what, let me call Carmine's. Family's coming back in town. Let me make a reservation or see what's up. And I called the restaurant, and they're using Superhost. So Slang Superhost is this next gen of restaurant supporting technology when it comes to the phones. And it was really cool, because it didn't sound like one of those cut and paste robotic responses.

• 21:15Joe Flamm?

  It's not the old school movie phone of like, what would you like to see this evening?

• 21:20Adrienne Cheatham?

  Right. It was actually very personable. And it, it felt like they were extending actually, nice hospitality, like, warm hospitality. It felt like it was an extension of the restaurant as opposed to like, a robotic answering service. So I was in a cab when I called. It was, you know, I'm talking to the cab driver. I'm multitasking, as we, as we all do these days. And I'm talking to the cab driver in the background, and I'm like, sir, pull over right here. And the Superhost actually says, oh, do you need me to hold on a second?

• 21:57Adrienne Cheatham?

  I was like, whoa, yes, please. Like, that's amazing. So the whole point of this is that it can pick up on the tone. It can pick up on what the guest is experiencing. So they're tailoring their responses to you. If you're in a rush, if you want to celebrate and you're in a great mood, it kind of meets you where you are. So it's exactly like that great front of house person extending good hospitality.

• 22:24Joe Flamm?

  Yeah, it sounds like a lot more like they're doing, you know, to just capture, you know, not just the person, but the moment, right? Of like, what's going on? And it's not just an automated, hey, hit a number. And, you know, it'll just keep ringing or maybe you'll talk to someone or you only have two choices, right? It's like, oh, you could press one for private events or two for reservations and you can keep waiting. And I think that's important because, you know, it's like, like I said, like every touch point with a guest is hospitality.

• 22:50Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah, it's, um, it's really cool. It actually feels like they care. To me, calling it, it's like this is next gen tech to support restaurants. And I'm happy to say that I actually like the direction that it's going in. It meets you where you are. It's not just hearing what you say, but how you say it. And that's exactly what people in restaurants try to do is read the room. We want to read the room. We want to know what you're experiencing and how you feel and respond accordingly. If you need a little more care, if you're in a rush and you want us to hurry up, we want to do that. And this is like the next iteration of reflecting what we want to do, even if we can't do it ourselves.

• 23:36Joe Flamm?

  Yeah, and that's what hospitality is all about in the end, right? Is being able to connect with the guests on the level they're at. You can't make them come to yours, but you could try to meet them halfway. So you can show them a great experience.

• 23:46Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah, sometimes how a restaurant handles a call matters more than just the fact that somebody picked up the phone. So handling it in the right way means so much to guests and that's what they're doing.

• 24:06Adrienne Cheatham?

  Another hack that I have for getting into restaurants, sitting at the bar.

• 24:11Joe Flamm?

  Oh, without doubt. And I think it's one of those, listen, this goes in tandem with those first two things we talked about because I would, I always tell them, and I think this is super important. You clarify, I will take bar seats.

• 24:24Adrienne Cheatham?

  Oh, absolutely.

• 24:26Joe Flamm?

  Have you ever, even at the bar, I love two bar seats. And because if you say that, it changes concerns, they go, oh, oh, you'd sit at the bar? Yeah. Okay. I can get you to, you know what I mean?

• 24:36Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah, and most restaurants serve full menus at the bar. So it's not like you're missing out on any experience. I actually prefer to sit at the bar. I, I like it. I met my husband sitting at a restaurant bar. We were both solo diners, sitting next to each other. That is literally how I met the love of my life, sitting at a bar.

• 24:55Joe Flamm?

  Especially traveling solo. You know what I mean? Like, I know you and I both travel solo a lot for work. And so it's like, I don't, you know, and I don't know if you've ever done it where it's like, I, I have no problem eating by myself at a restaurant.

• 25:06Adrienne Cheatham?

  At all. I think I'm great company.

• 25:08Joe Flamm?

  You know, like I'm totally fine with, there's so much chaos and noise in my life. So it's like sitting in the silence of it all is okay. But sitting at a bar solo is the best. Like on the road, you talk to the bartenders, you get to talk to them about other restaurants, where they eat, where they go, you always get great tips there. But like squeezing one in, where it's like, when you have to make the solo one top table reservation.

• 25:30Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah.

• 25:31Joe Flamm?

  That's tough.

• 25:32Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah, and it's weird because like we talked about developing relationships with the people who work there, right? And if you sit at the bar, you're getting a little bit more personalized attention. You've got the one person working the bar. They usually don't, you don't have to walk around to all the tables. You've got one person behind the bar with a captive audience. And they're interacting with the guests, they're making drinks, they're taking orders, but they're not leaving this defined area. So I've always built great relationships with bartenders. That's how I've become a regular at restaurants is because they see me. And one of the hacks that I realized from that is they will hold seats at the bar.

• 26:14Joe Flamm?

  A hundred percent.

• 26:15Adrienne Cheatham?

  I've had reservations that, you know, restaurants are like, oh my God, we're fully, fully booked tonight, but I can hold two seats for you at the bar. I'm like, no problem. I'll be there in 15 minutes. They're like, great, we have somebody closing out. Get back over here, walk in and they've got the two little reserve signs at the bar seats for me.

• 26:33Joe Flamm?

  I mean, it's every time you.

• 26:34Adrienne Cheatham?

  Me and my husband.

• 26:35Joe Flamm?

  Come to Chicago.

• 26:36Adrienne Cheatham?

  Every time. I always sit at, I walk into Rosemary and I've got two little reserved seats.

• 26:43Joe Flamm?

  I'm like, Adrian, be here in 30 minutes. Throw a couple of reserved seats on the bar when somebody gets up. So it's like, and then the bar gives us as restaurateurs, you know, as operators, like a ton of flexibility. If I have somebody who I know, like, you know, because that'll be usually when somebody like needs a reservation, I'm like, you go with the bar. And they're like, yeah, I'm like, whatever you need. I mean, I can squeeze two seats there. I'll figure it out. You know, so it's like the more flexibility you can give the restaurant, the more options you can give to them. Cause they, again, like, we want to make it happen for you. We are in the business of making it happen for you. Of like you being happy, you wanting to come to us. Like that is the business we're in.

• 27:24Joe Flamm?

  So if we have the ability to do it, the more opportunities you give us to say yes to you, we want to say yes.

• 27:32Adrienne Cheatham?

  Exactly.

• 27:32Joe Flamm?

  I don't want to tell you no. I don't want to be like, no, Adrian, don't eat here. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I want to be able to tell the guests, yes. So the more flexible you are with them, you're like, oh, I'll take a couple of bar seats.

• 27:43Adrienne Cheatham?

  Absolutely.

• 27:44Joe Flamm?

  And the bartenders, you know, and that's a big proponent of like how we run our restaurants. It's like, you know, we always tell our bartenders, it's like, this is where the regulars come. This is where neighborhood people come is they go sit at the bar. Cause they're walking around, you know, they see two bar seats open, they're like, oh, I'm going to pop in.

• 28:00Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yep.

• 28:01Joe Flamm?

  You know, and that's like, we might as well just pop in. There's a couple of bar seats.

• 28:04Adrienne Cheatham?

  Right. And that's another way to buy yourself some time. Like even if you're not the kind of person who likes to sit at the bar and eat, which I get it, I don't know why people don't like it, but some people don't. I'm not here to judge. But if you tell them, I don't mind sitting at the bar. And then if a table opens up, let me know. So you could be sitting at the bar, enjoying your appetizer and a glass of wine and a table no call, no shows, or misses their reservation and they'll come and get you and bring you to that table. So that's another way. It's like, again, that flexibility, letting the restaurant know, I'm here, I support what you're doing. I just want to enjoy this evening and they will find ways to make it happen.

• 28:46Adrienne Cheatham?

  And so if you, you take those bar seats, you never know, a table might open up.

• 28:51Joe Flamm?

  Right. And I, yeah, like I've gone into restaurants and just said, you know, where they're like, oh, we need like 15 minutes for your table. And I'll say two bar seats, I'm like, who's at the bar? And they're like, oh, yeah. And then they're super happy because they're like, oh man, that just saved me a two top I didn't have. Right?

• 29:06Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yes.

• 29:07Joe Flamm?

  So, you know, I mean, I'm happy to go sit at the bar, especially like, because this is one of the thing of like having kids. It's like when you're dining out with kids, you know what you can never do? Sit at the bar.

• 29:18Joe Flamm?

  So you never get to sit at the bar. So it's always like a treat, you know what I mean? For like a date night, be like, oh, we can go sit up at the bar.

• 29:24Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah. Well, those are great hacks. I think that can help anybody, you know, get into a restaurant. There are certain things that if you do, and we know this because we've worked in restaurants for, for so long that we know the sneak attacks when people have been able to come into places we work and the things that have worked out for us.

• 29:44Joe Flamm?

  Yeah, I have people who I've met who they gave me their card. They said, I love eating here and I want to eat here whenever I come to Chicago. And I said, okay, send me an email. And every time they're coming to town, they send me an email. Hey Joe, I'm going to be in Chicago. I'd like to bring, you know, my three friends in. Okay, cool. Set it up. And then usually at that point I connect them with my GM and then they, they don't even have to bug me. They're just, you know, every time, you know, they want to go, it's like, boom, done.

• 30:06Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah. And it's guaranteed great customers. You develop those relationships that I think more people need to not be afraid to do those things. Show up early, get somebody's card, call the restaurant, be willing to sit at the bar. Like if you do those things, you can pretty much get into any restaurant, no matter how hard it is to book.

• 30:28Joe Flamm?

  Yeah, yeah. Maybe not with a six top on a Saturday night last minute, but for, for, for two, you can make it happen.

• 30:43Adrienne Cheatham?

  Joe, I feel like there's a segment we haven't done in a while. I feel like we need to bring back the walk-in confession.

• 30:50Joe Flamm?

  Ah, trip down to the walk-in.

• 30:52Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yes.

• 30:52Joe Flamm?

  It's getting a little bit cooler out. The compressors are getting a little break, you know? So maybe we take it on back down to the walk-in. They had a long summer of struggling to keep up.

• 31:01Adrienne Cheatham?

  They did. But let's grab a couple of milk crates and sit down in the walk-in. What you got this week?

• 31:07Joe Flamm?

  So I was, you know, we were talking reservations and I was thinking of, you know, the great door conundrums I've dealt with in my day of like when you don't have the tables, right? And you gotta pull one. So about three and a half years ago, we're, you know, at Rosemary, busy night, booked night, not an extra seat in the site, right? It's like seven o'clock, table comes in, they booked a table for, um, I think a table for three, some generic name, you know, Matt Sullivan three top. So they walk in and the gentleman walks in and he says, hey, I have the Matt Sullivan reservation for three. And they say, yeah, no problem. And, uh, he said, uh, it's actually going to be four. And we said, okay, but that's not an issue.

• 31:52Joe Flamm?

  We can bump you to four. That's all right. He said, okay, great. Thank you. I said, yeah, no problem. We'll take you over. And then he said, I also need three more tables.

• 32:02Adrienne Cheatham?

  What?

• 32:04Joe Flamm?

  And, you know, the host is like, what? He's like, yeah, I need three more tables around that table of two tops.

• 32:13Adrienne Cheatham?

  Okay, it's one thing to change a table of three to four. It's another thing to get three more tables.

• 32:19Joe Flamm?

  We're, we're a full restaurant. And they're like, yeah, no, like I can't do that. And the guy's like, I need you to do, and they're like, sir, I'm sorry, but like this isn't how it works, you know? They're like, I need you to, you know, like, uh, I need you to bring your, you know, who's the general manager here? And they're like, oh, this person, like, I need you to bring him over. And so the general manager comes over and they're like, sir, listen, like, I'm so, I'm sorry, like, you know, it's like seven o'clock, like, I don't have three extra tables, like, I can't give you three extra tables, like this is, you only booked one, I'm sorry, like, I don't know what you're trying to do here. He's like, listen, the three extra tables are for the secret service. I need the three extra tables. He goes, the four top is for Jill Biden. It was when she was the first lady of the United States.

• 33:04Joe Flamm?

  He goes, I need the three extra tables.

• 33:07Adrienne Cheatham?

  Okay.

• 33:08Joe Flamm?

  And so I was down the street at the other restaurant. So she calls me, she's like, you need to come back to Rosemary right now. And I'm like, okay. So, you know, at that point, it's like, well, we can't really say no. So we have to sort this out.

• 33:21Adrienne Cheatham?

  Oh my gosh.

• 33:22Joe Flamm?

  I walk into Rosemary from down the street at Boulevard and I am greeted at my front door by the secret service who stopped me at the door at my own restaurant. And, uh, they said, hold on there, buddy. I said, okay. And, you know, I put my arms up and, you know, not my first secret service experience. Um, and so they wand me down and the wand goes off, uh, because, you know, I have a knife in my pocket.

• 33:48Adrienne Cheatham?

  Because of course, of course you have a knife in your pocket. Of course.

• 33:52Joe Flamm?

  So one goes off, you know, it was a younger guy, the older guy, the younger guy goes, what do you got there? I said, I got a knife and I pull out a knife. Um, and so he's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, like, what are you doing? Why are you carrying this? So, but I go, I go, dude, I go, I go, this is my restaurant. I'm the chef here. I go, I always have a knife on me. He goes, and he's looking at me, he goes, he goes, I don't know if you can bring that in there. I go, buddy, I go, you can have it if you want. I go, but I go, everybody inside of there who also has a knife, all work for me. Like, we have all the knives in there. I'm not like threatening, I'm just saying, you know? And like the older guy next to him just goes, just give him the knife back. You know what I mean?

• 34:35Joe Flamm?

  So they let me in. Now we are like, we are down bad on tables and it looks crazy in there because we have, you know, we have the first lady at the time, then we have three tables of secret service. And the secret service sit there and like, they act like they're trying to be like they, they're normal diners, but they're like all in suits. They're all sitting perfectly straight.

• 34:56Adrienne Cheatham?

  Right, right.

• 34:58Joe Flamm?

  Like drinking.

• 34:58Adrienne Cheatham?

  No alcohol on the table.

• 35:00Joe Flamm?

  Yep. Drinking like seltzer water and teas and just like, like, yes, it's great to have dinner with you tonight, Mary Ann.

• 35:08Adrienne Cheatham?

  And the oh so discreet.

• 35:09Joe Flamm?

  Together like.

• 35:11Adrienne Cheatham?

  And those oh so discreet, uh, earpieces, right?

• 35:13Joe Flamm?

  Doing this a lot, like, like it's Tom at Judge's table, like, huh? Would you, uh? So now it's like, we're down, we're down, we're down, we're down four tables.

• 35:23Adrienne Cheatham?

  Oh my gosh.

• 35:25Joe Flamm?

  Which is a shit ton of tables.

• 35:26Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah.

• 35:27Joe Flamm?

  So now it's like, there's like, and you know that setup at Rosemary, like, there's no real room for anyone to wait.

• 35:33Adrienne Cheatham?

  No, you can't take a table out of storage and just set up somewhere.

• 35:38Joe Flamm?

  So there's, the front door is like a fucking scene because there's like 20 people waiting for tables. There's four fucking secret service agents just hanging out up there kicking it amongst these people. So you have like secret service holding like the metal detector wands. You have people who I'm handing out free champagne to, to apologize for the wait on the tables. And, you know, luckily like, you know, we just, you know, we just told people it was up. We're like, sorry, like Jill Biden showed up. We didn't know she was coming.

• 36:05Adrienne Cheatham?

  Right.

• 36:05Joe Flamm?

  And like, so we're just, we're just jammed. And like luckily, like people were so excited.

• 36:12Adrienne Cheatham?

  Ah.

• 36:13Joe Flamm?

  That it was happening, that they thought they were like so cool being a part of it. So luckily everybody was super, super nice about it. They're like, oh no, it's fine. Like this is awesome. Like, I'm like texting all my friends. This is why I'm like late for dinner, like blah, blah, blah. It's like, cool. But it was like, one of those where it was like, like, no, like, there's no way we're not giving you four tables. And it was like, yeah, we're going to give you four tables. Like, uh, you're right, you're right. You're absolutely right.

• 36:37Adrienne Cheatham?

  Cause you know what? They showed up and they talked to somebody.

• 36:43Joe Flamm?

  They asked for the GM. And I mean, they were, listen, they were super nice about it. You know, uh, Jill Biden was super, super kind, you know, at the end she came up, she thanked everyone in the kitchen, um, you know, uh, took a picture with me and Kara. And it was just, um, she, she could have been more lovely. And the secret service, I will say, many dealings with them, is that once they're done, they're very, very nice.

• 37:08Adrienne Cheatham?

  Oh, that's great.

• 37:09Joe Flamm?

  When it's in the moment, it's very, you know, they're pretty, pretty serious men and women, uh, who do that job. They're not a bunch of like dirty little light cooks like us, uh, where they're, they, you know, they take their job, you know, fairly serious, but afterwards they're always like, you know, like, can we get, you know, cause they have to like watch the food, go out the whole time. So at the end, they're like, can we get some of this like food, like to go? Like, you know, like we gotta like look at this food for three hours and not eat? Like we have, it's like, yeah, there's, we set about, but it was like, one of those like, uh, they're like, what do we do? I'm like, we need to figure this shit out. I'm like, just everybody who's waiting at the door, you know, cause we were running 30, 40, you know, 15 minutes behind on a two top.

• 37:51Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah, at that point, you're just like champagne for everybody.

• 37:54Joe Flamm?

  Oh, we just had, I had, I was like, here, I was like, had like two bottles up at the host stand.

• 37:59Adrienne Cheatham?

  Oh man.

• 38:00Joe Flamm?

  Like just, I was like, just keep pouring for everybody till they sit.

• 38:03Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yeah.

• 38:03Joe Flamm?

  We were doing, it was like a cocktail party up there. I had past apps going, you know what I mean? We're making mini zucchini fritters and we're just doing past apps up there. It was like, it was like every two top that was missing their table was at a weird cocktail reception with the first lady of the United States.

• 38:17Adrienne Cheatham?

  That is so awesome. Way to pull that out, cause that could have gone really sideways, but I'm so glad that everybody had a great time.

• 38:24Joe Flamm?

  Yeah, my team's just A plus team there. You know what I mean? Where they just were like, we're going to figure this out. We got it. Luckily the guests were cool, but it was like one of those where it was like, uh, yep.

• 38:35Adrienne Cheatham?

  Radical hospitality, Joe. I love it.

• 38:37Joe Flamm?

  You know what? It's, uh, it's from the old school of make it fucking work.

• 38:42Adrienne Cheatham?

  Yep. Amen.

• 38:45Adrienne Cheatham?

  Joe, it has been a blast hanging out today. I can't wait to do this again next week.

• 38:49Joe Flamm?

  Age, always a pleasure. Got to get to New York soon and me and you will roll up on someplace right when it opens.

• 38:59Adrienne Cheatham?

  That's it for this episode of the chef's cut. Head to the comments to share your tips for getting a last minute reservation at the hottest restaurants in town. And don't forget to subscribe on YouTube and follow us on IG. For Joe Flamm, I'm Adrian Cheatham and this has been the chef's cut. Life beyond the past.