Reservations at Per Se--any suggestions?

I've been trying without success to get reservations at Per Se's sister restaurant in Napa, The French Laundry, and feel your frustration.

Open Table is only given two daily seatings of four at TFL, so maybe the same at Per Se? One of the sites linked below says Per Se assigns only one table of 4 to Open Table. So not much help for a party of two. Check this before spending much time on Open Table.

Here are some sites with tips that might help:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/494185
http://www.thesandersens.com/res/forum/read.php?4,5 (says there's a table for 2 on OpenTable for TFL but this is outdated now)

These tips include having a concierge at a ritzy hotel do the booking, get a party of 8 and ask for the private room (which can be reserved up to a year in advance), and have multiple people with speed dial calling right when they open. Or find two more people to dine with you and use OpenTable.

Good luck! If you're willing to do lunch instead of dinner then you'll have somewhat better odds.

Off-topic rant, but Alinea in Chicago (which many feel has surpassed TFL as the # 1 US restaurant) has a much saner reservation policy. On the first day of the month they open up reservations for a full month two months in advance (ie, on May 1 they open up all of July). This works much better for the customers and probably for the reservation staff too.

When I try to make that type of reservation, I use two phones and keep hitting redial. It's very frustrating, but if your heart is set on eating there, that is what you have to do and expect to be flexible with the time of the reservation. The two times that we ate in Babbo, it was earlier than I would have liked. I doubt that OT would work. Sine the 6th & 7th aren't weekend dates, your chances might be better. Good luck!

A couple of tips..one know Thomas Keller or be in the media, or use opentable.com and start the process at midnight, 2 months to the calendar date.
Lunch, imho, is a better deal all the way around.
We have dined at Per Se for lunch and enjoyed it immensely but to be honest, there are so many great restaurants in NYC, that I'm glad we went but I won't go back..unless, the big media giants are springing for it!
Good Luck!

We've gotten reservations both times we called just by calling at the right time, staying on hold for around 10 minutes, then being flexible about time. Good luck! I'm pretty jaded about fine dining these days after so many disappointing experiences in other restaurants, but Per Se does not disappoint. They invited us back to see the kitchen a couple weeks ago when we went--I've never seen anything like it.

If you haven't read "Service Included", do so to get extra excited about eating there.

Thank you all so much for the suggestions!

I will definitely recruit some co-workers to help dial 2 months before the date.

I have read "Service Included" and loved it!

The trick is not to make the reservations yourself.

Agree that a concierge at an exclusive hotel can get you a reservation. We have gone several times and my beau's assistant uses their corporate travel agent who can always get reservations (calling less than 2 month in advance - some tables are set aside for either the famous of the well-connected).

So - use other resources if you are determined to go.

Maybe get on the waitlist at Per Se for those 3 nights and see if something opens later, then as a backup have reservations at one of the other NYC French restaurants that also have three Michelin stars (Jean Georges, Daniel, Le Bernardin). LB is mostly a seafood restaurant with French flair but the other two are classic French places.

This past May we had no problems getting reservations at Le Bernardin and Jean Georges using OpenTable, got the times and days we wanted. I know these lists are pretty subjective, but here's a list of "the top 50 restaurants in the world" ... Daniel is ranked #8, Per Se # 10, Le Bernardin # 15, Jean Georges # 51.

http://www.theworlds50best.com/awards/1-50-winners

So you will almost certainly find it much less stressful to snag reservations at one of these other options, and also you'll find the menu choices are much broader (Per Se has a very limited fixed menu each day). Also there's a much better chance that the original chefs (Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Daniel Boulud or Eric Ripert at LB) will actually be in the kitchen than that Thomas Keller will be on-site at Per Se.

Not trying to tell you where to eat, just offering some options of similar caliber in case it doesn't work out at PS. Next time we go to NYC we'll probably go to Daniel's and also log a dozen or so calls to Per Se to see if we get in. If not, to heck with them, we'll probably go to Jean Georges instead.

Daniel, Eric and Jean George (JG alone has 14 restaurants, Daniel 12) are celebrities these days, with mini-empires and countless events and media appearances...the chances of any of them being in the kitchen at those particular restaurants in NYC is slim to none.

(This is not to diss them or their places--I've enjoyed meals at their restaurants very much, and in fact JG's Nougatine is one of my NYC faves--just to provide a dose of reality about going to the restaurant of any famous chef these days).

the chances of any of them being in the kitchen at those particular restaurants in NYC is slim to none

Christy, I agree that these guys are all "Celebrity Chefs" with a lot on their plates but for sure Eric Ripert spends most nights at Le Bernardin. He doesn't cook but does sample all the sauces and tastes most outgoing plates, at least according to his book "On the Line". When we were there in May he was briefly swanning about the dining room dressed in his chef whites doing grip-and-grins with the patrons before disappearing into the kitchen.

As for JG and Boulud, while they have 'empires' of restaurants these are their two flagship operations, the ones whose reputations make the others possible, and they supposedly spend little time at the outposts (there's a JG Steakhouse where I live which is only doing fair and it's supposedly rare for him to visit).

The reason I wrote "there's a much better chance" these chefs will be on-site is because Jean Georges and Daniel are their main restaurants, while Keller's flagship restaurant is French Laundry in Napa Valley, and all the Ad Hoc and Bouchon secondary restaurants he has opened in the past few years are located mostly (or maybe entirely) in Nevada or California, so he seems to spend most of his time out west.

I've eaten about half a dozen times at Jean Georges and JGV has been on site each time.

I just tried to book Per Se on OPen Table for two months from today-- August 15.

Open Table told me that my request exceeded the time frame. So perhaps they do not book two months from the actual date (????) (I was just checking, but certainly would love to dine there someday soon!)

I stand corrected on those chefs, though I am quite surprised, knowing how much other stuff they do (esp. Ripert with his own tv show!).... I've eaten at JG too but have no idea if he was there. The main thing I remember about that meal was that William Shatner sat next to us and was an (unintentionally) hilarious blowhard!

Your chances of getting a reservation at Per Se right now is slim to none. My brother and I have been trying for six months! But I see Eric Ripert's name has been mentioned a few times. Le Bernadin is exceptional and while it is sometimes difficult getting reservations there too, you will have much more luck. His langoustine dish...phenomenal.

If you like celebrity chefs and want to try something special and are bold, check out Wiley Dufresne's WD50. The food is odd, yet delicious, but more importantly the experience is one of a kind. He's known for his work in gastronomy. We had the tasting menu and when I read bagel, salmon and cream cheese, I expected a bagel, salmon and cream cheese. What I got instead was an ice cream shaped like a bagel, the size of quarter, dried salmon strands and a shaving of cream cheese with unidentifiable garnishes...completely blew my mind how strange it was. But it tasted like a delicious bagel, salmon and cream cheese!

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, there are many other places in NYC worth going to if Per Se is not feasible. But hey, if you do get a reservation, let me know how you did it please!!!

Just for fun I decided to go onto Open Table to see about booking a reservation. For the dates we are going to be in NY, it's too far in advance, which I already knew, but wanted to see what would happen if I picked an earlier date.

I chose July 14 at 5:45 p.m., party of 4 and it says available. I checked many other dates, and they are available too. When I checked a date that was not available, there was an option to check for the next available date.

Here's what I copied and pasted from the Open Table Website about upcoming availability (not sure how the format will turn out once pasted)

Availability for Per Se
Restaurant Name Price Availability (click time to reserve)
Per Se
Columbus Circle | American
$$$$
No tables are available within 2 hours of your 7:00 PM request.

Per Se Next Available Around 7:00 PM
Saturday, June 19, 2010
9:00

Sunday, June 20, 2010
6:00
6:30

Monday, June 21, 2010
5:30
5:45
8:30

Tuesday, June 22, 2010
8:30

Wednesday, June 23, 2010
5:30
6:30
7:30
8:30

Tuesday, June 29, 2010
5:30

Wednesday, June 30, 2010
5:30
5:45

See Next 7 Available ›

It goes all the way through August 13, with some Friday and Saturday nights available, but mostly during the week. I think the key, though, is that it's a party of 4--when I did the same thing with a party of 2 nothing came up.

I wonder if there's a penalty for booking a party of 4 and then calling closer to the reservation and saying the other 2 backed out and now it's a party of 2?

The Open Table site says this "Credit Cards are required for parties of 4 or more. Due to the limited seating available in our 15 table restaurant, parties that cancel or decrease in number less than 72 hours in advance will be charged $175 per
person on the credit card provided"

Seems like booking for 4 and then calling before 72 hours of your reservation to say that it's now a party of 2 might work!

By the way, there are tables available tonight at 6:30 and 7:30 for parties of 4....

It's funny about the reservation size and opentable. I've been checking opentable for weeks for a reservation at Barbuto for 2. It never had anything available, any time, any day. Even when I checked "next available", nothing. So After reading this thread I put in 4 instead of 2, and there was just about any date and time I wanted! In this case, no credit card was necessary.

"Seems like booking for 4 and then calling before 72 hours of your reservation to say that it's now a party of 2 might work!"

People on foodie forums like eGullet, Chowhound, etc have tried this at French Laundry and said that the restaurant simply cancels your reservation and gives it to the next waitlisted party. From the restaurant's point of view they have a small number of seats and want to keep all seats full every meal.

Very interesting that there are so many openings for four at Per Se via OpenTable. I dined at a Michelin 3-star restaurant last week and most of the tables could be pushed apart or together to go from 2 to 4 very easily.

I think all the tables at Per Se are round. Also, some of the seating is built-in banquette style, so there's no moving that around. I'm racking my brain to try to remember if there were any standard rectangular tables with chairs--the type of tables and chairs you could move to accomodate 2 OR 4. I know there were absolutely not on the elevated section, and I don't remember any in the lower section.

And for the poster that said the OP's chances are "slim to none", I'll remind everyone that we got reservations twice in the past year the first time we called. We called, we held, we reserved.

I did a search and it is indeed all round tables, mostly for 4, which explains why there are so many Open Table tables for 4. Pictures:

http://media.timeoutnewyork.com/resizeImage/htdocs/export_images/683/683.x600.ft.Dining-Room-from-S.jpg?

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/i/partypictures/10_10_08/27weekendny_600.jpg

When we've been, there have been a number of other couples (or 3 people) dining. So I have to think they are more flexible about seating 2 people at a 4-top than the Open Table website might be.

On August 6th I will attempt to get reservations at Per Se for October 6th...if not successful, will repeat for the 7th and 8th.

If I don't get in, guess it was not meant to be.

After reading up on many other second choices, husband and I will try at Eleven Madison Park. Does anyone know if it's hard to get a reservation there? They use OpenTable and I think take reservations no more than 28 days in advance.

Would also like some reviews of Eleven Madison Park if anyone has been there recently.

I just tried EMP on Open Table and there were openings for the first seating for two people 7 of the next 15 days, for the second seating on 5 of the next 15 days. Surely a lot better than your odds at Per Se

You can usually get a reservation for Eleven Madison Park at a prime time if you book at the outer limit of 28 days in advance. You can always try through Open Table, but if that doesn't work, just call. I just booked for late August and had several choices for times, and this was on a Saturday night. Obviously, it's going to be easier on a weeknight. Le Bernardin used to be easy to get into if you book 6 weeks in advance, but since it's gotten its Michelin stars, it is harder. But not impossible.

All Winter and Spring, it was just not that hard to get into Per Se. Since last year, you have been able to get a table a week or two in advance. But now that the economy is picking up, it's getting harder again. But I still think it might be possible. I would, however, call the restaurant directly rather than rely on Open Table for this one. Open Table is better for tables for 4 at Per Se (I think this has been discussed earlier in the thread).

I've been to EMP recently and would recommend highly.

Maybe it is my contenious nature, but if a restaurant does not want your business that bad, do not go. There are plenty of other wonderful places that do want your business and may need your business.

How do you equate more people wanting tables than there are tables at these restaurants, with the restaurants "not wanting your business"?

It's a supply and demand issue--it's not bouncers and velvet ropes.

It seems the effort to get a reservation is part of the mystique they wish to create. You cannot book more than two months in advance and then you must have some sort of technique and luck.

Christy, you have the magical touch and the patience.

Great restaurant,celebrated our anniversary there last year. Do you have an AmEx Plat.card? They hold one table per night for their card holders. Had no touble with getting a reservation on a Friday night.

Finally, a subject in which I have some experience...

Im4Wine, if you're hoping to make a reservation at Per Se because you want to experience Thomas Keller's excellent cuisine, which I assume you are, DON'T. It's not that hard to get into Per Se, nowadays, but I'd recommend against it. I've dined there at least a dozen times, most recently about a month ago, although most of my visits there were around the time of the restaurant's opening. It was the most eagerly anticipated restaurant opening that any of us New York foodists could remember. Thomas Keller was generally regarded as America's best chef, but it had been nearly impossible for most of us to get out to French Laundry. We were ecstatic about the possibility of experiencing his genius right in our own city.

From the beginning, the restaurant failed to achieve the success of French Laundry. Keller, a perfectionist almost to the point of being obsessive-compulsive, struggled to try to run two excellent restaurants, at the same time, on opposite coasts. To make a long story short, he eventually gave up on Per Se, which I think was actually the right thing for him to do personally. The restaurant has basically abandoned any aspirations of greatness in its food, and it's now just a cash cow for Keller. The food is mediocre at best. The waitstaff and sommeliers are seriously undertrained, sometimes to the point of being a bit unprofessional. The main dining room offers only a nine-course menu, so if you make a reservation, you're on the hook for a long, expensive, mediocre meal (although I must say, the dining room is as beautiful as it ever was).

In my opinion, there's only one right way to experience Per Se now. The salon in the front of the restaurant, which was once used only for pre-dinner cocktails, for some time has been open for a la carte dining, and reservations are not accepted. The salon is quite lovely, and it would be a pleasant place to stop in for a drink. I'd recommend one of their signature cocktails, the Per Se Cocktail or, preferably, the champagne-based International Cocktail, if they're still serving it. The latter was a wonderful aperitif. Then you should see if you can try the salmon cornet, the perennial amuse bouche at both of Keller's restaurants, which Per Se still does well. Then order Keller's signature "oysters and pearls" appetizer, which is always on the menu. It's the one dish that the kitchen doesn't seem to mangle. It was as excellent as ever when I last tried it. Then, LEAVE, and continue your evening elsewhere.

There are alternative restaurants, but on the whole I'm not very excited about the status of high-end French cuisine in New York right now.

In my experience, Daniel Boulud has never operated a good restaurant in New York.

For years, Jean Georges was my favorite restaurant in New York, but as has been mentioned above, Jean Georges Vongerichten gave up on quality to build an empire some years ago. For a while, truly bizarre things were happening at his flagship restaurant, and it seemed like the place was completely out of control. That behavior seems to be gone now, but, when I last returned about a year ago, the food was still not particularly special, although the dining room is still one of my favorites.

Picholine was excellent for many years, but something weird is happening there now. Max McCalman, their former Maître Fromager and probably the most famous person in the American cheese scene, has left. Terrance Brennan's waiters are apparently suing him, and all the usual folks were nowhere to be found when I was last there.

Eleven Madison Park is pretty good, but not fantastic. Le Bernardin would probably be a better choice than any of these places, although of course you'll have to want seafood, and the quality there is still not as consistent as it once was. The wine list at Le B has always been tough to deal with -- high markups and sommeliers who aren't very helpful.

My favorite place for high-end food these days is Corton, in Tribeca. But it's a different sort of place, and it might not be right for you. Paul Liebrandt's cuisine isn't classically French. It's more complex and adventurous, incorporating unusual ingredients and dishes with numerous components, sometimes on separate plates. The room doesn't have the "special occasion" feel that you'd find at Per Se, or the other restaurants mentioned above. It's modern, somewhat informal, with a downtown feel, and jackets aren't required. The noise level can get high, although you would probably be pretty safe on a weeknight. For what it's worth, the wine list and the sommelier are outstanding.

You could consider Bouley. I haven't dined there recently. I had a reservation there earlier this year, but the front-of-house staff botched things up so badly that I never even managed to get seated. I haven't felt like trying to go back.

Thanks Hawksbill for your honest assessments. It was balanced based on experience.

Just got reservations at Per Se for October 6th. Thinking of trying for EMP for October 7th. Might as well go all out!

Hawksbill: I, too, am delighted that you took the time to asses the current situation and offer your opinions. Thanks!

Just got reservations at Per Se for October 6th

Congratulations! How did you get them, by simply calling early and getting thru or by one of the other tricks like Am Ex Platinum or concierge service or Open Table w/ 4? (Asking because we still occasionally try for French Laundry and the normal experience is 135 auto-redials before we get thru, then hearing 'we are closed for a private function that day' or 'nothing is available, do you want to be # 87 on the wait list?' or similar)