When renowned chef Wylie Dufresne opened his gastropub Alder at the end of March, there were lines out the door. Customers had to wait as long as two hours to taste the much buzzed-about rye pasta with shaved pastrami and Caesar nigiri. Naturally, as at David Chang's still hot spots Momofuku Ssam and Noodle Bar nearby, the new East Village eatery wasn't bothering to take reservations. Those looking to get a taste of Dufresne's famously creative fare — without trekking to his pricey fine dining institution wd-50 — had to wait it out.
That was, until late May, when the restaurant joined OpenTable and began accepting reservations.
N.Y. Post: Brian Zak
Chef Wylie Dufresne's gastropub Alder is one of the restaurants bowing to diner demands by taking reservations.
"There are a lot of New Yorkers who need to plan things, [and] we were wondering if we were keeping them out," says Dufresne. He admits that while the restaurant had its busy times, it wasn't always so full, especially on all those rainy nights of late: "Walk-in only restaurants are certainly at the whimsy of the weather."
In recent years, it's become all too common for buzzy New York restaurants to not accept reservations, leaving diners waiting for hours to taste the pizza of the moment or the dumplings everyone's talking about. But this annoying trend seems to be on the decline.
Curt Gathje, Zagat's lead editor, says he's seeing a shift away from no-reservations policies, as was recently the case at the Bowery's trendy Pearl & Ash. It opened in February, and, at first, only accepted reservations via e-mail for the not-so-prime times of pre-6 p.m. or post-10 p.m. Recently, the restaurant began taking OpenTable reservations for all hours.
"When a hot new place opens up, there's a deluge of people descending on them. But once that newness starts to ebb, they start accepting reservations," says Gathje.
According to Pearl & Ash general manager Branden McRill, the restaurant now reserves a whopping 85 percent of its dining room.
Other recent converts include Pig & Khao, a well-reviewed Lower East Side Filipino restaurant from "Top Chef" alum Leah Cohen, and Fatty 'Cue in Williamsburg, a popular Asian barbecue spot that reopened in April after being closed for over a year for renovations.
Colin Camac, service director of the Fatty Crew group that runs both restaurants, notes that it's helped bring more people into the restaurants, both of which are on quiet blocks. Now, at Fatty 'Cue, he says "People aren't worried about going to Williamsburg from the city and not having their seat ready."
Even Mission Chinese, the Lower East Side hipster fave that regularly has two-hour wait times, recently began accepting a limited number of reservations through its Web site, though its rabid fans say they're willing to wait whether or not they can score a table online.
"I'm going to come here either way, the food is that good," says Sat Seshadri, 29, a Murray Hill resident and squash coach who recently dined at the restaurant.
Some downtown restaurant owners are realizing it's best to take reservations from the start. That's what Alex Stupak, a former pastry chef for Dufresne, did when he opened Empellón Cocina in early 2012. "Restaurants going forward in this day and age are going to have a hard time [not taking reservations]," says Stupak, who traces the trend to the economic crisis and the popularity of comfort food. "The clientele won't stand for it."
Other restaurateurs remain steadfast in their no-reservations policy. While Ed Schoenfeld may take reservations for the Peking duck dinners he plans to do at the bar he's opening beneath his West Village Chinese spot RedFarm, he has no plans to take them at RedFarm itself, or its soon-to-open Upper West Side location. His explanation for not taking them at the typically thronged RedFarm, is a simple one: Filling tables isn't usually an issue, and "I have to pay a big f - - king rent," he says. "I don't want to take a reservation for someone at 7:45 that doesn't show up until 8:10 . . . that's 25 minutes of emptiness. I can't afford [it]."
heber@nypost.com
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