Table at 7? L.A. begs to differ How full the restaurants weren't

With a little experience, you can even hear it coming on the phone: The reservationist asks, "What time were you hoping for?" and you know you've been had.

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A 'dumb' habit

"THEY want you to think they're busy," says Joan Luther, a prominent Los Angeles restaurant publicist and consultant. "It's very silly and it's very dumb, but I just think they've gotten into the habit."

Difficulty getting the reservations she wants has driven one Los Angeles attorney to pretend she's a Hollywood publicist when she calls to reserve. (She requested anonymity for fear she'd have trouble booking tables in the future.) "What's happened to us numerous times throughout L.A.," she says, "is we will call and try and get a reservation at 8, and they say, 'No, we only have something at 6.' I'll call back as a publicist. I'll say, 'I'm "Tracy Rossman" at PMK and I'm publicist for so-and-so and we'd like a reservation.' " And it works, she says.

The problem seems to be peskiest if you want a table at 7, 7:30 or 8 -- that is, dinner time (for many of us, anyway).

On a recent Friday afternoon, I called West restaurant in the Angeleno hotel in Los Angeles, requesting a table for that night. "I can take you at 6, 6:30, 8:30 or 9," the reservationist said, without even asking what time I'd like.

"You can't squeeze us in at 7 or 7:30?" I asked.

"Could you come at 7:15?," she asked grudgingly. I said yes, feeling very lucky indeed to nab a precious table.

The dining room had only one other table seated when we arrived -- early, at 7. A few minutes later, that party left, and we were the only diners in the room until we finished dinner -- nearly two hours later.

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The official response

I called Luciano Sautto, Hotel Angeleno's food and beverage director, for an explanation. First he told me the reservationist handled the call improperly. "That's just wrong," he said. "I have to investigate. We try to maximize the seating, but we want to accommodate anyone who calls. They've been instructed, if it's very, very busy, you need to push the reservation later or forward."

But the restaurant wasn't very busy, I pointed out. It was empty. Could there be something else at work? "I love to do two seatings," Sautto said, "so I can maximize the amount of people who come in."