I’m Not Trying To Be Difficult: Stories from the Restaurant Trenches by Drew Nieporent and Jamie Feldmar

Author:Drew Nieporent and Jamie Feldmar [Drew Nieporent and Jamie Feldmar]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2025-09-25T00:00:00+00:00

The pressure in any restaurant in America is not the first seating; it’s being able to do a second. These days, it’s common practice on Resy to have a little disclaimer, something from the restaurant that basically says, “We need the table back in two hours.” It might also say, “We have a grace period of fifteen minutes, and if you’re late, the table might be given away.” The reservation system might even make guests enter a credit card number to reserve a table as a way to guarantee they actually show up. In the early nineties, though, guests basically had free rein to show up late (or not show up at all), change their party size, and camp out all night, all of which prevented that precious second seating.

I used to get so upset when guests bailed on a reservation that I would call them up and ask what they did for a living. Oh, you’re a dentist? How would you feel if I made an appointment and didn’t come? It happened so often at Tribeca Grill that I needed to devise a new system for holding people accountable.

I thought we should request a credit card deposit for large parties—you put a deposit down for other large purchases, I figured, so why not dinner? But I was terrified to implement such a policy. No one had ever asked for a deposit on a reservation before, and I thought guests would balk. It took me weeks of hand-wringing to pull the trigger. And when I finally did, guess what? It worked! People gave their credit card and started showing up for their table. It was a win-win for everyone.

I paid attention to everything, for better or worse. I eked twenty-five hours out of every day, watching over Tribeca Grill like a hawk, all while paying attention to Montrachet, too. I needed to prove—to the guests, to the press, to Bob De Niro, and most importantly, to myself—that I could handle it all. I was determined to keep the quality high, even in a restaurant that trafficked in quantity. Seeing all two hundred of our seats at Tribeca filled and turned over twice a day was the ultimate validation. I felt like I had achieved some level of control, and therefore success, but running two restaurants wouldn’t keep me content for long.

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