"I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member" -- Groucho Marx
There's a similar paradox for NYC restaurants on weekends:
Any restaurant where you don't have to wait is not a good restaurant. Any restaurant that you want to eat at will require you to wait longer than you you'd like.
Weekend visits to NYC restaurants (with no reservations) are what I imagine life was like in the old Red USSR: waiting in line. The one thing these restaurants demand from weekend eaters is the ability to kill time, from at least 1/2 hour for a marginal restaurant to 2+ hours at one with critical acclaim.
Even though the city, and when I say city I really mean the West Village, is teeming with great restaurants, the weekends are always overcrowded because the timing naturally attracts three demographics that aren't around during the week:
1. Bridge and tunnel. Don't underestimate the size of this demographic. It's absolutely massive.
2. Couples. After a busy week where couples may not have been able to spend time together, this is a prime opportunity to go out, drop some cash, and spend some quality time together.
3. Poor post college crowd. (We need to give these folks a name because I have a feeling we'll be referring to them in the future). I'm talking about the 22-26 age bracket, mostly in the unemployed or creative services industry. These people spend the week eating ramen, sale sushi, canned/frozen vegetables and hitting up free cocktail/hors d'heuvres receptions. God love them, sustaining on truly the bare minimum during the week. But come weekend time, it's time to splurge! This is what they've been saving all week for. A $40/day Rachel Ray special at The Little Owl.
So here's my solution. Go to the best restaurants on Tuesday night (most head chefs take Monday night off after a tiring weekend and come in Tuesday rejuvenated, possibly with new menu items). Weekend meals should be local pizza or indian take-out, or better yet, go to your local butcher and vegetable stand, invite friends to bring over a few bottles of wine, and make a night of it at Rio Rancho.
By the way, it's snowing right now!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
This paradox is beautifully applied to NYC restaurants. I can walk for hours in the Village looking for a place to eat, only to spend the hour suffering from the paradox. The place has to be *just* crowded enough to look good, yet the wait has to be just short enough that I can stand it. This is also how I eat at the same three restaurants every week.
Post a Comment