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Tammy Thueringer at BBC Magazine is weighing in on one of chefs' biggest peeves, restaurant no-shows, the people who book a table only not to turn up, cancel or even call to warn in advance.
The piece looks at how Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas at Next and Alinea in Chicago have employed their now famous ticketing system to beat no-shows - asking guests to pay for tickets before they arrive.
There’s a look at some of the name and shame policies employed by restaurant and of course reference to how Rene Redzepi and the team at Noma decided to famously call out a no-show on their restaurant’s Twitter account.
It’s a real kick to chefs when it happens, especially when it’s a fine dining restaurant with limited covers and no walk in reservations. Matt Orlando, owner of Amass in Copenhagen, wrote an open letter to no-show guests back in March, asking: “Would you schedule a doctor’s appointment and not show up?
The BBC article looks at ticketing, restaurants with a no reservation policy and even the idea of applying a penalty to guests who cancel meals 24 hours in advance. It says that the problem of people not arriving for restaurant booking in the UK can varies between 5-20%.
It’s a nice piece that poses some interesting questions about the problem. What’s your thoughts? How should restaurant no-shows be stopped?
