Paying Big for the Last Free Table at a Restaurant: the Future?
Even before the coronavirus measures, it was difficult to reserve a table at a popular restaurant on the weekend; in the one-and-a-half-metre society, you can forget about it altogether. A maximum of thirty people in the restaurant means it will be full in no time. Unless you’re willing to wave your cash around…
Have you ever spent a Friday afternoon calling around to reserve a table at a nice restaurant? It’s not easy, I can tell you that. Sometimes you are almost laughed at; a generous restaurant might still be able to keep a spot at the bar open for you, or you can join from nine o’clock onwards, without guarantees. And I knew that myself, of course, because Friday afternoon is far too late to make a reservation if you want to eat at a place with a high rating in De Volkskrant or a positive review in Het Parool at the weekend. Silly, silly, silly.
Fully booked in an instant
Unfortunately, this will probably also become normal for a table at an ordinary café-restaurant on a Wednesday evening in the one-and-a-half-metre society. A maximum of thirty people inside means every restaurant will be fully booked in an instant, even if they organise two sittings. So do you have to reserve months in advance? Bribe waiters and chefs to keep a table free for you?
Last table: let the bidding begin!
No, you can bid for the last table at an auction. Entrepreneur Jelmer Schortinhuis is building an auction website for the last restaurant tables. Through the site, you can bid online for the last tables. Restaurants register their last tables themselves through the site; most of the money you bid for a table goes to the restaurant, while the site’s creator keeps ten to fifteen per cent for himself. Is that fair? ‘This gives hospitality entrepreneurs something they can use to recoup a portion of their lost revenue,’ the initiator told RTL Z. Logical: the hospitality industry has had to make significant sacrifices in recent months, so it’s nice if they can earn a little extra again.
Build up a financial cushion
Koninklijke Horeca Nederland isn’t very pleased about it. Dirk Beljaarts of KHN thinks building up a financial cushion for the hospitality industry is a lovely idea, but: ‘Dining out must not become a privilege for people with deep pockets.’ That said, he welcomes innovation. Laatste tafels, Jelmer’s website, will go live in a few days. Dozens of restaurants have already registered, Jelmer says. We haven’t made up our minds yet: is this okay or a definite no?
