{"id":279026,"date":"2021-06-19T21:16:08","date_gmt":"2021-06-19T18:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/table-seekers-offer-big-bribes-to-get-into-hamptons-restaurants\/"},"modified":"2021-06-19T21:16:08","modified_gmt":"2021-06-19T18:16:08","slug":"table-seekers-offer-big-bribes-to-get-into-hamptons-restaurants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/table-seekers-offer-big-bribes-to-get-into-hamptons-restaurants\/","title":{"rendered":"#Table-seekers offer big bribes to get into Hamptons restaurants"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Table-seekers offer big bribes to get into Hamptons restaurants<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

A couple of weekends ago, \u2009Mitch Modell decided to try his luck at 75 Main in Southampton, since reservations\u2009for the month were already all claimed.<\/p>\n

The bar area was jampacked, and the wait for a tables was two hours. But the former CEO of Modell\u2019s Sporting Goods, whose own son is a host at the restaurant this summer, tried to jockey for a better position by passing out tips to the staff \u2014 a move that has worked in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter giving out a couple hundred dollars I still couldn\u2019t get in, and my son said, \u2018Dad, you are killing me. You have to go somewhere else or eat at home,\u2019\u2009\u2019\u2019 reports Modell, 66, who owns a house in Bridgehampton.<\/p>\n

Finally he spotted two women finishing dinner and offered to pick up their bill if they allowed him to join their party. They agreed \u2014 and when they finished dessert, Modell co-opted the small table, inviting his five friends to sit down.<\/p>\n

\"JB
Le Bilboquet: Managers like JB Parvaix have been offered plane and boat rides and concert tickets.<\/figcaption>
Richard Lewin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe all crowded in to their little table and one guy [who was waiting] started flipping out, yelling that it was supposed to be his,\u201d Modell recalled. \u201cIt was a little cramped and the tables around us were staring, but you have to do what you have to do and we were hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that the Hamptons have been maxed out since COVID began, with rental-house costs going sky high \u2014 if you can even find one. But while most people stayed in last year, this season is proving to be \u00adunlike any other, as lifted COVID \u00adrestrictions mean the hordes are out in full force.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are champing at the bit to get out and celebrate. They are incredibly motivated and spending like never before,\u201d agreed Andrew Tobin, general<\/a> manager at the popular Tutto Il Giorno in Southampton.<\/p>\n

And rejection is not going over well with entitled people who aren\u2019t used to hearing the word \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tobin said his staff has been offered everything from NASCAR tickets to helicopter rides.<\/p>\n

\"75
75 Main:\u2009Owner Zach Erdem \u201csold\u201d a table to a tycoon for the season, no food or drink included.<\/figcaption>
Estefany Molina<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe calls usually start with, \u2018We\u2019d like to invite you to something\u2019 \u2014 and then it\u2019s, \u2018Oh, by the way, can we get a table?\u2019\u2009\u201d\u2009he said with a laugh. \u201cThe [diners\u2019] assistants who call have become very aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

One regular told The Post she was at Le Bilboquet in Sag Harbor last weekend and overheard a manager discussing how he had taken a mini-voyage on a customer\u2019s yacht and spent an afternoon at the man\u2019s golf club.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuddenly the $100 tip we gave him didn\u2019t seem very impressive,\u201d the regular admitted.
Le\u2009Bilboquet director of operations Dobi Trendafilova said she\u2019s also been inundated with offers.<\/p>\n

\"General
Tutto il giorno: Wannabe diners have offered staffers NASCAR tickets and helicopter jaunts.<\/figcaption>
Richard Lewin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey offer to fly us on private planes, take us on boat trip<\/a>s or give us concert tickets,\u201d she told The Post. \u201cThey ask the host, \u2018What is your Venmo?\u2019 We don\u2019t have a regular phone line, only a private one. One lady stops by with an envelope full of money every time she comes in, because she is so grateful for getting the VIP number.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diners can sign up for the Resy waiting list, but on a recent Saturday the list reached 1,200 hopefuls.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, we weren\u2019t able to accommodate any of them,\u201d said Trendafilova.<\/p>\n

JB Parvaix, a fellow manager at the tony waterfront spot, said of some customers: \u201cThey get hold of our numbers and call late at night and early Sunday morning without any regard. They just want tables. I become very famous just from \u00adMemorial Day to Labor Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parvaix stressed, however, that he will accept a gratuity only after a customer has a good experience. \u201cI don\u2019t take money from people I don\u2019t know \u2014 otherwise I would have to take their constant calls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rhonda
Rhonda Lovings<\/figcaption>
Brian Zak\/NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On top of eateries having a finite number of seats, there is a widely recognized staffing shortage this summer, which means that service can be slow.<\/p>\n

Many continue to book the same number of diners, but Maurizio Marfoglia, who owns Dopo La Spiaggia in Sag Harbor and East Hampton and Dopo Argento in Southampton, has decided to limit seating \u2014 not because of social<\/a> distancing, but because he doesn\u2019t have the staff to cover his usual number of tables.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want our customers to get upset if things aren\u2019t up to our standards,\u2019\u2019 explains Marfoglia. \u201cWe don\u2019t take as many reservations. I used to hold a few tables for friends, but now I keep only one a night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

They offer to fly us on private planes, take us on boat rides or give us concert tickets.<\/p>\n

Le Bilboquet manager Dobi Trendafilova<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Rhonda Lovings, who is 53 and works in finance, rented a house in Sag Harbor this summer and decided to book restaurants as far ahead as possible, even though she had no specific plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been very stressful managing these reservations,\u201d she said. \u201cI have to set my alarm for the minute the reservations open for weeks ahead. There are all these side phone numbers and links that you have to be in the know to get. I went to dinner a couple of times at Tutto Il Giorno in Sag Harbor and one day they gave me an e-mail link for future reservations. I felt so cool!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ian Duke, who owns Union Sushi and Steak \u00a0in Southampton, as well as Southampton Social Club, revealed he was offered $3,000 last weekend by a customer who wanted a table at the latter spot \u2014 and just for after-dinner bottle service.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have never seen this much interest in making reservations. Never!\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone is trying to call in favors. It comes down to how many calls you are willing to make and how much money you are willing to spend.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Hamptons, it seems, money can buy happ<\/a>iness.<\/p>\n

Zach Erdem, the owner of 75 Main, admitted that he gave preferential seating to a customer who had purchased a $1,500 bottle of Chateau Haut-Brion \u00a0 \u2014 and that he also agreed to hold a July 4 table for entrepreneur Brock Pierce after Pierce spent $25,000 at 75 Main last weekend.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Grocery magnate John Catsimatidis, meanwhile, is taking no chances on securing a prime table at 75 Main \u2014 he actually purchased one for the season. The five-figure sum doesn\u2019t even go toward food credit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like renting a house,\u2019\u2019 \u00adErdem said of the table. \u201cYou still have to pay for the wine and groceries.\u2019\u2019\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Table-seekers offer big bribes to get into Hamptons restaurants” A couple of weekends ago, \u2009Mitch Modell decided to try his luck at 75 Main in Southampton, since reservations\u2009for the month were already all claimed. The bar area was jampacked, and the wait for a tables was two hours. But the former CEO of Modell\u2019s Sporting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":279027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/06\/Eat-Your-Heart-Out-Hamptons-DIning.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[109880,71478,22512,73037],"class_list":["post-279026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-6-19-21","tag-bribery","tag-restaurants","tag-the-hamptons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}