Award-winning, world-famous or just extremely exclusive: some restaurants are harder to get into than the VIP area of a Madonna concert. At “Damon Baehrel” in New York, for example, all tables are fully booked until 2025. We presents four Elite feeding stations in Germany, Europe, USA and Japan and reveals how to get a seat despite the onslaught.
Award-winning, world-famous or just extremely exclusive: some restaurants are harder to get into than the VIP area of a Madonna concert. At “Damon Baehrel” in New York, for example, all tables are fully booked until 2025. We presents four Elite feeding stations in Germany, Europe, USA and Japan and reveals how to get a seat despite the onslaught.
To wait four hours for a breakfast, to reserve months or even years in advance: some restaurants are so popular that fans do everything they can to eat there. “It’s harder to get a table at these restaurants than a place at Harvard University,” says CNN , the American news channel, naming its list of nine restaurants that are constantly booked. We presents three examples, supplemented by a famous favorite in Berlin – and gives tips on how to get a seat there anyway.
1. Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark
Few restaurants are as famous as the Noma in Copenhagen. It is regularly awarded the best in the world in the prestigious “San Pellegrino’s World’s Best Restaurant” ranking. Thousands of reservation requests come in every month and on Saturdays there are always about two thousand people on the waiting list, CNN quotes a spokesperson for Rene Redzepi’s restaurant.
Reservations are always accepted only at certain times, namely every first Monday of the month three months in advance. Tables for two are booked out almost immediately. “Groups over six have better chances,” reveals the spokesman. For the coming year, however, it will be almost impossible to get a table: From January to April 2016, the restaurant is closed, because Rene Redzepi operates in the period of a ten-week pop-up Noma in Australia. After the break, the onslaught will surely be greater.
2. Damon Baehrel at Earlton, New York State, USA
He is not a trained chef, but has taught himself the craft. Nevertheless, Damon Baehrel belongs to the stars of the New York gourmet scene with his exclusive private restaurant. In the basement of his home in Earlton, a suburb of New York’s leafy countryside, he personally hosts a select number of guests. The ingredients of the food he has grown in the garden, even the cheese he makes by hand. The feasts with 15 courses can take more than five hours.
Because of the big onslaught Damon Baehrel had to call a reservation stop in April 2014. “Unfortunately, we can no longer accept new reservations because we are behind for several years,” reads a red reference on the restaurant’s homepage. The restaurant is fully booked until 2025, CNN quotes an employee. However, this also indicated that “very enduring interest sometimes pays off”. For very loyal fans who have been on the waiting list for a long time and now and then asked about the status of their reservation, Damon Baehrel would occasionally organize extra food.
3. SushiDai in Tokyo, Japan
Almost every Tokyo travel guide recommends it: the world famous sushi breakfast from 5 in the morning in the small, cheap counter restaurant Sushidai in the fish market Tsukiji Fish Market. “There is the best sushi in the world”, “It melts on the tongue”, “The best meal of my life”, enthused enthusiastic visitors on Tripadvisor.
No wonder that the snakes in front of the twelve-seat shop are endless. Waiting times of over four hours are not uncommon. But: “The wait was worthwhile,” it says in many user reviews. Insiders recommend coming in at three o’clock in the morning and bracing yourself for a two-hour wait.
4. Grill Royal, Berlin, Germany
The noble steakhouse ” Grill Royal” is world-famous not only for the good meat, but also for the fame of its guests. George Clooney, Charlize Theron, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Leonardo DiCaprio are just a few of the world stars who have enjoyed the food and the Spreeblick here.
If you want to have dinner in the trendy restaurant on the weekend, you should reserve at least three months in advance, recommends a spokeswoman for the restaurant. It should also be noted that at special events such as the Berlinale, when the capital is visited by many stars, many VIP events are held. A reservation is then hardly to get even during the week. If you order a table outside of such exceptions during the week, chances are better.