I also wonder how much of the reservation book is being taken up by semi-regulars who don’t have to book through the Tock dinner bell? Seems like there are people dining there many times a year.
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My friend, who’s known Brandon fairly intimately since he was just doing bento boxes, cannot get a reservation outside of Tock now. Best he can do is get on waitlist with priority–which, like Tock–is limited to two guests. Only time I got in recently was due to good graces.
They won’t allow you to privately book the entire bar for a premium. It’s a fair idea–trying to let as many people experience the restaurant as possible, but the Tock system itself is very fucked.
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350 starting 9/1
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Good for him. Reservations being snapped up instantly means he’s been leaving money on the table. Though increasing less than 20% probably isn’t enough to change that.
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Quality might suffer if Chef Brandon decide to go for quantity. Ultimately it’s his call. I for one admire him for how he manages things at Hayato with so many external variables constantly in play.
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Charging enough that reservations would be available for a few hours wouldn’t require him to make any other changes.
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I don’t think reservations will be anymore available… but I’m open to be proven wrong.
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What he’s doing is special enough he could charge 450 and every seat would be filled.
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The obvious answer is variable pricing based on demand.
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I’m with you on this one. There’s still a lot of people who haven’t tried it and going from 290 to 350 won’t change it.
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Yeah, if you’re charging $295 and selling out in seconds, I don’t know what you’d need to charge to reduce demand. Maybe $500 wouldn’t even be enough for a place with so few covers.
Dutch auction? Descending price auction?
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You could easily find ~150 people in LA who would eat there once a month no matter the cost
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Sometimes in situations like that, contact the restaurant directly. If it’s just you as a solo diner, sometimes they can fit you in or put you on a waitlist in case someone cancels.
I got into Kaiseki Saryo Hachi that way. They’re in Burlingame (supposed to be moving to Saratoga).
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The reality is, most of the high profile places have a backchannel for regulars or VIPs to make reservations that bypass the normal free-for-all booking process. It sucks as a regular person trying to book. Although realistically, given the demand, even if they open all the seats up to Tock/whatever service they are all still going to get snapped up immediately. The restaurant benefits from cultivating some regular diners because you know they will like your food, they have proven that they will show up for their reservation, etc. It’s really about figuring out what the right balance of that is. Hayato is even trickier because of how few seats they have and only one seating a night. Unlike N/Naka and other places which do two seatings.
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We haven’t had too much trouble getting seats from the waitlist.
All bets are off if/when they become LA’s first three Michelin star restaurant.
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Last time I was there I sat next to a couple that got off the waitlist. My friend just got off the waitlist this week too. It definitely happens!!
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Adding some pictures of the dishes that were different from @porkbelly’s last post in early summer. Several courses were the same as we’re still in the summer season.
Spot prawn + okra, fried->marinated eggplant, and a plant with a gelatinous coating.
Hamo, seared quickly on the skin side. The meal started with Ranier cutting the bones on the hamo fillets
Bozushi, with ginger garnish. Uncured fish.
Sashimi. Tuna was leaner at this time of year and finely cut squid (great texture, sticky and a bit sweet)
I believe Kinki as before, but with slow roasted lotus root and fresh sudachi
I’ve already forgotten which fish this was. Gently fried with the tail on and then they cut it off before serving. Served with fried fava.
Nabe with mountain yam this time.
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adding on to @boourns report
sakizuke - live santa barbara spot prawns, fried eggplant soaked in dashi, okra, junsai, ginger juice
(new) grilled hamo, wasabi, salt
agemono (kakiage tempura) - brentwood corn, mitsuba, hokkaido scallop
(new) grilled kamasu, tosazu jelly, shiso blossoms
shinogi - aji bozushi, shiso rice, ginger, soy sauce
owan - dungeness crab suimono, kani miso, green yuzu, dashi
(new) sashimi - hatsu katsuo, shin ika
loved the slippery supple texture and sweetness of the shin ika
sake steamed abalone, abalone stock cubes, abalone liver sauce, wasabi
binchotan grilled hokkaido kinki, lotus root, sudachi
(new) magochi tempura, ankake, fava beans
nabe - amadai, mizuna, shiitake mushrooms, udo, tokyo negi
chinmi - karasumi
(new) anago and kinome gohan, nori, miso soup, cucumber, turnip, myoga, hojicha tea
x4*
*ran out of rice
yuki’s kintsugi
harry’s berries gaviota strawberries, kinako whipped cream
yellow regier peaches
yuki’s wasanbon
matcha
a bang bang with kato was perfect
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