How to Get Into ANY Restaurant, Why Michelin Stars Are Nonsense & Building a Billion Dollar Business
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How can you get a reservation at an exclusive restaurant like Carbone?
Selma, are we asking for you?
No, I just want to know someone. I just want to know someone. Not even me. How does just a regular guy who doesn't have a podcast?
It's a democratic society. I mean, it's a policy that's just one month out. You're just going to lie to the people again?
A lot of people immediately at the beginning of the podcast. Imagine this.
Let's imagine. You have 200 seats to fill for a night to make your money. Yeah. You can't leave it to chance that these two people are going to come in, they're going to fill those seats, and they're going to spend good money tonight. Of course, we keep information on everybody, like who's coming in, who are our regulars, take care of those people, what's their spend, so that I know... These 200 people tonight are coming in, not just a random set of people, because that's drastically going to change what we do tonight as a business. So it's almost never random? It's not never. When was the last time you had a walk-up? It happens, but at Carbone, it's rare because it's in such demand. So we do put out reservations. Generally, what we do is we put out the shoulders.
5 p.m., 10 p.m. Yeah, because we have the internal demand to fill it with regulars. Okay. Can somebody grease a host? You can get into it. It's not about necessarily greasing a host. Thank you. Okay. I would say.
Like you came in here, you greased me, right? You gave me Cuban cigars. These are real Cuban cigars. Supposedly. I got a connection at the airport. You got at the airport.
We snitching already. So hold on.
So these are real Cubans. Once we get a little lighter in here, we'll probably light these. Oh, you're not going to smoke, right? No. Will you have one? I will. Too much asthma. And then we need a little ashtray, too. Okay, so you come in and you grease me. I don't even know what this greasing gets, right?
You want to grease the kitchen? How about you already want to grease my kitchen one night? Yeah. Take the 5 o'clock, 5.30 reservation. Okay. Bring in two cases of beer. Go straight back into the kitchen. Drop it in the pass. Be like, hey, it's for you guys tonight, chefs. From me, Schultz. Reservation at 2, 5 o'clock. Wow. Now we're talking. Now we're talking. That cost you... 30 bucks. And then what happens after that? They're going to be like, then one of the chefs will be like, yo, someone just dropped two cases of beer. Like, who's that? I don't know. Let's go find out. Look it up. Like, oh, Andrew Schultz, two top at five o'clock. Has he been here before? No, first time. Wow, you did the right thing. Send him out a little something from us.
And then all of a sudden, your name starts to populate in our system. Then maybe you order a nice bottle of wine. Treat the staff nicely. Now, all of a sudden, the next time you call to make a reservation, you give us your phone number. Immediately, your name is going to pop up and be like, Andrew Schultz. Wow. Oh, so there's a database that rewards the type of customer you are. Well, it's more that we keep tons of notes on everybody. And it can go from allergies, the table they like, the table they don't like, preferential amount of time, when they want to dine, et cetera, et cetera. So we keep notes on everybody because that's the crux of the business. Who's coming in tonight, right? That's everything. We can't just open the door to random.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How can you get a reservation at an exclusive restaurant like Carbone?
0:49–9:25
2
Why are Michelin stars considered nonsense by chefs like Mario Carbone?
9:25–16:47
3
What is the impact of tipping and how do waiters make money at high-end restaurants?
16:47–29:59
4
How does restaurant staff dynamics and hiring practices affect operations?
29:59–37:30
5
What are the origins and early struggles behind Mario Carbone's restaurant empire?
37:30–55:13
6
How did Carbone transition from a small sandwich shop to a Michelin-starred hotspot?
55:13–1:14:43
7
What role do celebrity relationships and private service play in Carbone's success?
1:14:43
8
How do restaurant reviews and social media influence dining choices today?
27:19–2:37:17
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from Flagrant
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