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Bon Appetit has published its list of the “11 toughest restaurant reservations in the U.S.A.” Landing in the fifth spot: José Andrés‘ tiny avant-garde tasting-menu restaurant Minibar. No surprise there. We ranked the place No. 1 on our list of D.C.’s 44 Most Powerful Restaurants in part because “booking a reservation is harder than rescheduling a flight during a hurricane.” Bon Ap explains its own reasoning thusly:
This diminutive spot from chef Jose Andrés serves just 12 diners every night. The James Beard Foundation awarded this year’s Outstanding Chef Award to Andrés, who has studied under Ferran Adria at the world-famous El Bulli restaurant near Roses, Spain.
According to the reservationist: “Minibar is open Tuesday through Saturday and we have two seatings of six guests each—one at 6 p.m. and one at 8:30 p.m. We take reservations one month in advance; we have two phone lines that begin ringing at 10 minutes to 10 a.m. to get a reservation one month from now, and they ring straight through to about 10:30 a.m. Most people know that by 10:30 a.m., the 12 slots will be filled.”
Photo by Darrow Montgomery