Kliman on Visiting a Restaurant When Slammed

Todd Kliman: Going at an off-time is, generally, a good piece of advice for all restaurant-going.There are exceptions: I know of a couple of restaurants that tend to slack when it's not slammed, and things suffer. These are places that hum along when it's crazy-busy and everything tends to fall into place; it's as though they need the frenetic pace to function the way they should.Most places, however— and the vast majority of the nicer restaurants in this or any city, I should point out— are better when they're not as busy. If you hit a well-regarded place at the start of service on a Monday or Tuesday night, you are sometimes the only couple in the dining room— or one of only a few for the first hour of service. It's a little like having a personal chef— a personal chef, who also comes with a personal staff. A total focus on you and your dinner.Great cooking is about precision, and it's a lot easier for the cooks to zone in on your dishes and get all the details right when they're not slammed with other orders.And great service is about devotion and pampering. Again, a lot easier to deliver when there are fewer tables to keep watch over.

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