Talula's Table Now Open in Kennett Square

[Capaneus]

That's what I get for going too fast.  Thanks.

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I suppose I could have been more clear, Rob. I'm glad wkl set things straight. And I'd have to agree, all, that it would be a shame to miss out on the take-out goodies in the shop, much less a dinner if you can eke out a reservation, just because LaBan glowed a bit too brightly (I probably did too...).

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You're not the critic of record for the city of Philadelphia.

The main reason I did not post comments about LaBan's review in this thread is that they are not about Talula's Table: my sense of it, not having been there, is that it probably is, in fact, a wonderful restaurant. They are really about the review itself.

Ultimately, my beef is with the critic, and the odd patterns that crop up in his work whenever his orbit and Sikora's intersect, and whatever they say about his probity.

For what it's worth, I think your reviews are delightful, this one included.

[David McDuff]

Reviving the Talula's thread seems to have become my purview. I had the chance to stop in recently to check out their current tasting menu. Full details and photos can be found at:

Late Fall Tasting Menu at Talula's Table.

The reservation books will open again soon for dates in the second half of 2008; details can be found at the end of the story via the above link.

[MysticMilt]

(David, I just posted a similar comment over at Foobooz; apologies for the semi-duplicate, but venting is making me feel slightly better. Slightly.)

Talula's is making me cranky this morning, and I say that as a long-time fan of Sikora & Olexy. When they first opened last year, I heard about the one-table dinner thing and thought it would be kind of neat to do. In September I started to ponder making reservations for sometime around Christmas, but was told that they were booked until March 2008. In December I was there again, and was told that they just opened their reservations for "the latter half of 2008."

Yesterday I talked with my husband and we decided to see if we could get anything even close to our birthdays, both of which are in July. We called last night and that's when I was told that not only are they completely booked for all of 2008, but they're now taking reservations for exactly one year in advance. A year! In advance! As in reservations for 2009! Also, there's no waiting list, as the list itself became too long and too ridiculous to manage, so at this point your only chance of getting a reservation is calling at 7:00 a.m. exactly one year to the day from when you want to have dinner there.

I will fully cop to the fact that my ire is 100% selfish, and this rant is all because I completely underestimated what a zeitgeist they (Bryan and Aimee) would generate (again), and therefore have effectively missed my shot. I'm genuinely delighted that they've been able to capture a fantastic level of success after selling off Django, which at the time seemed utterly nutso move. It's a rare hat trick they've pulled off, and I'm glad it happened to two of the nicest and most talented folks on the planet.

But still, I pout. I mean, hell, there's no guarantee that the folks I'd invite to a dinner a year (!) in advance would be the same folks I'd want there when the date finally rolled around.

As I said over at Foobooz: who would have ever guessed that it would be easier to score reservations at Per Se than at a tiny little place in the wilds of Chester County? I think my brain just meltored.

Edited January 15, 2008 by MysticMilt (log)

[Capaneus]

But still, I pout. I mean, hell, there's no guarantee that the folks I'd invite to a dinner a year (!) in advance would be the same folks I'd want there when the date finally rolled around.

As I said over at Foobooz: who would have ever guessed that it would be easier to score reservations at Per Se than at a tiny little place in the wilds of Chester County? I think my brain just meltored. 

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Per Se isn't so tough - they're not tiny.

Make your reservations - if you can, since there's a surprising number of people out there who own auto-dialers, and only one winner each morning. Then (if you're the Lucky Diner that day) worry about the guest list (much) later. My guess is that these won't be hard tickets to foist off.

[MysticMilt]

Good point, Capaneus. And heck, if worst comes to worst and all my friends bail on me by the time the reservation rolls around, I can always put out an open call to the mighty throngs of eGulletteers. Something tells me I'd have my table filled in pretty short order.

[Batard]

We called last night and that's when I was told that not only are they completely booked for all of 2008, but they're now taking reservations for exactly one year in advance. A year! In advance! As in reservations for 2009! Also, there's no waiting list, as the list itself became too long and too ridiculous to manage, so at this point your only chance of getting a reservation is calling at 7:00 a.m. exactly one year to the day from when you want to have dinner there.

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Sounds like you have a better shot at getting a reservation at El Bulli.

The Wall Street Journal ran an article a while back about getting reservations to difficult restaurants.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117...ff_main_tff_top

Edited January 15, 2008 by Batard (log)

[Andrew Fenton]

See, that's the thing. I'm sure that Talula's Table is very good. Is it so good that it's worth it to make reservations a year in advance, and then drive out to Kennett Square? Django was never that good; is TT that much better? I'm skeptical.

[MysticMilt]

Andrew, I think that's part of my frustration, now that I think about it. I know that Sikora puts out a fantastic dinner, and when he was cooking there Django beat out most other higher-end restaurants (at least in my mind) because it managed to hit the sweet spot between being innovative without being too studied or fussy. The flavors were always fresh, the ingredients were often unusual but always accessible. But I guess I'm annoyed because I know that this stupid one-year thing is directly attributable to the hysteria stirred up by LaBan and the recent flurry of press coverage.

I have absolutely no doubt that a sizable chunk of the reservations they now have were made by people who are simply in it for the elitism offered by such an exclusive reservation. Always chasing the newnew thing, etc. Getting consumed (heh) by these weird obsessions is a perennial hazard of being a foodie. I know 'cause I are one.

Also: I love that eGullet is the kind of place where my Per Se reference is one-upped by an El Bulli reference. Fantastic.

[Buckethead]

See, that's the thing.  I'm sure that Talula's Table is very good.  Is it so good that it's worth it to make reservations a year in advance, and then drive out to Kennett Square?  Django was never that good; is TT that much better?  I'm skeptical.

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Me too. I only had one meal at Django before Brian and Aimee left, it was very good but I remember eating at Southwark a couple times then and liking Southwark better. You have to remember that the scarcity of reservations at TT is mainly due to the fact that it's not a normal restaurant: only ten people (or is it twelve?) can eat there *per night*. Django was a small BYO, but they had way more capacity than that, and could turn over tables a couple times a night. I'm not in the restaurant biz so I don't know approximately how many diners a place Django's size would serve on a busy night, but say they had 40 seats in the place and turned them over twice, they would be able to serve 120 people per night at full capacity. It would take two weeks for the same crowd to all have dinner at Talula's. That year of booked dinners only represents 3600 diners.

[philadining]

The food being served at Talula's Table is indeed very good, and worthy of some contortions to experience it. Is it worth waiting a year for, waking up at dawn every day and speed-dialing to try to get a reservation? That's impossible to say, there's no way to quantify that.

It's the intimacy of the single table, the same thing that's creating the shortage of supply, that's the real attraction, so the demand is always going to outstrip the supply. There's something especially cool about sharing a good meal with friends, passing wine around, being the sole focus of the kitchen and servers.

I liked the food at my Talula's Table dinner more than I had liked Django dinners, and I think that's as it should be! Of course, time has passed, one would hope Bryan's only getting better. And this context of a tasting menu format at a single private table is meant to be a more refined, heightened, intense experience than the average night out at a restaurant, even at Django.

But all the buzz and out-of-proportion demand distorts what it is, as happened at Django. It's very good food, worthy of respect, but it's not going to change your life. If someone offers a seat, I'd encourage anyone to go. But I wouldn't get all wound-up about not being able to get a reservation, there's plenty of good food to be had... it's not SO transcendent that you should go to crazy extremes trying to book a table.

There seems to be something in human nature that kind of likes this scenario though, people pay insane prices for Hannah Montana tickets, camp out at 4am to buy a Wii, whatever...

On one level, the oversized demand might work well for them, creating a mystique that's hard to match with any other kind of marketing. It works for Per Se and The French Laundry and El Bulli. But that has a downside too, of people developing unreasonable expectations for what the meal will be.

It's good, go if you can, but don't get too bent out of shape if you can't score a reservation. It's just dinner.

[Bluehensfan]

Having done their "take out" foods a number of times, they are mostly hits, mostly very good overall, and almost always well-prepared, admittedly a bit pricey, but I would not wait in line for hours for them.

I have noticed (unfortunately) that the variety of take-out offerings in the cases has seemed to have diminshed recently, perhaps because more energy is being focused on the dinners themselves, as I have seen the BBQ'd salmon in the cases more than a few times of late.

[lfabio2007]

If I may add my own two cents, I'll agree with philadining's point about unreasonable expectations. If one fosters this kind of marketing (it doesn't just happen: it is a choice and one that you must work at, see review in the inquirer), then one creates a certain kind of expectation in the diners. And if the diners have some experience with Serious Restaurants, my impression in that they will be very sorely disappointed. I didn't make it to Django before it left. My one try at T'sT failed fairly miserably due to scheduling conflict. But I was in no rush to try again when I learned of the 'latter part of 2008' and even less so now. T'sT is not alone: I won't touch Blue Hill at Stone barns for the same reason and Yasuda (NYC) is very close to making it to the list.

Am I being unreasonable? Perhaps. But as philadining said, as much as we all appreciate the finer points of cooking here, it's just dinner. One year in advance? Maybe at Ducasse or at Gagnaire's, perhaps at Blanc's in Oxford if you're feeling different (you can get in all of these in less time, FWIW). Not at Bryan Sikora's. No offense.

[HD73]

If I may add my own two cents, I'll agree with philadining's point about unreasonable expectations. If one fosters this kind of marketing (it doesn't just happen: it is a choice and one that you must work at, see review in the inquirer), then one creates a certain kind of expectation in the diners. And if the diners have some experience with Serious Restaurants, my impression in that they will be very sorely disappointed. I didn't make it to Django before it left. My one try at T'sT failed fairly miserably due to scheduling conflict. But I was in no rush to try again when I learned of the 'latter part of 2008' and even less so now. T'sT is not alone: I won't touch Blue Hill at Stone barns for the same reason and Yasuda (NYC) is very close to making it to the list.

Am I being unreasonable? Perhaps. But as philadining said, as much as we all appreciate the finer points of cooking here, it's just dinner. One year in advance? Maybe at Ducasse or at Gagnaire's, perhaps at Blanc's in Oxford if you're feeling different (you can get in all of these in less time, FWIW). Not at Bryan Sikora's. No offense.

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I've eaten there, and I completely agree that it's excellent (really excellent), but absolutely not worth signing up that far in advance. *EDIT* Because I can't imagine ANY restaurant that really warrants signing up for an 8+ person reservation a year in advance, not because of any imperfections in the food, service, or ambience, all of which were stellar on my visit.

I completely disagree, however, that this state of affairs is a choice that they've made. They're not allowed to operate a full service restaurant at that location, per their non-competition agreement with the current owners of Django. They started the farmhouse table dinners as an outlet for Bryan's skills that wouldn't violate their contractual obligations.

When I scheduled my dinner, there were tons of available dates. It's only after all the crap in the Inquirer that they've become an impossible table. And, to be honest, they seem somewhat flustered and apologetic about what it's become. When they stopped taking reservations for the second half of 2008, they did so because they thought it was ridiculous for them to be booked so far in advance. The current system has come about, I think, purely out of a series of pragmatic decisions they've made in the face of the hype that's been created.

Talula's hasn't come to be this exclusive as a result of some sort of ridiculous PR campaign; they've got a home-made looking website, and not much else as far as I can tell. They deserve the love they've gotten, although I will say that I REALLY wish the last piece detailing the reservation policy hadn't been published. Before that happened, I would imagine that a dedicated person could get a table within a week or so of when they wanted it without too much trouble, provided they were willing to eat on a weeknight.

I would bet, however, that a lot of those reservations made on New Years Day are going to evaporate before they come to pass. I'm sure they'll find some way of letting those who really want to eat there pick those nights up.

Edited January 19, 2008 by HD73 (log)

[wkl]

hd73- very well said. that is an apt description of the current situation at talula's.

[Vadouvan]

1.

Any food operation publicly saying they are booked a year ahead risks ridicule because ultimately if you can get a reservation rather frequently, it sublimates into a silly marketing plan and simply buzz that attempts to create unreasonable expectations.

I say "attempt" because intelligent people understand that there is zero correlation between how good the food at a restaurant is and how long you wait to get a reservation.

It is the most easily manipulated detail about restaurants.

El Bulli is booked a year ahead and it would require rather specific connections to get a seat after they are booked. I am sure that with frequency Talula's is "available".

2.

I seriously dont believe that anyone in Pensylvania books anything a year ahead.

Sounds good in print but it's BS.

Let me guess, they have "cancellations" ?

Oldest trick in the book to create "desirability".

3.

At the end of the day, it's just a way of creating "desirability"

4.

It takes longer to get a table at Taulas than at :

ElBulli

Arzak

Espai Sucre

Mugaritz

Ducasse

Robuchon

Per Se

Jean georges

Tetsuya

Alinea

Fat Duck

Arpege

to name a few places that serve infinitely better food.

Means nothing.

Good PR pretty much

havent had the food and phil say's it's good

that's good eough for me but the 1 year thing isnt about food, it's about size.

see size does matter.

[lfabio2007]

Well,

personally, if I were that cordial with mr. Laban - which they are - and been made aware of what was going to be published, I would've asked not to publish the 'review' or at least to tone it down significantly, if nothing else to avoid having to be 'flustered' and 'apologetic', to no gain (incidentally, what kind of completely retarded NCA did they sign?).

As to intelligent people, Vadouvan: I agree with what you say - indeed, I said nothing about the quality of the food in my post, if you'll notice, so I hope I still qualify as 'intelligent'? - except for one detail: you mention that reservation waits are about PR and we're in agreement there. But. But PR is managed very easily, except in this case it apparently wasn't; especially if as HD73 says they're now 'flustered' and 'apologetic' about the whole affair. In any case, rant over.

[HD73]

Well,

personally, if I were that cordial with mr. Laban - which they are - and been made aware of what was going to be published, I would've asked not to publish the 'review' or at least to tone it down significantly, if nothing else to avoid having to be 'flustered' and 'apologetic', to no gain (incidentally, what kind of completely retarded NCA did they sign?).

As to intelligent people, Vadouvan: I agree with what you say - indeed, I said nothing about the quality of the food in my post, if you'll notice, so I hope I still qualify as 'intelligent'? - except for one detail: you mention that reservation waits are about PR and we're in agreement there. But. But PR is managed very easily, except in this case it apparently wasn't; especially if as HD73 says they're now 'flustered' and 'apologetic' about the whole affair. In any case, rant over.

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To be honest, I think the current situation might just be an unavoidable consequence of having a one table, no turnover restaurant serving great food. To oversimplify, at a restaurant that serves 50 tables a night, a demand spike of 500 parties could be accomodated in a couple of weeks. At Talula's, it would take over a year.

Maybe they thought initially that the location and distance from Philly would mitigate the demand more than it has. But it seems unlikely to me to suggest a restarateur would ask a reviewer to tone down his praise or kill a review entirely. When the review was published, they were far from being at full capacity, and any restaurant that doesn't have financial success in sight at all times isn't going to be around for very long.

I would agree, however, that after that initial surge I would have managed the PR differently and tried to keep the reservation policies out of the paper. I think the Laban buzz would have died down and they would be booked out for far less time if that hadn't happened.

My central point is just that I don't think the current situation is either 1) the result of a PR campaign with a long wait time as a goal; or 2) something the proprietors are particularly jazzed about. So perhaps it is an undesirable state of affairs that could have been avoided with better planning, but it's not the result of an cynical strategy of manipulating the public. That's just the sense of things I've gotten from actually eating there and communicating with Aimee before and after.

As to their NCA, if you were buying Django, how would you feel about them opening up a new restaurant anywhere in Philly or the near suburbs? It probably should have been a bit more limited in distance and time, but I'm sure they were paid a hefty price for the business, and basically all of that was just the accumulated good will (they didn't own the building). That good will would have evaporated pretty quickly if they opened a new place anywhere very close.

[lfabio2007]

I understand your point and I agree with the fact that the 'capacity' issue is central to the current reservations problems. I also never intended to imply ‘cynical manipulation of the public’ by the owners. However, I will remain a bit doubtful as to whether to ascribe the PR mismanagement entirely to naivete given the fact that the two ran Django for quite a while. How could they not have seen something like this coming? I understand the lure of having a full house: it pays the bills nicely. Still, my understanding was that Talula's was not meant to be a restaurant to begin with, so arguably the 'farmer's table' thing shouldn't have been central to the business plan. And yet, it seems that they preferred insuring a full house to trying to manage what capacity they had. Let’s call it, at the very least, ‘not thinking things through’. Let’s add, perhaps, a little greed, or a little need to pay the bills, neither of which are particularly bad per se. In any case, let’s not call it something that was carefully thought through to insure that the prospective clients had the best experience possible. My issue is that I believe that’s what ‘being a restaurant owner’ is about and perhaps I was expecting better.

Incidentally, the history of reviews and restaurants is complicated, people will be able to comment more competently than I, but reviews have been killed before. Besides, it would’ve probably been sufficient as you said to insure that no word was made about the reservations policy, something that given their relationship with Laban they probably could’ve managed.

Finally, as to the NCA: if I were buying Django, I would know full well that I am buying the name *but not* the chef. So I wouldn't consider a long NCA much of an asset. It’s been over two years and they’re far enough that the overlap is going to be negligible.

[serpentine]

personally, if I were that cordial with mr. Laban - which they are - and been made aware of what was going to be published, I would've asked not to publish the 'review' or at least to tone it down significantly, if nothing else to avoid having to be 'flustered' and 'apologetic', to no gain

I don't think that this is realistic. The subjects of articles do not get to see the article pre-publication, nor are they afforded the opportunity to request revisions. It's generally regarded as a conflict of interest and I'm sure a breach of newspaper policy. Ms. Olexy and Mr. Sikora should just not have mentioned the reservations policy at all. I hope that 20/20 hindsight has taught them that they just need to be very careful about what they say in front of Mr. LaBan, for fear that it will be spun into yet more overheated hype.

Speaking of conflicts of interest, it would be nice if LaBan would simply watch his tendency toward hyperbole when it comes to Django/Talula's Table. (Um, Inky editor? Please consider doing your job, too.) Back in the peak glory days of Django, when it was widely reported that reservations were "impossible" outside of a month blah blah blah, I was nearly always accommodated within a week or two at most. Sure, if I'd wanted reservations for four at 8 pm on a Friday, then yes, I would've been SOL for months. Similarly, I'm fairly confident in assuming that Talula's Table has availability for one or two people often, particularly on weeknights. I blame Mr. LaBan for picking sexy copy.

(And for the record, I'm not a LaBan hater and I love Sikora's food. But no-one can live up to the walks-on-water expectations set forth in the Inky's coverage.)

[wkl]

"I'm fairly confident in assuming that Talula's Table has availability for one or two people often, particularly on weeknights. "

i don't think the table is reserved in ones and two's. it is always booked for a specific number of people in a private group. kinda like the old studio kitchen gig. you wouldn't be able to just call and see if the table still has room for two people on a random weeknight and just add your names.

of course i could be wrong about this, but i have eaten there a couple times and am pretty familiar with how it works.

[lfabio2007]

serpentine,

let's say that we have different opinions of the integrity of the food restaurant review industry, from Michelin onwards, and of the process thereof.

With that said, it has been my understanding, confirmed by T'sT as of last fall, that the table is an all-or-nothing deal.

[serpentine]

lfabio, I'll grant you that there's a lot of fast-and-loose play regarding journalistic ethics in food writing. But newspapers still hew to the old-fashioned guidelines pretty carefully. (Magazines and books are a different story.)

Admittedly I was mistaken on the table policy. I have no idea why I had it in my head that singles could join the party if there was room. (I still don't actually believe that there is no availability, though.)

[MysticMilt]

Don't expect the Talula's furor to die down anytime soon -- Condé Nast's Porfolio.com just picked up the story.

Edited March 19, 2008 by MysticMilt (log)

[David McDuff]

Reservation hypotheses are debunked and the current menu profiled in my most recent write-up:

Spring 2008 at Talula's Table. There may be some hope for smaller parties....

[Jeff L]

Reservation hypotheses are debunked and the current menu profiled in my most recent write-up:

Spring 2008 at Talula's Table.  There may be some hope for smaller parties....

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Excellent review David and I daresay pictures almost as good as Philadining.