How to avoid being consigned to Alaska
These waterfront tables in Leeds are unpopular on cool days; but much in demand on sunny summer lunchtimes
Defining Alaska
No restaurant owner likes to see empty tables; but it’s a fact that everywhere in the world there are more and less popular zones, or even individual tables, in restaurants. In the States, where they always seem to have a name for everything, they deem the unpopular areas of a restaurant ‘Alaska’ or alternatively ‘Siberia’. It’s the cold place, where customers prefer not to be seated, and where waiting staff have to work harder to please people. As I watched comings and goings in various styles of restaurants while travelling over the past few weeks, on occasion dining alone, sometimes accompanied by my family, and sometimes as part of a large group. In many places I’ve noticed how conflict can occur.
The causes of Alaska
One difficulty for everyone is that ‘Alaska’ in general can move around. It moves seasonally, with outdoor terraces of hotels and cafes busiest in summer, a time when people often prefer not to be inside. The very same places can be almost unrecognisable in winter, a time when terraces are almost invisible, but candlelit interiors and even cellars, are more cosy and inviting. Alaska can also move with the time of day and clientele. City restaurants may be busy with business people at lunchtimes, or even breakfast, if they open, but can be hard to fill in the evening, when they can lack atmosphere. Few people enjoy dining in an empty restaurant, and everyone likes to have a good table; but it’s just not always possible, especially in the most popular places.
Generally speaking, there are six issues which can give rise to ‘Alaska’ :
- relative temperature (cold, heat or humidity)
- draught,
- noise and traffic flow
- table layout
- perceived inferior view
- perceived inferior position
Alaska can be created by a single one, or a combination of any of these factors compared to other tables in the same restaurant. Each has the potential to cause discomfort to guests on affected tables. The important thing is for all staff in affected restaurants to be aware of the problem, and to put counter strategies in place if at all possible.
How do you solve a problem like Alaska?
In some cases action can be taken. Temporary Alaska can be caused in any area of a restaurant adjacent to a large table set up for a group, usually due to concerns about noise. Such tables can be screened from other guests; or adjacent tables booked with earlier arrival times to minimise exposure to noise, which often increases as the evening progresses.
Restaurant staff should already be aware of airflows and most try to avoid locating tables in an obvious draught or immediately next to open fires, heaters and doors. Such sites, and others on the route of high traffic flows, will almost certainly prove to be unpopular Alaska zones.
I don’t envy the task of the maitre d’, host or whoever takes responsibility for table allocation in popular fine dining restaurants. The problem of tables unpopular because they have an inferior view or position, whether perceived or actual, can be the most difficult of all for customers and staff to handle. Many guests now check user generated reviews on websites in the hope of discovering tips about tables to avoid in popular places.
The policy of ‘first come first served’ may work in informal restaurants with high turnover; but not in fine dining restaurants, or in resort hotels, where the table may be allocated for the duration of a lengthy stay, and its location is therefore more crucial in the eyes of the guest. I haven’t seen a queue at restaurant opening time since the earliest days of Mediterranean package holidays! An undignified rush to bag the best table, at least, now seems to be prevented by the simple intervention of a greeter or maitre d’, and a polite request to wait for a table assignment, at a desk near the entrance.
A solution to our chilly experience
When our family stayed at the Thurlestone Hotel in Devon during our ‘staycation’ this summer, the Alaska issue was handled in an exemplary way. I imagine that, like many guests entering the Margaret Amelia restaurant, we hoped to be allocated a window table (around 25% of the total available), and we had actually requested one specifically in advance, although we had booked our stay at fairly short notice. We were politely informed that we had been allocated a table in the second row back from the window, but that they would ‘see what they could do’ to get us a window table during our stay. In fact we were kept fully informed each day, and finally moved to one on the last evening of our three night stay, for which we were appropriately grateful.
The whole question of how to get a good table in a restaurant is also covered by many online blogs and forums including the Epi-log on Epicurious.com, so I won’t go into more detail here. Suffice it for me to say that if you are entertaining someone on an important occasion, you probably owe it to your guest(s) to make every effort to avoid Alaska!
Until next week…
