How to land a table at Victoria’s most in-demand restaurants: Gimlet, Attica, Tedesca Osteria

Want to try these restaurants? Join the queue. Hospo insiders share their tips on landing the most in-demand tables.

Booking a table at some of Victoria’s hottest restaurants may feel at times like an Olympic sport.

Most popular restaurants open reservations in three month blocks, typically at the start of each month. The majority of tables are filled at this time, but there’s still hope.

We spoke to the teams behind the city’s most in-demand eateries on how to land an impossible booking — and the hacks to jumping the queue.

Gimlet’s namesake cocktail and gnoccho fritto.

Gimlet

Snaring a dinner booking at Gimlet at Cavendish House — the only Australian eatery to make the 2022 World’s Best Restaurants list — is a hard task, but not impossible.

Trader House’s Loren Daniels said flexibility was key, especially if you were not fussed with the ‘early bird’ or ‘night owl’ timeslots.

“If it’s a 7.30pm table for two to four on a Friday or Saturday, patience is required as it can sometimes be 10 to 12 weeks for that popular time,” Daniels said.

“The waitlist is real. Our team is living and breathing it every day like a game of Tetris — cancellations and date changes happen many times a day for bookings up to three months ahead.”

Gimlet at Cavendish House is officially a world-class restaurant.

“It is someone’s job in our guest services team to work through the waitlist every day and offer bookings to guests who have put their names on the request list. It absolutely pays to leave your details,” she said.

Sunday nights were more available than Friday or Saturday nights, with spots often available one week out.

Daniels said Tuesday or Wednesday late lunches were the best way to experience Gimlet.

“You see the room ebb and flow over the afternoon, the light changes in the best way and you can often have a more languid dining experience as there is the flexibility to stay a little longer and move through to the bar afterwards,” she said.

Tip: A late lunch or early dinner is your best bet. “The hot tip for a really rounded Gimlet experience is to take the late afternoon booking on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Take that 2:45pm booking. The long lunch is my favourite way to dine at Gimlet,” Daniels said.

Vue de monde’s famous chocolate souffle with espresso ice cream.

Vue de monde

Reservations open on the first day of each month at 10am, with October bookings now open.

The earliest bookings for two people, at an 8.45pm sitting, is available in about two weeks.

More tables are available in September and October at this time. Tables of four are easier to come by at more dinner-appropriate times. Lunches also seem more achievable, with several spots in August from 12pm onwards.

Tip: Friday lunches and Wednesday and Thursday dinners are easiest to book. And if all else fails, know Lui Bar is available on a walk-in basis, with elite drinks and snacks. Note; it has a $100 minimum spend per person.

Ten Minutes By Tractor is among the hardest to snare a booking.

Ten Minutes By Tractor

Mornington Peninsula favourite Ten Minutes By Tractor will close for the first three weeks of August so staff can enjoy a well-deserved break.

Saturdays and Sundays book out a month in advance, and up to two months in summer and long weekends.

You may get lucky though with a last minutes cancellation, thanks to Covid, the flu and other general sicknesses going around.

Ten Minutes has recently set up a waitlist option on its online booking platform.

Guests are asked to confirm their reservation five days prior to the booking, so cancellations will typically happen around his time. (Ie: Saturday cancellations will happen on Monday)

Tip: Put your name on the waitlist or hit the phones. Last minute cancellations due to Covid, flu or general sickness are common at this time of year.

Chae has relocated to Cockatoo. Picture: Rebecca Michael

Chae

Once boasting a 6000-strong person waitlist, Melbourne’s smallest restaurant Chae has relocated to Cockatoo and will be accepting September bookings from August 1 at 7pm.

Interest in chef Jung Eun Chae’s homely Korean cooking came after she launched the six-seater, reservation-only eatery in her tiny Brunswick apartment in 2019.

Chae’s husband and co-owner Yoora Yoon said bookings were available on a first come, first served basis.

“There’s not much else we can do. What I can say is people are logging onto our website at 7pm on the dot. But I’ve found we still do have seats available at 7.20pm and 7.30pm,” he said.

Tip: Waitlists are cleared at the end of the month, so there’s a clean slate and even playing field for the next round of bookings.

Not only small, Enter via Laundry’s location is also secret.

Grill Americano

Chris Lucas’s latest restaurant has been in hot demand since it opened — and there are a few ways to land a table.

The first is to make a booking, released two months in advance, when reservations open on the 1st of the month at 9am.

If you don’t get your preferred date or time, join the wait list for priority on cancellations. Walk-ins are accepted for seats at the bar and floor, but try coming early or late for your best chance — 12pm, 5pm and 9pm.

Tip: From August 7, Grill Americano opened for Sunday lunch and dinner, with bookings still available.

Attica

Bookings are released at 9am each day for three calendar months ahead, meaning tables for November will soon be available.

Attica operations manager Kylie Staddon said while the restaurant was booked every night, it was the best time to land a last minute seat.

“It’s actually never been a better time to come in with lots of Covid date changes and less international travel than before, so there are quite a few people snagging tables for last minute bookings via the website or phone,” she said.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays were the easiest days to land a reservation, especially if you’re booking for four or more people.

“Tables for two usually have the highest demand,” she said.

Tip: Call the restaurant in the first instance to see what is available that week. Putting your name on the waitlist will also increase your chances.

Tedesca Osteria’s roaring fireplace is one of the restaurant’s perks.

Tedesca Osteria

Bad news for lovers of Mornington Peninsula favourite Tedesca Osteria — it’s only going to get harder to snare a table. The Red Hill restaurant is closing in September while owners Brigitte Hafner and James Broadway enjoy some R+R. Bookings are also limited in October.

“Bookings, mostly Mondays and Fridays, are due to Covid re-bookings,” Broadway said.

“November and December have not been released yet (due to a 90 day booking window).”

The good news is bookings aligned with accommodation are available in 2023. So pack the overnight bag and make a weekend of it.

Tip: Put a note in the diary to make a November or December booking when seats are released, or get in early and book an accommodation and dining package for next year.

See whether Victoria’s most in-demand restaurants make the 2022 delicious. 100, released Saturday in V-Weekend and here.