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Daily Dish

TableXchange ... umm, why?

By Betty HallockDeputy Food Editor 
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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

I clicked on the new TableXchange service for Los Angeles -- a website that sells restaurant reservations -- and the featured reservation was for 7:30 at Nobu this Friday. The reservation for two is up for sale for $10. Then I called Nobu and asked for a reservation for two at 7:30 for Friday -- and got it. Maybe I got lucky because Friday happens to be 8/8/08 and everybody will be at home watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics. Maybe.

There was also a listing for an Osteria Mozza reservation for two at 7:15 on Saturday. OK, that’s a toughie. I called Osteria Mozza and (after being put on hold for 7 minutes) asked for a Saturday reservation for two at 7:15. Ha, no luck (‘We’re fully committed until 10:30,’ the reservationist tells me). But I’m not going to pay the $15 that the TableXchange reservation is on sale for. I figure my chances of getting a seat at the bar (first-come-first-served) at 7:15 are pretty good.

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-- Betty Hallock

Daily Dish
Betty Hallock

Betty Hallock is deputy Food editor at the Los Angeles Times. She has co-written four cookbooks, including “Bäco: Vivid Recipes from the Heart of Los Angeles,” “Amá: A Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen” and “Baking at République.” She started her journalism career at the Wall Street Journal and Scientific American in New York, worked on the L.A. Times’ Business desk, and was interim food editor at Los Angeles Magazine. Hallock also helped launch a food and nutrition vertical for wellness app RoundGlass. She’s a graduate of UCLA and New York University.

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