Krieger, 3/23/08

Bacaro, The nearly five month-old Venetian small plates joint located where the Lower East Side meets Chinatown had hour-long waits when it opened and has hour-long waits to this day. It could be because of the wine selection, the Venetian bar snacks, the salumi room. But our hunch here is the popularity stems from the design. The bi-level space consists of a ground level dining room and a moody and cavernous (and crowded) subterranean space with exposed brick, salvaged wood, and all manner of beautiful people. Kama Geary is the hostess and manager that has to break it to you that you won't be eating for a couple hours. And she's the one you'll want to be nice to if you want that wait to move a little faster.

Kama Geary, Manager: We have 100 seats. My favorite seats are a table I call the snow table, and others have called it the mafia table as you can sit here and see everything that goes on in the downstairs bar area. Also the street light shines down over the table and if it snows it looks perfect like a movie set. When I'm with a group I love the table with the antique kelly green chandelier hangs. I also enjoy the bar upstairs, the room makes you feel glamorous even if your not feeling it. 8 PM on a Saturday night. What's the wait for a table? Usually two hours downstairs, one hour upstairs. Is there anything I can say to make my wait shorter? Unfortunately not, we love to be fair, but politeness helps.

...How about gifts or cash to speed things along? Thank you but it is not necessary. Tell us about your favorite customers? Any celebs been by recently? We have a great loyal following, lots of young artists and musicians. I prefer not to kiss and tell! How do you deal with VIPs, when there are no tables left to give? I treat everyone as a VIP, of course I would love to accommodate all. I always suggest a drink at the bar while we try our best to find you a table. ...the owner's friends? Most are considerate and come knowing that there will be a wait, they don't mind drinking at the bar.

What's the most outrageous request from a customer you've had to accommodate? Nothing comes to mind so it couldn't have been so bad! What's the one Gatekeeper tool you need to do your job? A smile! When you're not at Bacaro, where are you eating? Marlow & Sons, Soba ya, Lil Frankies, Cha An, Casa Mono, Ciao for Now, Cafe Mogador

Filed under Manhattan: Chinatown, Top, Bacaro, The Gatekeepers

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