At Momofuku Ko, Being Not Different from Nothingness

Momofuku Ko, David Chang’s New York eatery that’s still booked solid nightly, does indeed take reservations. But you must negotiate the draconian online-only reservations website, which was originally meant to democratize the rezz process. The vast majority of would-be diners find it practically impossible to log in quickly enough (spots become available one week in advance, every morning at 10 a.m.) in order to score a seat. Frank Bruni of the New York Times’ notes an amusing exchange between an embittered, unsuccessful reservation hound and the Orwellian character who answers Momofuku Ko’s support line.

the entire time the calendar page is loading on your screen and the entire time you are disseminating that information you are in fact viewing a moment in time that has already passed. at the same time there are people doing the same thing you are doing. when you click on a green check mark you are only clicking on a space that was available at the moment you requested it.

In other words, Momofuku is Schrödinger’s Restaurant, except the cat is always dead.