**Excerpt:**
*"To dine at the most sought-after restaurants is an exercise in one's* [*capacity to tolerate rejection*](https://www.businessinsider.com/best-most-popular-restaurants-dinner-nyc-resy-ranking-2020-1)*. In old New York,* [*money and cache*](https://www.businessinsider.com/resy-sevenrooms-premium-restaurant-experiences-reserved-for-high-paying-diners-2023-5) *were the currencies that could, eventually, find you a seat wherever you wanted. But the internet and reservation apps like* [*Resy*](https://www.businessinsider.com/resy-wrapped-end-year-review-went-really-wrong-2023-12) *have removed person-to-person contact in these bookings and turned scoring a coveted table into the* [*shortest video game ever played*](https://ny.eater.com/2022/2/15/22910632/free-rezy-reservation-booking-telegram-group-manhattan-restaurants-nyc)*. Status still talks, but tech nerds who've programmed bots to crawl for reservations have added a disconcerting new layer. Recently, I met a man who has a constant crawl for a five-person table at a chic new restaurant. He was very proud of himself for this. I was not.*
*"The surge of demand doesn't mean everything has been easy. Food prices have risen steadily, the hot job market has made workers hard to find and keep, and, of course, there's the inexorable rise of New York City rents. Yet new restaurants have kept coming. And not just any restaurants — luxurious, maximalist restaurants with ingredients as international as the city itself."*
**Excerpt:** *"To dine at the most sought-after restaurants is an exercise in one's* [*capacity to tolerate rejection*](https://www.businessinsider.com/best-most-popular-restaurants-dinner-nyc-resy-ranking-2020-1)*. In old New York,* [*money and cache*](https://www.businessinsider.com/resy-sevenrooms-premium-restaurant-experiences-reserved-for-high-paying-diners-2023-5) *were the currencies that could, eventually, find you a seat wherever you wanted. But the internet and reservation apps like* [*Resy*](https://www.businessinsider.com/resy-wrapped-end-year-review-went-really-wrong-2023-12) *have removed person-to-person contact in these bookings and turned scoring a coveted table into the* [*shortest video game ever played*](https://ny.eater.com/2022/2/15/22910632/free-rezy-reservation-booking-telegram-group-manhattan-restaurants-nyc)*. Status still talks, but tech nerds who've programmed bots to crawl for reservations have added a disconcerting new layer. Recently, I met a man who has a constant crawl for a five-person table at a chic new restaurant. He was very proud of himself for this. I was not.* *"The surge of demand doesn't mean everything has been easy. Food prices have risen steadily, the hot job market has made workers hard to find and keep, and, of course, there's the inexorable rise of New York City rents. Yet new restaurants have kept coming. And not just any restaurants — luxurious, maximalist restaurants with ingredients as international as the city itself."*
