The French Laundry, Single Thread, Meadowood switch to Tock prepaid reservations

Making a dinner reservation? Now you’re going to pay for it.

Upscale restaurants in the North Bay are moving away from the OpenTable online reservation platform to the Tock system, where dinners are prepaid like tickets.

Local restaurants that have switched over include St. Helena’s Restaurant at Meadowood, Single Thread in Healdsburg, and Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry in Yountville. Keller’s venue was the latest to join Tock, on March 20.

Unlike OpenTable, Tock.com requires diners to pay for all or a portion of the cost of the upcoming dinner in advance, sometimes by months.

Based in Chicago, Tock was co-founded by restaurateur Nick Kokonas, Brian Fitzpatrick, a former Google engineer, and former French Laundry chef Grant Achatz. Thomas Keller has also invested in the company.

Tock was designed to help restaurants manage bookings and curb no-shows, which take a big bite out of restaurants’ profits. It’s more like a ticketing system, using a model much like the one for a concert or sporting event.

Single Thread offers an 11-course, customized tasting menu. With Tock, customers pay $293 per person, and drinks are $72–$385.

Reservations can be made up to three months in advance and are released on the first of each month. Customers are notified of the menu details, and reservations are confirmed by email. There is also an option to join a waitlist if nothing is available at the requested date and time.

Reservations at the The French Laundry are $310 per person.

The new platform is “a more effective reservation system,” according to the restaurant.

“This enhanced platform retains the finest elements of our guest services program while eliminating the frustrations of wait times on the phone,” the restaurant said in a statement. “You will still be able to speak with our concierge who will reach out to each guest after an online reservation has been made.

“Although we cannot always guarantee a table, we can guarantee a more streamlined experience. Our reservations policy and philosophy remain the same.”

Reservations are now available for April 20–June 30. The next two months of reservations will be released on May 1. Going forward, releases will fall on the first day of odd-numbered months: January, March, May, July, September and November.

Cynthia Sweeney covers health care, hospitality, residential real estate, education, employment and business insurance. Reach her at Cynthia.Sweeney@busjrnl.com or call 707-521-4259.