10,000 People

10,000 People Tried to Book This Restaurant at the Same Time, So Now You Can Only Get a Table by Snail Mail

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Sometimes the best method is the old-fashioned one.

MAHITA GAJANAN 

A restaurant located in remote Maine is so popular with diners that reservations will only be accepted by snail mail this year.


The Lost Kitchen, a 40-seat restaurant in Freedom, Maine, received 10,000 phone calls in one day last year when it opened for reservations, following significant media attention on what founder and chef Erin French had created.

Unable to handle another year of clogged voice mailboxes, French and others behind The Lost Kitchen are throwing it back to the days of letter writing for anyone who wants to eat at the restaurant this year.

Anyone who wants a reservation at the Lost Kitchen in 2018 has to send in a postcard by mail. Potential patrons to the restaurant have between April 1 and April 10 to send a reservation request this way. Starting April 11, the cards will be selected at random until reservations are filled.

A letter from French posted to the restaurant website instructs people to send in the written request on a 3x5 note card in an envelope. Guests who want to eat at The Lost Kitchen must provide their full name, mailing address, an email address, and a phone number on the card. Letters must not be postmarked before March 31 and will be disqualified if received after April 10.

People writing to the restaurant should not specify party numbers or potential dates they want to go to dinner — a representative of the Lost Kitchen will handle those details on the phone.