Forget calling one Maine restaurant if you want a reservation. Instead, grab a card and a stamp.
The Lost Kitchen, a “farm-to-table” eatery in Freedom, recently announced that its staff would no longer accept reservations by phone.
The 40-seat restaurant, open from spring until the start of winter, was inundated last year with phone requests for reservations. More than 10,000 calls were received the day reservations opened, The Boston Globe reported this week.
The experience prompted owner Erin French and her team to switch to a mail-only reservation process.
“We are old fashioned, we are simple, we are slow, we are Mainers,” French wrote in a message on the restaurant’s site. “We prefer human contact over computers and pen and paper over keyboards.”
Those who wish to dine at the Lost Kitchen this season must write their contact information on a notecard, put it an envelope and mail it between April 1-10 for consideration. Staffers will then review the cards and contact select customers to make reservations.
“No phones involved, just a good old-fashioned handwritten piece of mail,” French wrote.
Fans of the Lost Kitchen approve.
Cathy Phillips wrote on the restaurant’s Facebook page: “This is a great idea … keeping it fair, old-fashioned, simple, less stressful. I’ll get my card ready and hope I’m picked!”