Landing a table at Il Nido is an actual possibility.
Image: Courtesy Mike Easton
Ever since Mike Easton opened Il Corvo’s dinnertime sibling, Il Nido, in the restored Alki Homestead, it’s been hard to get a reservation. Not hard as in “gosh, all the good times are taken,” or, “I wanted to go Saturday but will have to settle for a Tuesday.” That Resy app is a desolate landscape of nada, no matter which day or time you seek.
There’s a trick.
Il Nido takes reservations up to 30 days in advance. Thus at midnight, it opens up the books on a new day. If you can fix on a night well in advance, count backwards 30 days, and set an alarm (or, for cool people who aren’t lights out by 9:30, just do your regular nocturnal thing) a table shall be yours.
I happened to wake up at 2am recently and the first thought in my sleep-addled brain was “maybe there are tables at Il Nido.” I fumbled with my phone and behold, Resy yielded a tear in the fabric of space and time—and lots of open tables. By 7:30am, they were gone, and the whole thing felt like a dream, save the confirmation email in my inbox.
Il Nido’s beyond-charming dining room is reservation only. Of course you can also walk in and wait for a seat at the bar; when I dined last week, Easton himself was back there mixing drinks for most of the night. Whatever you do, just make sure you don’t book yourself at the Il Nido Italian restaurant in lovely Marlboro, New Jersey. It’s apparently happened a time or two.
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