Blagging your way in

...or how to score a table at the hottest restaurants in town.

You have a hot date and now you have worked up enough courage to ask out the person of your dreams, you have to come up with the goods. It's no use dragging the poor thing down to The Dog & Duck for a pint of mild and a pack of pork scratchings, you have to snag that table at an uber-fashionable eatery to keep the passions aflame.

Easier said than done. Even if you can get through to the reservations desk by telephone, hot tables are booked up months in advance

But, all is not lost. As long as you are prepared to be flexible, there are ways to work the system to your advantage and you can soon be clinking glasses of Moet with your amour at the best places in town

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1) Be prepared to eat early or late

Most people still want to eat at around 8pm and, at new and fashionable restaurants, seats at those times can be impossible to book. Try booking a table at 6.30pm or 10pm, even the very busiest places have tables at these times and you can take your date to a favourite nook elsewhere for desert or coffee afterwards or precede your later meal with a visit to a gallery, exhibition or even a great bar.

2) Try a "walk-in"

A riskier strategy, but worth a try. Hot restaurants always keep a few tables back in case someone more famous than you happens to amble by in search of supper. By 9pm, if they are pretty certain that Brad and Angelina have made other plans, they often make these tables available. So look confident and ask the Maitre 'D if any tables have become available or how long you might have to wait for a table.

3) On the day cancellations

With many restaurants now taking credit card details when reservations are made and charging for "no shows" people are much more likely to inform the restaurant if they are not able to make it. It is always worth phoning the morning of your date to see if any slots have opened up, they can only say 'no' and some may even offer to call you back if places to become available.

4) Try saying "Let's do lunch"

In this new age, Lunch is the great forgotten meal and even the hottest restaurants are prepared to hustle for an appearance from you between midday and 4pm. Remind your date that there is nothing more decadent than a long, leisurely afternoon meal with terrific food and wine. Many places offer excellent set lunch menus even on Saturdays and Sundays, and what date wouldn't take an afternoon off work for lunch at The Fat Duck?

5) Don't bar the bar

Modern restaurants don't just want you to eat there, they want you to stay there, having a pre-dinner cocktail and a post meal nightcap at their bars. Most of these are also set up for impromptu dining, so find that seat, order a cocktail and ask to see the menu. While your date is choosing a drink, sidle over to the Maitre 'D and ask him to let you know if a table becomes available. Even if it doesn't you can still impress your date with a meal at one of the buzziest places in town.

If all else fails...

You can always pretend to be someone famous. I once scored a table at a famous London restaurant by claiming to be Ian Hislop. I am not proud of it, but I had a great meal.