Attractive diners given visable tables

A new four part programme called ‘Tricks of the Restaurant Trade’ is currently airing on Channel 4. The show aims to hi-light all the methods restaurants use to trick you into spending more money and making more profit. One of the tricks shown is ‘seating practice’ which presenter Simon Rimmer said is ‘very common’ and used in thousands of restaurants up and down the country. The series shows professional models posing as diners in different London restaurants to see what response they had when asking for a table. All the models were given prime-spot tables with high visibility (ie window tables), whereas customers considered ‘less traditionally attractive’ were either told there were no tables available or were given less visible seats, either at the back of the restaurant or near the toilets. Neil Gill, owner of Season Kitchen, is quoted in the Telegraph as saying ‘Everybody likes to associate themselves with the cool and good looking people. You want to feel like you are eating in a restaurant where there are other cool people’. I wondered how offended I will feel next time I go out for a meal and I’m promptly led to the table next to the toilets?