Curtis Stone's Maude Will Start Using Ticket-Based Reservation System Tock Next Month

Generally, it's been quite difficult to land a table at Curtis Stone's Maude restaurant in Beverly Hills. What's been to blame? A combination of the celebrity chef's rabid following, a monthly menu that changes according to the season (and a singular featured ingredient), a tiny 25-seat dining room, and a by-phone reservations line that opens up early every month for the following month's tables. Those who didn't time the call in were hard pressed to land a treasured booking.

But the LA Times reports today that Maude will be one of two restaurants in L.A. to use Nick Kokonas' (Alinea) Tock system, which is an online ticket-buying platform. Maude's system will go online for the first time on October 1 for November bookings, so fasten your keyboards.

Currently Trois Mec is the only other restaurant in Los Angeles to use Tock, which sells tickets at a fixed price. Some other Tock clients, such as Kokonas' own Next, as well as Chicago's Elizabeth restaurant, even offer variable pricing based on the desired dining times. That means prime tables on Friday and Saturday evenings sell for a premium while early reservations on mid-week days can be more affordable. It's unclear whether Stone's restaurant will use that kind of variable pricing as the website still lists November dinners as the White Truffle tasting menu (with no listed price for the course meal).

While tech-savvy diners can log onto Tock in a few weeks time to book their next Maude reservation, old-school phone users can still call into the restaurant to book their date with the hunky Aussie chef.