Languages / English / Level 1 · Unit 4

We Have a Reservation — Arriving

Lesson 17 of 170 · Level 1 of 6All lessons
In this lesson

You are learning arriving: you will read the scene it happens in, take apart the pattern behind them (arrival vocabulary), hear them in a conversation, rehearse them, and finish by saying one thing out loud to be graded.

The scene

Walking into a New York restaurant — the host stand, being seated, the water question, the bread, and the first look at the menu. The American restaurant opening sequence.

Gramercy Tavern — Arriving

The host stand at Gramercy Tavern is warm, wood-paneled, with a bar visible through an arch on the right and the dining room straight ahead. The stranger arrives exactly on time — a New York virtue — and gives his name.

"Hi! We have a reservation under [name], two people at 7:30." The host checks. Smiles. "Right this way."

The table is against the wall, candlelit, a small vase of seasonal flowers. A server appears. "Good evening! Still or sparkling?"

"Still water, please. And could we have a few minutes with the menu?"

"Of course!" He returns. "What do you suggest tonight?"

The server's face changes — this question is permission to share. She describes the heritage pork with apple cider gastrique. "That sounds perfect. I'll trust your judgment on the rest."