Inside the House is a new DCist feature offering an insider’s view of fine dining issues by the hostess at a D.C. restaurant.

By DCist contributor Nadya S. Nikiforova

You’ve been there before. You walk into a restaurant with someone you want to impress. You’re looking forward to a great evening. And you have a perfect table in mind.

Your perfect table may be tucked in a dimly lit corner away from the noise. Or proudly planted in the middle of the floor, so as to display you and your fabulous company. Or next to the kitchen to let you watch the bobbing toques.

But then you’re escorted to your table, and it has nothing in common with your dream table. Longingly, you peer across the dining room. “What about that booth over there?” you plead. “Or that perfect little four-top by the fireplace? Can’t we get that?” The hostess shakes her head. “I’m sorry,” she says. “They’re all reserved.”

Despaired and pissed, you sit down. The evening is decidedly not starting well.

And as you tuck into your pasta, you think, “Who are all these people who always get good tables? What do they have that I don’t? They must be real Washington insiders, with tons of money and clout. No one cares about little old me.”

Well, folks, there is a bit of truth in your thinking. But not a whole lot.