2. LEARN OUR SIX SECRETS FOR GETTING INTO RAO'S

"Wait a second," you say, "You said that it's impossible to get a seat at Rao's. So how can you give me tips for getting in? Am I going to have to go outside, pull down my pants, and wait for lightning to strike?" Our response: if nobody could get in, then no one would know about it! So believe it or not, it is possible to luck into getting a seat or two for a meal.

First, you have to accept that you still have a very low chance of getting a seat. But if you want to improve your chances from 0% to 0.0001%, these are our six secrets for snagging a chair:

  1. Buy a raffle ticket or go to a charity auction. Rao's often gives reservations to its restaurant as raffle prizes, so if you hold the winning ticket, then you might get a seat. One of these raffles (where the proceeds go to a charity benefiting research on paralysis) took place at Wheatly Hills Country Club on October 2, 2000 (it's a celebrity golf tournament). Also, sometimes a night at a Rao's table is auctioned off for charity, so it could be wise to combine your charitable impulses with your hunger for Rao's.

  2. Win the Rao's online contest. If you buy a product from the Rao's website (such as sauces, cooking videos, or gift boxes), you'll automatically be entered into a reservation contest, where a winner will be randomly drawn in December 2000. Admittedly, chances are slim.

  3. Become friends with a table's "owner" or another insider. Hey, we didn't say that getting in would be easy. But if you happen to know someone who owns a table, someone who knows someone who owns a table, or someone else of influence (such as Frank Pellegrino or Mickey Vest), you could always ingratiate yourself to him/her and see if you could weasel your way in.

  4. Even better, become friends with Beau Dietl. Ever read the book One Tough Cop? Or maybe you saw the movie starring Stephen Baldwin? Both were written by (and based upon the life of) New York City police officer-turned-actor Beau Dietl, a table-owning Rao's regular. Tell him you liked his work in Goodfellas and Carlito's Way. Then ask him if you can pull up a chair and share his pasta carbonara. (Beau also heads Beau Dietl & Associates, a security agency - you can learn more about him at his company's website, www.beaudietl.com.)

  5. Go to Baldoria. Frank Pellegrino's son, Frankie Pellegrino Jr., has his own restaurant at 49th Street and 8th Avenue called Baldoria. It's much bigger than Rao's, seating over 200 customers, and it's also a celeb-sighting spot that happens to serve many of the same dishes. Fortunately for us mere mortals, it's much easier to get into Baldoria than Rao's - the wait may only be for several months. After many visits, if you happen to get to know the staff (especially Frankie), you might be able to get an inside edge to a table at the mother restaurant.

  6. Give up and have a "Rao's dinner" at home. So you just might get the chance to eat at Rao's, but if the above ideas don't work out, then you can always get some recipes off the Rao's website and just cook a meal at home. Light some candles, pop in a Rao's CD, and pretend that your date is Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidman. But that's probably what you do anyway.