I pass by the new Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle every day on my way to work. Its two towers, nonexistent a year ago, now dramatically punctuate the northward view from my firm's offices. The construction scaffolding came down a week ago, but the grand opening is still two weeks away.

I've been waiting for this moment ever since I heard of the haute cuisine food court that would be setting up shop inside. Five world-class chefs are opening top-flight restaurants in the new building, the most hotly anticipated of which is Thomas Keller's East Coast version of his famed French Laundry: Per Se. I've been watching the per se website for weeks now in hopes of being among the first to spot the public reservations desk number (bigwigs, assuredly, have already made reservations via a private line). The release date for this number has been pushed back from January 15 to February 1, hinting at a soft opening in a space that is undoubtedly still rough around the edges. But I've been checking the website every day to make sure I don't miss the boat.

Now, as she so often does, Florence Fabricant has scooped the foodie world, dashing my hopes of an inside track. Reservations at Per Se will be accepted starting February 2, at (212) 823-9335.

I'm sorry, did I say February 2? I meant February 3.