DESPITE THE vagaries of euro-dollar exchange rates New York still ranks as one of our favourite destinations. Direct flights help, so does the shopping, but next month sees added reason in NYC Restaurant Week.
These events – we have them here too! – are marked not by their happening, but the detail of what’s on offer. Crucial is the cost and how that is expressed (hidden extras are the bane of events like this) as well as which establishments participate.
You need to view the list and gasp, realising there is an opportunity to eat somewhere you have always wanted to go but just couldn’t justify.
NYC Restaurant Week has garnered praise for pulling in the big names alongside those less well known. Not an easy feat when your aim is to box off the price so $24 (€18) buys you lunch, $35 (€26) dinner, both three courses (excluding drinks, taxes and tips). You can dine at the likes of Adour Alain Ducasse at the St Regis, Bar Boulud, or the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel to name three of the more uptown establishments. Smith Wollensky Steakhouse is also likely to be on the list, for those who prefer a good hunk of meat.
This event started in 1992 with 95 restaurants. In January they will have 275, a testament to the event’s success in getting people out to eat. Back in 1993 when a similar initiative was launched by Nick Lander and the Financial Times in London I was working in a restaurant called 192. The excitement was palpable. The challenge of making dishes out of inexpensive ingredients, people pouring through the door in search of a bit of fun and excitement.
Sure, some of them ordered tap water, but most entered into the spirit and had a glass of wine or a soft drink.
The New York event runs from January 24th to February 6th which may be a cold time to walk down Broadway. But just think of all those places you can get to experience. And the conversion?
nycgo.com