In Defense of Restaurant Week

A few years ago I was at a work event with an actuary who will remain nameless. Although I was engaged (and wearing a big shiny rock thank you very much) it was clear that this man was trying to hit on me – by impressing me with his culinary knowledge and ability to wine and dine ladies at super expensive restaurants (little did he know that I had managed to land a fiancé who was much less pretentious yet still willing to wine and dine me at equally expensive restaurants, and sometimes cheaper ones that were just as good).

Point of the story: we struck up a conversation about Restaurant Week. I exclaimed that I always enjoyed Restaurant Week, thought it was a positive thing for the restaurants that participated and that I always went and usually had a pretty great experience.

He told me that restaurant week was for people who couldn’t afford to dine at nice places the other 50 weeks out of the year, and that one should not expect to be served the best during those promotions, because the chefs had zero motivation to make nice meals- they were just shuffling people in and out to make as many 30 dollar meals as they could.

I could not disagree more. With the exception of ONE restaurant experience (which will remain nameless, but I find it no great irony that this restaurant is now out of business) Restaurant Week has given me a GREAT excuse to dine with friends, coworkers and my now-husband at places I may normally not visit. In some cases, I’ve been blown away- my experience a few years ago at newcomer PS7 was a wonderful introduction to their cuisine that keeps me recommending them to others. I second that notion with my experience at IndeBleu (the mushroom crepes stood out and I wish they were still on the menu). For these two restaurants, RW was a chance to show me, a new patron, that their newbie status in town did not reflect their dedication to good food, great ambiance and friendly service.

There are old favorites like DC Coast, who manages to serve up great food no matter the event, and my most recent RW dinner last week at Tuscana West. The mushroom ravioli was the next best thing to my grandmother’s home made pasta, and the dessert course reminded me of my favorite lavender cookie recipe prepared by a new friend – an authentic experience of food from the heart in an ambiance fit for DC’s power brokers and lowly Directors of Marketing (ahem).

So Restaurant Week has come and gone this winter, but if I’ve persuaded you to give it a chance, you’re in luck- many participants are extending their RW menus into March. Check out this post at DC Foodies to see some of the places that are participating.

And if you’re looking for a recommendation, here are a few places where I’ve had great experiences during Restaurant Week:

Georgia Browns
Acadiana
Toscana West
DC Coast
IndeBleu
Nage
Ceiba
PS7
TenPenh
Sam & Harry’s