Are you ready for NYC Restaurant Week? I was glued in front of my MacBook, ready to place my reservations the minute they opened for the bookings. I managed to land reservations at ABC Kitchen, Zuma and Craft, but they were all for lunch, and even though they were very good deals, spending a big chunk of the afternoon inside a restaurant didn’t sound so tempting after all.
I therefore ended up cancelling most of them, and the only Restaurant Week reservation I have left, is for dinner at Chefs Club. The restaurant serves signature dishes from chefs around the world, which I think is a great concept. I dined at Chefs Club last year with Mende, and I liked it a lot, so I’m curious to see what the Restaurant Week offer would be like.
The photo above is from The Modern, where my friend Ehsan managed to score a table at NYC Restaurant Week 2010. Back then The Modern had one Michelin star. Today The Modern has 2 stars, a new executive chef, and no longer participates in NYC Restaurant Week.
A little more about NYC Restaurant Week
NYC Restaurant Week is twice each year and this summer it’s July 24-August 18. During this period, the participating restaurants offer a 3-course lunch for $29 or dinner for $42, which is usually a very good deal, but here are a couple of things to keep in mind:
Read the menu before you make your reservation. $42 might sound like a great price for dinner at a fancy steak restaurant, but if it’s salad for a starter and cheap cuts of meat, then the savings might not be as big after all.
Check the timings. Restaurant Week isn’t available on Saturday, and some restaurants only offer Restaurant Week menu for lunch.
Be ready when the booking opens. Sorry, a little too late for that one. The bookings for this summer’s Restaurant Week opened on July 10th, and the most wanted tables were gone in a couple of hours. However, there are hundreds of participating restaurants, so it’s still possible to make reservations at many other places.
