Restaurant Week highlights local cuisine

This past week marked Baltimore’s sixth annual Winter Restaurant Week, beginning on Feb. 16 and running through Feb. 23. Though the city also hosts this event in the summer, its winter iteration tends to be more highly publicized and celebrated with more gusto.

The weeklong occasion, this year entitled, “Absolutely Febulous,” featured fixed-price brunches, lunches and dinners at a total of 83 local eateries. Among those included on the list, several have earned spots on the list of top 50 restaurants in Baltimore for calendar year 2013, as ranked by Baltimore Magazine.

The eighth restaurant on the magazine’s list, Sotto Sopra, is known for its indulgent Italian cuisine and participated in this year’s restaurant week. Junior Jenna Santoro, who had dined at the ristorante before and was familiar with the high quality of food, chose to take advantage of the lowered prices this week.

“The ravioli was the best pasta I’ve ever had in my life and I just spent a semester in Italy,” she said.

Many students take advantage of restaurant week because of the great value created by uncharacteristically low prices and consistent quality with respect to food.

Junior Nicole Babaknia also returned to a location at which she had dined previously, The Helmand Restaurant, choosing to do so because of its unique Afghan fare and convenient location in Mt. Vernon.

“The food was just as good as when I went [before] but this time we got four different courses,” she said.

Babaknia elaborated on the service and how the staff managed to maintain a level of excellence despite the restaurant week rush.

“The waiter was extremely hospitable and he seemed like he really wanted us to be there,” she said.

Prices for the week range between $15 and $30 for a two-course lunch at those locations with daytime dining options and $20 to $30 for a three-course dinner. Although the deals have attracted a large turnout in years past, this year seemed especially fruitful for many local Baltimore eateries.

Ahmed Hasan, assistant general manager of Lebanese Taverna, a restaurant participating in the event, commented on the high numbers of customers his establishment drew in the past week.

“I can only speak for this year versus last year [but] this year has proven to be more successful,” he said.

Still, restaurant week may not have reached its full potential as many members of the community simply miss the hype and only realize the dates of the occasion after it’s too late.

Senior Holly Clarke indicated her frustration that the event was not more widely publicized on campus.

“[My friends and I] thought restaurant week was the week after,” she said. “They didn’t advertise it very well, and I would have gone somewhere.”

Even those that did participate were not all fully satisfied. Santoro, though she did concede that her meal at Sotto Sopra was of a high quality, felt the restaurant might have underserved its guests.

“The food was absolutely delicious. However, the portion sizes were small,” she said.

Regardless, those places that chose to partake in the city’s weeklong dining event attracted a significant number of diners and certainly reaped the expected benefits. Several eateries have decided to delay raising prices again as a way of offering another opportunity to eat out to those who let the week slip by.

A representative of Kali’s Mezze, which serves Mediterranean tapas heavily influenced by Greek flavors, indicated that his restaurant would be extending its lowered menu prices through March 2.

“We have a weeklong extension, finishing [this weekend],” he said.

The sensation of Baltimore’s Winter Restaurant Week 2014 has meant several restaurants have had an incentive to continue offering cuisine at reduced price points. Though Executive Chef and Owner Riccardo Bosio was too busy with preparations for the evening’s meal to comment on Sotto Sopra’s decision to prolong its restaurant week deals, a hostess there elaborated on the Mt. Vernon eatery’s decision to do so.

“We just had a phenomenal turnout for it,” she said.

Hasan of Lebanese Taverna offered his own explanation.

“[Restaurant Week] gives [people] something to look forward to in the dead of winter and this year’s [weather] hasn’t been nearly as kind to us as last year,” he said.

Despite the weather and the added stress of additional Restaurant Week diners, those willing to extend their bargain prices are hoping to continue to see successful business.

All this means more success for those in the business of gastronomy, especially those willing to postpone the end of heightened levels of stress that come with the influx of bargain-seeking diners.