Restaurant Week Boston August 9-14 & 16-21, 2009

From August 9-14 and 16-21, 2009 diners can choose from more than 200 of the region’s best restaurants to enjoy three-course prix fixe lunches for $20.09  (£ 11.90 )   and three-course dinners for $33.09  (£ 19.43)  – excluding beverage, tax and gratuity. With the favorable exchange it is the perfect last minute USA CityBreak option this summer!

* New this summer is a two-course gourmet lunch priced at a very affordable $15.09 ( £ 8.86); diners can select an entrée and then enjoy either an appetizer or dessert as the second course (so visitor has three options)

* Many restaurants are offering the Restaurant Week Menu on Saturday, August 15, a night usually excluded from the promotion. www.BostonUSA.com/RestaurantWeek has all the details on which restaurants are offering the discounted menus on Saturday, August 15.

* Restaurant Week Boston®  has achieved a record number of 215 restaurants this summer, a 23% increase over summer 2008

* Restaurant Week Boston® has grown in size this summer – the participating restaurants are located in 14 different Boston neighborhoods and 18 cities and towns beyond Boston. Cambridge has grown from 18 to 21 participating restaurants.

* The official site for Restaurant Week Boston®  is www.BostonUSA.com/RestaurantWeek. With expanded menus, direct links to the restaurants, and an opportunity to win an $100.00 restaurant certificate, the website has grown as well.

* The newest restaurants – Sensing at the new Fairmont Battery Wharf Hotel, Asana at the new Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Bina Osteria and Sportello – are participating. The oldest restaurant in America, The Union Oyster House of Boston, is participating for the ninth year in a row.

* This summer a record breaking selection of nationally-recognized chefs (and cookbook authors) are participating in Restaurant Week: L’Espalier Frank McClelland, Rialto’s Jody Adams, Sportello-B&G Oyster-Butcher Shop-No. 9 Park Barbara Lynch, Radius-Via Matta–606 Congress Michael Schlow, East Coast Grill Chris Schlesinger, Olives-Bonfire Todd English, Henrietta’s Table Peter Davis, Lumiere Michael Leviton, Toro-Clio Uni Sashimi Bar Ken Oringer, Locke-Ober, Lydia Shire, Meritage Daniel Bruce, and Summer Shack Jasper White are participating.

* Both large and popular restaurants such as Legal Sea Foods as well as smaller ‘discovery’ restaurants such as Amelia’s Trattoria in Kendall Square and Mare in Boston’s North End participate.

* Restaurant Week Boston® chefs have spent months designing menu options for diners many of whom are visiting their restaurants for the first time. The Restaurant Week Boston®  website www.BostonUSA.com/restaurantweek contains the menus for each of the restaurants. A peek at three restaurants: Brasserie Jo, Aura & Upstairs On The Square menus for example feature appetizers ranging  from cold Vichyssoise soup; Heirloom Tomato, Eggplant, Pistour Vinaigrette, Roasted tomato, grilled Halloumi cheese, chick peas & basil pesto and Chilled Yellow Tomato Soup with a Hint of Scotch Bonnet to Picked Purslane, Pistachio & Pickled Peach Salad. Entrees range from Pork Tenderloin with Braised Swiss Chard, Polenta Crème & Glaze Baby Onion; Grilled Swordfish with Lobster Succotash, Squash Tian & Mushroom Emulsion; Georges Bank Scallop with corn chowder, bacon, chives, tarragon, & heirloom tomato; Roasted Salmon with parsnip puree, grapefruit, chamomile beurre blanc & radish; Grilled Quail Salad of Wild Greens & Roasted Fig Vinaigrette to Rosa Bianca Eggplant Canelloni. Desserts offered range from Apricot Bar-Crème fraiche ice cream & honey coulis to Crema Catalana -Orange, Cinnamon & Honey Pirouettes.

* New this year for Restaurant Week Boston is Twitter & Facebook: follow Restaurant Week Boston on  http://twitter.com/RWboston and Restaurant Week Boston® on Facebook.

Also new this year is the expanded  special hotel packages and bargains during the two week Restaurant Week Boston.  Visitors will find on the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors website www.BostonUSA.com/greatdeals “Restaurant Week promotion” offers such as the bargain rate of $109.00  (£ 64.02 ) the Holiday Inn at Beacon Hill, or indulge at the new Liberty Hotel Boston with a Restaurant Week Dinner for two at Clink, valet parking and stay in one of their luxurious guestrooms  facing the Charles River or Beacon Hill for $375.00 (£ 220.19). Or stay on Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay at the Eliot Hotel (just selected ‘Number 1 Small Hotel in USA & Canada ‘ by the readers  of Travel & Leisure magazine) in one of their one-bedroom suites with dinner for two at the award-winning Ken Oringer Uni Sashimi Bar and buffet breakfast for two at the Bake Shop at Clio Restaurant, for $325.00(£ 190.83)

* Restaurant Week Boston hotel packages in Cambridge, where the number of restaurants has jumped to 21 restaurants this summer, the Royal Sonesta is offering luxurious room and a three-course dinner at ArtBar overlooking the Charles River for $245.00. Art Bar is one of only two riverfront outdoor patios in Cambridge. At The Charles Hotel in Harvard Square they are celebrating Restaurant Week with a new “Taste of The Charles” package: deluxe overnight guestroom for two, a copy of Chef Peter Davis’ cookbook “Fresh & Honest” and  special spa & fitness program at the hotel.

* Restaurant Week Boston hotel packages beyond Boston: Stonehedge Inn & Spa is offering a $209.00 (£ 122.73 )one-night stay that includes Dinner for two at the gourmet Left Bank, full use of the spa facilities, swimming pool & steam room. For $339.00  (£ 199.06) visitors can upgrade with two private spa treatments with a choice of different facials and massage options. Or head to the Concord Inn  for their special $229  (£ 134.47 ) package that includes room & dinner for two.

* It’s the ultimate close-to-home vacation-on-a-budget this year. For a total of $53.18  (£ 31.23) you could savor the best lunch of the year, go for a beautiful walk through the Public Garden, over to the Esplanade , take in the new Greenway – and have the greatest dinner of the year. (It has been remarked it could be called a  “steakcation.”)

* Restaurant Week Boston between meals: Festival, exhibition, shopping, sports, & sightseeing events during Restaurant Week Boston: It’s all on www.BostonUSA.com . During the August 9-21, 2009 period Boston & Cambridge offer visitors plenty of wonderful events between meals! Celebrations include The August Moon Festival in Boston’s Chinatown, India Day on the Charles River, the Dominican Festival Parade in Roxbury, & the Italian 99th Fisherman’s Feast in Boston’s North End (Madonna del Soccorso) . Visitors can select more than five museum exhibitions “Titian” “Viva Mexico Edward Weston”  “ Arts & Crafts of Greene & Greene at the Museum of Fine Arts, the “Crittercam”  or “Black Holes”  at Museum of Science, see the new Marine Mammal Center at the New England Aquarium, view the last week of the Shepard Fairey exhibition at the ICA or see the JFK & Space exhibition at the John F. Kennedy Library Museum. Performances of free Shakespeare on the Boston Common, Blue Man Group, Shear Madness or Jersey Boys in downtown Boston; at the waterfront Bank of America Pavilion concerts during Restaurant Week include ten concerts including Blondie, The Pretenders, O.A.R., Bonnie Raitt & Taj Mahal , Tori Amos & Jamie Foxx. Red Sox home games include the Tigers & the Yankees.

* Restaurant Week Boston Special Charity: When diners use any American Express® Card at participating restaurants, American Express and the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau will donate* $.25 per transaction, up to $5000, to Community Servings, an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to provide free home-delivered meals throughout eastern Massachusetts to homebound and critically ill people with HIV/AIDS and other acute life-threatening illnesses. Diners can further support Community Servings by bidding on Restaurant Gift Certificates at www.RWBauction.com .

Restaurant Week Boston® Sponsors & Founders: Restaurant Week Boston® is sponsored and presented by founding partners, Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau and American Express®. Additional sponsors include Greater Media, Inc. radio stations: MAGIC 106.7 (WMJX), Radio 92.9, 105.7 (WROR), Country 102.5 (WKLB),Talk 96.9 (WTKK), and Metro Boston and TV DINER. The official site of Restaurant Week Boston®  is www.BostonUSA.com/restaurantweek ]]> http://sophisticatednightlife.com/boston-restaurant-week.html/feed 1