March 15, 2010

$20.10

It was restaurant week hereabouts in Western New York with prix fixe menus for, yep, $20.10. The purpose of course, is to dine somewhere that may otherwise be cost prohibitive; or, a good excuse to try something new, all while supporting local businesses. I enjoyed several delightful meals courtesy of its semiannual appearance on the NYC dining scene during my former incarnation as an impoverished student there.

While this is a great opportunity for local chowhounds, I nearly missed it, which is slightly better than last year, where I disappointingly discovered it after the fact. For whatever inexplicable reason, it was not well advertised here in Rochester. I learned about it at the last minute, with barely enough time to schedule a night out to take advantage of it. My other beef (pardon the pun) is that this spring's list of participants left a lot to be desired -- at least on the Rochester scene. While we enjoyed ourselves at one of my favorite spots (Bistro 135) it wasn't hard to choose that out of the meager list of ten options.

Buffalo on the other hand, according to my hometown pals, seemed to advertise its more-than-100-participants to the fullest extent. So I did get a second chance while there this weekend for a Sabres game, and hit Toro for decent tapas before the opening face-off. Granted it's a larger city, but there are a number of local eateries here in the Flour City that could really give this advertising gimmick some real substance. Hopefully next time around, they'll step it up.

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