Austin Restaurant Week Starts September 13, 2009

You've seen the ads. You've walked by and checked out the menu, and your wallet cried. In a time when we do well to afford Happy Meals, the thought of a superb, fine dining experience seems out of reach, and downright laughable. But from September 13th-16th and 20th-23rd, you'll be able to indulge your fantasy. A promotional trend that has hit big, Austin's Restaurant Week is back, offering top cuisines from fifty of the cities top restaurants at a reasonable, affordable price. If you want to try that sirloin steak you've been hearing about, now's the time!

This past March saw eight days of delectable, affordable eating, and was hugely successful. Forty-five restaurants signed up, and they're hoping to increase that number this time around. The restaurants are still signing on, but it seems you can expect the same faire, with a selection of pre-set, three-course dishes at fixed prices ranging from twenty-five to thirty-five dollars per person. Considering the sophisticated, upscale caliber of the places that participate, this is a bargain!

The previous ARW featured many top notch restaurants. You can expect a dish to run along the same lines as the incredible deal that Austin 360's Mike Sutter came across, which was served at Jeffery's. In his own words, the dinner comprised of "Crispy veal bone marrow with housemade pickles, milk-poached halibut cheeks with pea-shoot salad, inverted Coke float with pineapple fries. Other options include crispy oysters, sous vide short ribs, seared gnocchi and Meyer lemon crepe dumplings." Not only did he pay only thirty-five dollars to indulge his palate in this manner, for years to come he has an impressive story fattened with foods that few have sampled. Not bad! Impress your friends, or clients, with tales of a high-end meal. Strut your stuff.

Donations from this last serving of generosity went to the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas. This foundation distributes food to soup kitchens, homeless shelters, disaster relief organization, and many other special agencies, with the goal of feeding the hungry in Central Texas.

As of this article's publication, the participant list for September has not been finalized. However, it is a safe bet that many of the same restaurants will again be involved. One can hope that it will include The Driskill Grill at 604 Brazos St., a five-star award winning restaurant, or Green Pastures, at 811 Live Oak St. Also on the list for March was Judge's Hill Restaurant, located in a 1900's mansion and specializing in such luxuries as "rosemary and garlic marinated rack of lamb". Not many can say no to that! For now, contact that restaurant you've been dying to try, and see if they are planning on participating. If they aren't, perhaps you can encourage them to do so.

Be sure to sign up by email to receive all the latest news about September's ARW at http://www.restaurantweekaustin.com/

http://www.austin360.com/search/content/food_drink/stories/ -Mike Sutter
http://www.austintxrestaurants.us/fivestarrestaurants.htm
http://www.aroundaustin.com/2009/02/austin-restaurant-week
www.austinfoodbank.org