It was the Fall of 2001, when I received a call from Alan Stillman, owner at the time of the newly opened Smith & Wollensky’s here on 19th St. It was a national catastrophe. What happened on September 11th had shaken us all to the core. No one felt safe enough to leave their home. There were public appeals (even from the White House) for people to go back out, travel, and conduct their lives as before. DC restaurants were suffering a 60% or more decline in sales. Alan said they had been organizing Restaurant Weeks in NY for years and offered to send his marketing team to help us do the same here in Washington. I reached out to a group of fellow restaurateurs and together we organized the first DC Restaurant Week in January 2002. Soon after, our local Restaurant Association took it over and has continued what we started, now twice a year, in August and January, when restaurants are in need of additional POSITIVE exposure.
I tell this story to first and foremost explain how much we (ownership AND staff) look forward to and are grateful for Restaurant Week especially now during the summer when Congress is not in session and business slows considerably. But, most importantly, to explain how we look forward to this week as a golden opportunity to open our doors to those who (for whatever reason) have not tried our restaurant. As most everyone will agree, there are a great number of restaurants and customers have countless options, including to stay home and “order in”.
i Ricchi is a small independent restaurant serving the community for over thirty years. In our American culture of always wanting to experience “the best new thing” a restaurant like ours is at a disadvantage. I speak to many young people who say they don’t dine with us because they think it is too expensive. In addition to all our special offers; Groupon, 50% Women’s Club Tuesdays, etc., we look forward to Restaurant Week to welcome everyone and view this as targeted marketing to those who are interested in what we do.
Restaurant Week offers are a great deal. The promotional prices of $22 lunches and $35 dinners have remained the same for many years notwithstanding increases in the cost of doing business in DC. For those of us who must stay in the city for work during the summer, Restaurant Week offers a great opportunity for a fantastic staycation.
To make things even more fun, this year we are offering an added perk for all those who order our special Restaurant Week menu. We are pleased to start serving Illy’s cold brew nitro infused coffee. Believe me, you have never tasted coffee like this. It is a richer tasting and effervescent experience. When coffee gets hot, it tends to get bitter. By steeping the coffee in COLD water for an extended time (+/- 12 hrs) you create a “sweeter”, smoother product. With the totally fun addition of natural nitrogen, it changes the mouth feel or texture, highlighting flavors and creating a thick, cold “crema”
