Alexandria Summer Restaurant Week Begins

(Friday) August 20, 2010

By James Cullum
alexandrianews.org

Sixty Alexandria restaurants will participate in Restaurant Week which begins today and ends Sunday, August 29. Diners can enjoy a $35 three-course prixe-fixe menu or dinner for two.

“The idea is to attract new diners to try places they haven’t been before, to come back to a favorite place and get a really great value,” said Stephanie Pace Brown, president and CEO of the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association. “All of the venues are available to look at on our website, and you can look at the menus and make reservations. You can also find booklets with the menus in all the hotels in the City.

The ACVA is marketing and coordinating the event. “We chose the two weekends because we thought it was really productive to follow D.C. Restaurant week, which is a really good model. It gives more diners more opportunities to try new restaurants. I know lots of people who are going to two restaurants,” Brown said.

Tempo, 4231 Duke Street, is among 60 restaurants taking part in Alexandria Restaurant Week. (Photo: James Cullum)

Wendy Albert owns Tempo Restaurant, 4231 Duke Street. The restaurant serves Italian and French fare. “It’s always suggested to make a reservation for Restaurant Week, but it is not necessary. When you have a little 90 seat restaurant it can get packed pretty fast,” she said. “The price is definitely worth it. For your first course you can get Oysters Rockefeller, Bay Scallops baked in Parmesan on the half shell or a delicious salad. For the second course you can have the beef tenderloin, the salmon fillet, Mahi Mahi, baked grouper or Veal Scallopini. It’s a very good deal and we’ve gotten a lot of calls.”

Christina Ramos is the manager of Grape& Bean, 118 South Royal Street. “The dishes on our regular menu are more like appetizers and tapas. But the entire concept changes with a three-course meal. This is also a good testing ground for food that we may want to add into the menu,” she said.

A traditional dish at Grape & Bean, 118 South Royal Street: Manchego, Goat and Bleu cheeses with an assortment of breads. The restaurant is changing its menu for Restaurant Week by adding full-course entrees. (Photo: James Cullum)

Grape & Bean is offering Prosciutto-wrapped Black Mission Figs with fresh ricotta cheese and drizzled with a fig Balsamic reduction or chilled organic Heirloom tomato Gazpacho soup topped with garlic chips as a first course. The second course is roasted lamb tenderloin over a chilled minted couscous salad with cucumbers and red onion or flatbread with fresh ricotta and locally grown summer vegetables. Dessert is an artisan cheese plate with seasonal fruit or chocolate cake.

Fireflies, 1501 Mount Vernon Avenue, is offering a three-course dinner for two for $35. (Photo: James Cullum)

Fireflies, 1501 Mount Vernon Avenue, is offering a $35 dinner for two. “We just try to give people a cheap option,” said Dan Lichens, Fireflies’ owner. “We are offering two appetizers, two entrees and a dessert for $35. We don’t have a special menu for this event. You just pick what’s on the regular menu. We don’t like to put restrictions on something like this because we’re just too laid back for that. We’ve done this special in the past and it’s always an absolute madhouse. Everyone loves it. It should be a lot of fun. A good way to end the summer.”