FOODIE

It's Time To Dine, Huntington 65 restaurants dishing out prix-fixe menus Oct. 10-17

Dine Huntington Restaurant Week is back, and the excitement among diners and 65 restaurants participating is growing.

The second annual Restaurant Week, sponsored by Long Islander Newspapers and the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce, will make your mouth water Oct. 10-17, showcasing restaurants from the Dining Capital of Long Island - Huntington.

For eight days, restaurants throughout the Town of Huntington will show off their food artistry to introduce their establishments to new diners. Restaurants will serve up a three-course dining experience for $24.95 per person plus tax and tip (Saturday until 7 p.m. only).

The buzz is growing among diners with every passing day.

"We try to go to the restaurants we haven't been to, but I think we've been to all of them by now," said resident Barbara Kent. "The best part is the eating of course... my girlfriends and I choose two restaurants, during the week, then my gentleman friend and I go to another one on the weekend."

Dine Huntington Restaurant Week is a collaborative venture of Long Islander Newspapers and Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce designed to promote a vital sector of Huntington's economy - restaurants.

"Huntington is the dining capital of Long Island and Dine Huntington will give restaurant owners an opportunity to showcase their establishments and gain exposure to new customers," said Michael Schenkler, publisher of Long Islander Newspapers.

In addition to welcoming back more than 30 restaurants from last year, Restaurant Week has attracted many new participants as well. Canterbury Ales is one of them, due to the fact that during last year's weeklong event, Canterbury owner Billy Hoest noticed a slow week.

"It was pretty apparent that people certainly were out at restaurants, patronizing the ones doing Restaurant Week, so I figured I had to be part of the crowd," he said. "It seemed like it was a very successful promotion in town."

Successful, it was. The inaugural Dine Huntington event in 2009 brought thousands of diners to the Town of Huntington and generated an estimated $1 million in sales. Prime Executive Chef Gregg Lauletta described last year's turnout as phenomenal.

"I think it was great last year. We were booked every night." he said. "A lot of our old customers came to us, and we got a tremendous amount of new customers who had never been here before. At that price, I think it's very attractive."

Hoest is looking for the same opportunity.

"We hopefully will expose ourself to new customers, who may not have thought to come to us," he said, "and we look forward to the regulars and giving them something even a little more than they would normally get."

Restaurant Week not only gives diners a chance to try new places. It also gives chefs and owners the chance to play with new dishes and feature special menus.

Prime, for example, is showcasing for Restaurant Week items from a "Think Pink" menu created for October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, during which the restaurant will donate to the Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition for "Think Pink" items purchased a la carte. The Restaurant Week menu - filled with plenty of antioxidants geared toward cancer prevention - is prix-fixe, however, and includes: spicy shrimp roll with pink watermelon radish and avocado; Berkshire pork chop; pan-seared salmon with pink lentils, pearl onions, bacon and red wine; skirt steak with pink Hawaiian sea salt; pink raspberry almond cake and strawberries with pink champagne zabaglione.

The Restaurant Week menu is a good deal. A la carte, the pork chop is $27, but during restaurant week, you can get it along with an appetizer and dessert for $24.95. Canterbury Ales is also likely using Restaurant Week to showcase a special menu, Hoest

said. Canterbury runs Oktoberfest specials throughout October, including a traditional sauerbraten and other German-inspired dishes. He intends to showcase these items during Restaurant Week, and will offer Oktoberfest beers either at special prices or as part of the $24.95 prix-fixe menu.

"Twenty-five dollars is sort of on the high end of what people spend here," Hoest said. "So I figure I'll load them up with a little something extra."

Dine Huntington Restaurant Week is not only good for the hospitality industry, it is beneficial to the local economy overall.

"Diners who enjoy a meal also patronize nearby shops. They window shop and get to know our downtowns," said Chamber of Commerce Chairman Bob Bontempi. Check out the list of participating restaurants and preview the menus at www.dinehuntington.com or become a fan on the DineHuntington Facebook page for continued updates.

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