Hudson Valley Restaurant Week is coming up. From March 22 to April 3 — except Saturdays — more than 85 restaurants in seven counties are offering fixed-price menus at $28.09 for a three-course dinner and $20.09 for lunch. Tables are filling up fast, so make your reservations soon.
And throughout the two weeks, watch this blog for daily coverage. My colleagues and I will be dining at a different restaurant each evening, and reporting on it for the next day’s blog.
Interested in being a guest blogger? E-mail me at ewjohnsonATlohud.com to apply.
Plus, look for reader reviews on Small Bites. At the end of restaurant week, I will choose my two favorite comments and award the winners with a pair of tickets to a grand tasting session at the Greater New York Wine & Food Festival, which is May 16 at the Doubletree Hotel in Tarrytown.
And finally, I’m looking for diners to join me as a guest on two live broadcasts from participating HVRW restaurants on Thursday March 26 and Thursday April 2. E-mail me, and we might ask you to review your favorite Hudson Valley Restaurant Week restaurant live on LoHud.com!
This is gonna be a lot of fun!
The list of participating restaurants, after the jump.
Putnam County
Bird & Bottle Inn, Garrison: 2006 HVRW visit.
Cathyrn’s Tuscan Grille, Cold Spring
Hudson House River Inn, Cold Spring
Riverview Restaurant, Cold Spring
Sentistra Restaurant, Brewster
Tavern Restaurant, Garrison
Valley Restaurant, Garrison
Rockland County
2 Spear Street, Nyack: 2008 HVRW visit.
Lanterna Tuscan Bistro, Nyack
Louie’s on the Avenue, Nyack
Marcello’s of Suffern
Restaurant X and Bully Boy Bar, Congers: 2008 HVRW visit.
Union Restaurant, Haverstraw
Woody’s Parkside Grill, Sparkill
Westchester County
121 Restaurant and Bar, North Salem: 2008 HRVW visit.
42, White Plains
80 West, White Plains
Alaroma, Elmsford
Armonk Lobster House
Bistro Z, Tarrytown
Blu Riverfront, Hastings-on-Hudson
Caravela, Tarrytown
Casa Brusco, Eastchester
Casa Rina, Thornwood
Crabtree’s Kittle House, Chappaqua: 2008 HRVW visit.
Equus, Tarrytown: 2008 HRVW visit.
Goldfish, Ossining: 2008 HRVW visit.
Half Moon, Dobbs Ferry
Harvest Grill, Tarrytown
Harvest on Hudson, Hastings-on-Hudson
Il Sogno, Port Chester
John-Michael’s, North Salem
La Lanterna, Yonkers
Le Fontane, Katonah: 2008 HVRW visit and 2006 HVRW visit.
Legal Sea Foods, White Plains
Marc Charles Steakhouse, Armonk
Off-Broadway, Dobbs Ferry
River City, Irvington
Seasons American Bistro, Somers
Sonora Restaurant, Port Chester: 2008 HRVW visit.
X20 Xaviars on the Hudson, Yonkers
Zanaro’s Italian Restaurant, White Plains
7 Comments
just a couple of comments. restaurant week
42we called to make a friday reservation – when we finally reached someone they first asked if we were calling for restaurant week – after we said yes – they said on Friday the reservations were only for a limited time 5 to 6:30 or 9 to 11 – when we tried for 9pm – they said that was completely booked – very bogus to meTarry Lodge – food was good – but noise level was impossible – we ate at the step up eating area by the bar – fahgetaboutit – also – temperature was uncomfortable – will not rush back.
Ate at Le Chambord on Sunday(East Fishkill) – place was empty- they have a prix fix sun-thurs. $29.95 – not a bad deal -
I have not been as quick about making reservations for RW as in past years. Maybe it’s the economy, but I made 3 reservations a few weeks ago and nothing else until today. Anyway, I was very impressed with Peter Kelly’s menu at X2O so I made a reservation there, and also for Beso in New Paltz which I’ve wanted to try for a while. I made a 7pm reservation at 42 through OpenTable and then got a call from them telling me that the RW menu was only valid until 6:30 so they changed my reservation.
Today I made reservations at John Michaels (menu is on their website), X (different menu than X2O but still interesting, a very welcome change from his past RW menus) and Valley (2nd Friday is booked, had to settle for Thursday). Then I cancelled my reservation at 42 (where the person did not even ask why or try to rebook, just said thank you and hung up). I had a bad feeling about that being another Equus like last year, complete with $10 parking charge (at least it was only $5 at Equus).
I also called Tavern and spoke ot the chef there. I think I will get a lunch group together to eat there one day since the dinner did not fit into my schedule.
It seems like less restaurants have their menus posted on the HVRW website than in past years, but several do have them on their own website if you poke around. It’s too bad since I am much more likely to book a reservation if I can tell what they are serving. I actually made another reservation at a different place, and then they read me the menu but I didn’t have the nerve to cancel on the spot, I need to call back. They had a burger (albeit kobe) and salad on the dinner menu—ugh.
BTW, one other reason I haven’t been as excited about RW is that it seems like many restaurants now have “recession menus” available most nights for not much more (and often less) than $28. Beso in New Paltz is among them, but they were not on RW last year and their RW menu sounds good, so I am going anyway.
We at at Charlotte’s in Millbrook on Sunday and it was devine. They had a choice of two salads, a soup or Gravlax to start. The Gravlax was one of the best I have ever had. Then I chose the “Pear” chicken over the Osso Buco and the pasta. It was stuffed with a mushroom duxelle and came out in the shape of a pear, all golden brown and moist inside.
To finish I chose a Creme Brulee. It was warm and cold, smooth and delicous with just a hint of vanilla. What we liked the best was the wood burning fire that we sat almost in! I have also made other reservations at other restaurants for HVRW but may have to cancel due to a busy schedule.
So, Liz, who won the free tickets?
bumping Bill’s comment above
Oh… sorry guys. I was waiting to hear back from the winners before I posted. I’ll make sure to post that today.