Feature Article

October 20-26, 2006
By Ambrose Clancy
Island Bistros Unite to Spice up Slow November Sales

Now there’s another reason to talk yourself into going out to eat.

For one week, Nov. 5-12, more than 60 restaurants across Long Island will offer a three-course prix fixe package for $21.95. Restaurants are about buzz, and participants in the first-annual “Long Island Restaurant Week” want buzzing business to offset early- to mid-November’s traditionally static sales.

“This is a real bargain,” said John Tunney, owner of the 200-seat Blue Honu in Huntington Village. “Normally three-course prix fixe would cost $45 or more.” In the down time of the restaurant business – summer’s a fading memory, the holiday surge is a month away – Tunney’s Hawaiian-American fusion is on board with the promotion. “We’re booked solid weekends, but weeknights are softer this time of year,” the restaurateur said. “This is an opportunity to come back on a weeknight and to let other people who might have been intimidated by weekend crowds come in and enjoy our experience.”

Long Island Restaurant Week is a spin-off of “Hamptons Restaurant Week,” a wildly successful East End promotion that has offered a similar deal for diners each spring for the past four years. The promotion pulled in $1 million in sales for 70 East End participants in one week last spring, a 20-percent increase over the 2005 Hamptons Restaurant Week, according to Steve Haweeli of public relations firm WordHampton, which organizes both events.

“Our goal is to generate commerce for Long Island and a good dining experience,” Haweeli said.

The Restaurant Weeks do not only involve restaurants. The number of businesses involved in putting something succulent in front of you in an attractive space is mind-boggling, according to Claudia Bruno, a spokeswoman for the New York State Restaurant Association.

“It’s ... interior decorators, insurance companies, credit card processing firms, furniture, linen companies, you name it,” Bruno said. Greg Sherwood, marketing director of Charmer Industries, a wine and liquor distributor throughout the New York metropolitan area, said more than 50 percent of Charmer’s business is done with restaurants on Long Island. “Early November is a slower time for our business,” Sherwood said. “Restaurant Week will help us stay hectic.”

Mike Esposito, owner of Vittorio’s in Amityville, said businesses surrounding his restaurant thrive when his place is busy. “Businesses on the Broadway end where we’re located, such as the shoe store across the road, benefit from the extra visits to the restaurant,” he said.

Getting people into restaurants – even competitor eateries – helps all restaurateurs, said Hal Goldman, a 26-year veteran of the business and current owner of Bellmore’s Jackson Landing. “We even want to see other restaurants doing well, because that means they’ll try us,” Goldman said.

For more information on Long Island Restaurant Week and a list of participating eateries, call (631) 329-0050 or visit the Web site at www.longislandrestaurantweek.com.