Everyone has a favorite number. For Janet Crawshaw, it was 100; as in past tense.
That magic number is history.
Her new favorite number is 112, as in the number of eateries taking part in next month”™s Hudson Valley Restaurant Week.
Crawshaw was the self-proclaimed “instigator,” who “with an amazing group of people” thought of bringing Restaurant Week to the Hudson Valley.
The week could not have come about without “the critical mass of farmers and restaurants” in the Hudson Valley.
The event had been around in big cities, such as New York, Boston and San Diego. No one had thought of making it a regional event before. But in November 2006, the Hudson Valley”™s version made its debut.
The time was picked to signify the end of harvest and the quiet time before the Christmas holidays. But some of the eateries were so busy that their staffs were exhausted. So, the thought was to move the event to the spring. So as not to have back-to-back events in the fall and spring, 2007 was skipped and in 2008, the switch was made.
Last year”™s event had 87 restaurants and drew more than 125,000 diners.
But the “week,” which this year runs two weeks from March 15-28, is more than just about new culinary experiences.
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There”™s a business side to the event that is beneficial to both restaurant owner and seller of Hudson Valley goods, Crawshaw said.
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Before Restaurant Week begins, Crawshaw, who is publisher of The Valley Table magazine, hosts a meet-and greet for chefs, owners and food purveyors. “I hate to call it networking,” she said, “but it allows these independent small-business owners ”“ who are always busy in their own restaurants ”“ to let them be the guests.”
The “I always wanted to meet that chef” idea becomes reality, she said.
It also allows chefs and owners to make new connections, Crawshaw said: “chef to chef; chef to farmer; chef to cheese maker.”
Tables of locally produced foods and drinks are sampled by restaurant owners.
“It allows the producers to get more restaurant accounts,” she said.
With participants offering three-course prix-fixe dinners at $28 and three-course lunches at $20, Crawshaw said, “restaurants are challenged to come up with menus that won”™t break the bank and feature Hudson Valley products.”
The region”™s farms provide everything from artisanal cheeses to greens and onions to duck, pork and chicken.
“Being part of the Hudson Valley has a cachet,” Crawshaw said. “It brings more attention to the region and helps define the region. It”™s an incredibly successful brand.”
Nick Citera of Cosimo”™s Restaurant Group is already a believer in Hudson Valley-made products. He can tell a patron at any one of his five full-service restaurants in the region where the locally produced ingredients come from.
“Cheese from Modena. Onions from the Black Dirt region. Jane”™s Ice Cream from Kingston.” And of course, Hudson Valley apples.
“You have to try our apple pizzetta. It”™s Hudson Valley apples on a thin sweet crust.”
As for Restaurant Week, Citera said it drives traffic to the eateries and brings a new awareness to those who have not visited the restaurants before.
The event attracts “foodies from New York City” and keeps them coming back, he said.
For more information, go online to www.HudsonValleyRestaurantWeek.com.
