Think of it as a prelude to the gastronomical delights awaiting the mid-Hudson Valley region.
Iron Forge chef, Erik Johansen, has taken a cue from Hudson Valley Restaurant Week (March 14-27) and used it as a model for his own community”™s many eclectic restaurants. To that end, he”™s created a dining experience in Warwick to highlight its many culinary delights.
This will be the third year Warwick will be holding its Mid-Winter Dining event, which runs from Tuesday, Feb. 22 through Wednesday, March 8, weekends included.
“Many of our local restaurants have fabulous foods and chefs, but aren”™t really set up to participate in Hudson Valley Restaurant Week the way others are,” Johansen said. “It doesn”™t mean they aren”™t great places to eat. Our retailers have gotten together, as have the bed and breakfasts. Our restaurants were the missing part of the triangle. This is helping to solidify our restaurant community so we can work on promotions together.”
Johansen has been at the same job since he is 14 ”“ he started out in Iron Forge Inn as a dishwasher and has literally learned his job from the ground up. Iron Forge Inn has been run continuously as a restaurant for more than six decades and Johansen has dedicated one-third of that time to the Bellvale Road establishment. His passion for cooking, along with his love the history of the 18th century home motivated his parents to buy it as an investment in 1998. Today, Johansen runs the business for them.
“As the head chef, I love creating different menus for our guests. The Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce has been fantastic in helping to promote Warwick”™s charm, its bed and breakfasts and unique retail stores. Mid-Winter Dining is giving all our community restaurants a chance to show off the great food and ambience they have to offer and helping us forge our own business alliance,” he said.
Johansen, who has chaired the event since its inception, said 21 restaurants and two bed and breakfasts have signed up for the event. “Restaurants will offer a prix-fixe, three-course lunch for $15 and a prix-fixe, three-course dinner for $25, in addition to their regular menus.”
Iron Forge Inn has participated in Hudson Valley Restaurant Week since its inception five years ago. “I can”™t praise it enough,” said Johansen. “Hudson Valley Restaurant Week has helped turn what had otherwise been the slowest month in the restaurant business into one of the most vibrant. For our local community, using Hudson Valley Restaurant Week as a model gives us a chance to showcase our local chefs and establishments so visitors and residents can get out and enjoy a meal.”
Warwick”™s Mid-Winter Dining event”™s participating restaurants can be found at warwickvalleydining.com.
