The Truth About Restaurant Week

It seemed to start with the word “unofficial.” Or maybe it was a blog entry or two, but sometime in October, smack-dab in the middle of Richmond Restaurant Week, controversy started swirling around an event that many Richmonders thought was just an annual week-long dining fest.

For years Richmond Restaurant Week has come and gone, hyped by media and embraced by diners, and the most critical thought most people had about the event was why aren’t there two?

Then 2010 Richmond Restaurant Week happened; a handful of “renegade” restaurants decided to host their own restaurant week, a few newbies popped up on the official list of participants and the next thing you knew, Richmonders were asking the hard questions.

Just what is this Richmond Restaurant Week?
Who’s in charge?
Who decides who gets on the list or not?
Why are those restaurants on the list?
Who cares if 10 or 15 extra restaurants participate?

They’re fair questions, and ones that have largely gone unanswered (and in some cases, unasked) for the entire history of Richmond Restaurant Week.

Until now. I sat down with Aline Reitzer, founder and president of Richmond Restaurant Week, to talk about the event, the recent criticism and (for the record) the rules.

Back-Story

Nine years ago Aline Reitzer had a vision: she wanted to take the concept of New York restaurant week, which she grew up commuting in from New Jersey to enjoy, and bring it to Richmond.

As a Richmond restaurant owner she was confident that diners at Acacia (the restaurant she and husband Dale have owned since 1998) would embrace the concept of enjoying a three course prix fixe meal for one affordable price. She also thought a restaurant week would be a perfect opportunity to build in a charitable donation to make the event unique to Richmond and to honor some of the donation requests that Acacia received.

And so in 2001 Reitzer organized the first Richmond Restaurant Week by inviting nine local restaurants whose chefs and price points she thought could accommodate a $20.01 three-course menu with $2.01 of every meal going to FeedMore, a local organization that represents the Central Virginia Food Bank, Meals on Wheels and the Community Kitchen.

Growth

In the last nine years, the event has grown as Reitzer, along with a small volunteer staff, continued to organize participating restaurants. In 2010 the event included 28 restaurants each serving a three course menu for $25.10 per person, with $2.10 going to FeedMore. Reitzer continued to invite local restaurants to participate until 2007 when she relied on restaurants contacting her.

“As a testament to the success of Richmond Restaurant Week, for the last three years, I have not extended an invitation to restaurants. These owners and managers have approached me to participate and I am thrilled to see so much interest,” Reitzer said.

The Rules

So just how does a restaurant go about contacting her? And what are the rules and regulations to participate? According to Reitzer, participating restaurants must be:

- locally and independently owned (no chains or franchises);
- willing and able to support a three-course menu for $25 in line with their concept and appealing to new guests;
- preferably in business a full year;
- ready to cooperate and compete in good spirit with other local restaurants.

Restaurants that contact her and meet the above criteria are put on a list to participate the following year. When it’s time to start organizing that year’s event, which Reitzer normally starts doing in the spring, she contacts the restaurants and asks them to submit their logo (for marketing materials) and a signed contract agreeing to participate and donate to FeedMore. This is usually due by the beginning of July.

Restaurants that miss the deadline are bumped for another year.

And as for that one year in business rule, for Reitzer it’s a safety net to ensure that the restaurants on the list in summer are still open when Richmond Restaurant Week is held during the last week of October.

In the early years, several restaurants signed up to participate and then closed before Restaurant Week, thus the rule.

So what about Secco and Amour Wine Bistro, two 2010 Richmond Restaurant Week participants that were open for less than a year?

Reitzer said for Secco she looked at River City Cellars’ history (the restaurant’s adjacent wine shop, which has the same owner). Knowing River City Cellars had been in business over 10 years made her confident that Secco would still be around.

“And Amour was next on the list,” she said.

Reitzer decided to fill the 28th slot rather than have one less restaurant.

“I’m very politically correct about it,” she said. “There are no unreasonable guidelines or deadlines. It operates much like a restaurant waiting list [for dinner].”

Reitzer said she doesn’t have a set number of participating restaurants for the event, either. Her goal is simply to grow the event from year-to-year, without overwhelming participating restaurants with competition.

“I’m not looking to have 100 restaurants participate. I want it to stay in the frame of Richmond; we don’t have unlimited [diners] here,” she said. “Is 28 the magic number? I don’t know.”

And Reitzer won’t know until the full results of this year’s Restaurant Week are tallied.

In nine years Richmond Restaurant Week has raised enough money to provide hungry Richmonders with more than 15.5 million tons of food ($23,000 alone was raised in 2009).

“The goal is to support the Food Bank,” she said.

Supporting the Food Bank is why the event is held in October. Reitzer said Richmond Restaurant Week draws diners from as far away as D.C and she doesn’t want to compete with their restaurant weeks, held in the winter and summer. But most importantly, she said, the end of October kicks off the beginning of the holiday season, which is FeedMore’s biggest time in need.

Because of Richmond Restaurant Week, and the diners who support it, Reitzer said, FeedMore has food to give to local families for the holidays every year.