Restaurant Week releases initial list of eateries
One participant, Pepperclub, saw surge in business last year and kept promotions going
On Tuesday, organizers of Maine Restaurant Week announced a preliminary list of confirmed restaurants participating in the second installment of this dining promotion.
Eighty-nine restaurants made the preliminary list. Among those is the Pepperclub restaurant in the Old Port. The Pepperclub is returning for a second yea. The Middle Street restaurant registered just in time last year.
"We were a little nervous about it because we didn't know how we were going to handle all that work in the kitchen," recalled Mary Ledue Paine, owner of the Pepperclub restaurant with Eddie Fitzpatrick.
Signing up again proved to be an easy decision.
"We had the best March that I think we've ever had in 20 years of business. I think a lot of restaurants did. We did it the whole month, so March was really good. We had to hire five new staff, we were running on a short crew," Paine said.
Unlike many participants last year, the Pepperclub continued its Restaurant Week promotions through most of 2009.
"We just never stopped and kept running it," she said.
"We continued it, and that was probably the best thing that we did in the last three or four years," Paine said.
Maine Restaurant Week debuted last year as a way to support Maine's restaurant community and give diners an affordable, accessible reason to dine out at Maine restaurants during winter. This year Maine Restaurant Week is March 1-10.
For 2010, restaurants are serving specially priced three-course menus at rates of $20.10; $30.10 and $40.10. Some restaurants are offering other specials.
"We're looking forward to Restaurant Week," Paine said. "We're doing a four-course menu for $21."
Last year, the Pepperclub decided that more would be better and continued the promotions.
"Most folks did that for 11 days, we did it for 11 weeks, and it really served us well. Our customers really responded to it, we had a lot of fun with it, folks got to try a lot of our food," Paine recalled.
Keeping the discounts going was a monthly decision, she recalled. But customers supported the eatery. The Pepperclub ended up running Restaurant Week specials through March, April and part of May and took a break until July, when the restaurant celebrated its 20-year anniversary.
"We had a lot of people say, 'Thank you, what a nice thing to do,'" Paine said. "They thanked us for doing it."
"It certainly made a difference this (past) year, we've had one of the best years we've had in a long time," Paine said.
Suppliers benefited.
"The wait staff, they were making summer money in March," she recalled.
To see this year's preliminary list of participating restaurants or to learn more about Maine Restaurant Week, visit http://mainerestaurantweek.com.
