Fine dining becomes affordable
By Suzy Evans
Feb. 3, 2008 9:01 p.m.
Clubbing, clothing and celebrities are the quintessential categories that commonly characterize Los Angeles. And now, cuisine too is vying for recognition.
In order to showcase Los Angeles as a world-class dining destination, The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau (LA INC.) and American Express presented the first annual dineLA Restaurant Week.
Restaurant Week is a two-week event in which fine dining locations, the ones typically frequented by socialites and high-rollers, create a three-course fixed dineLA menu that ranges from $15 to $34 per patron. Typical meals at participating restaurants can cost upwards of $50. The event began last week and will continue until this Friday.
“(Restaurant Week) was a dream that kind of came to fruition,” said Caroline Bruderer, CEO of K-Line & Company, which is in charge of the event’s marketing. “The city’s always wanted to do one because we have such an amazing restaurant community. It’s not thought of as a world class destination for restaurants and it is.”
The tradition of Restaurant Week began in New York in the 1980s as a lunch-only event.
It has since come to include cities like Philadelphia, San Diego and now Los Angeles.
“If you go to New York City during Restaurant Week, it’s one of the top five things people talk about,” said Neal Fraser, executive chef and partner at Grace and BLD, participating restaurants. “They make an event out of it. It’s like an eating and drinking binge.”
Fraser is a member of the dineLA advisory board committee, a team of industry professionals who oversee major decisions and initiatives for Restaurant Week. As a native of Los Angeles and a veteran in the industry, Fraser said this type of event is necessary to generate hype for the underappreciated Los Angeles restaurant community.
“I think L.A. as a dining destination needs more things like this,” he said. “(Restaurant Week) makes L.A. more approachable and less expensive for those two weeks. When I heard of an organization putting on a similar thing, I jumped at the opportunity.” The less expensive element is key, as most of these restaurants are off-limits to the average diner and the student community simply because of the extravagant price range.
“A lot of the time the high-end restaurants are not accessible to me because my budget won’t allow it,” said Alina Akram, a recent graduate of UC Santa Barbara. “With Restaurant Week I’m able to at least experience two or three of these restaurants and I don’t have to stress about “˜Oh I’m spending way too much on one dinner.'”
Even though Akram said she loves dining out, she hadn’t heard of the majority of the restaurants involved in Restaurant Week prior to the event.
“It’s a great way to open people’s eyes up to what’s going on in LA as far as restaurants go,” she said. “If I don’t get to go to all of the restaurants during Restaurant Week, I plan on trying them because they all seem pretty cool.”
Restaurant Week locations hope this event attracts a younger clientele, who don’t usually experience fine dining.
And according to Bruderer, people are making the trek to Los Angeles for this occasion.
“It makes L.A. feel like a smaller community,” Bruderer said. “(The restaurants) are seeing people from other areas of the county. It’s like being in a different city.”
Most restaurants have been booked solid for Restaurant Week and some are even extending their dineLA deal. Table 8, a swanky American bistro, has turned February into Restaurant Month due to the increased diner traffic as a result of the low prices.
“We’ve been turning away 150 people a day,” said partner Chris Heyman in rushed tones, eagerly receiving calls for reservations as he spoke.
Heyman also said that Table 8 might even consider doing a promotional event similar to Restaurant Week.
However, promotions can be risky because one never knows how it’s going to affect the restaurant revenue.
While Fraser said his customer volume has increased 40 to 50 percent and most patrons have been ordering the dineLA menu, the numbers have yet to be crunched. Nonetheless, Fraser said it was worth the risk.
“It’s hard to say how it’s affected our restaurants,” he said. “It’s definitely put more butts in seats.” And other restaurant owners hope to take the same risk as more and more are planning to be involved in next year’s event. But beyond the inexpensive cost, Bruderer said it’s simply a great way for students to live and experience their community in a way they never have before.
“You get to dream and explore places that you typically write off,” she said. “Go to new neighborhoods. Close your eyes and pick a restaurant and go check it out. Get involved with the community beyond just being a student at UCLA.”
