Editorial: Restaurant Week Is Here

Are you hungry? This is a good week to be hungry because Restaurant Week is here after a COVID hiatus. What is it? It is a week organized by Greenwich Magazine with many local eating establishments offering events, specials, and price fixe menus.

Is it an opportunity or an excuse? Does it matter? After two years of COVID it’s time to celebrate life. What better way to do so then by dining out with friends and loved ones at some of our amazing local restaurants. After all, who among us does not like food, especially good food?

There is no doubt that COVID affected restaurants severely. The early days of the pandemic brought with it a plethora of regulations that put a financial hardship on restaurants. To succeed they needed to be creative with curbside service, and thanks to the Governor, there were drinks-to-go and eventually outdoor dining. Not all were successful, and we miss them. For those that did succeed this week is a wonderful opportunity to show our gratitude and support by dining out.

Restaurant Week kicked off this past Tuesday with the opening night party at the JHouse in Riverside. It was the first time this event has been held since 2020 – people were excited to be there. There was an electricity to the sea of people eager to sample from various restaurants that had set up tables. Spirit companies were also well represented with everything from new tequila brands to interesting wines.

While the food and drinks were very tasty and wonderful it was the people that truly made the evening hum. We suspect it was the pent-up desire to be out socializing that brought everyone out in their finest. By anyone’s standard the evening was a roaring success.

So, if you are hungry and want to support all the great work Greenwich Magazine has done over the past seven years building up Restaurant Week you can go to their website for a list of participating restaurants. There is a wide selection to choose from and all offer excellent menus.

If you are still unsure which to select, please visit the Restaurant Reviews section of the Greenwich Sentinel’s website. There you will find Emma Barhydt’s most recent reviews. Make sure to check back often as she is reviewing restaurants regularly.

Once you have decided where to go, invite friends to go with you. Nothing is as much fun as having a table full of friends in conversation and laughter. After the past two years we need to be with friends and remember how to laugh and enjoy and be with one another. Audrey Hepburn once said: “I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It’s probably the most important thing in a person.”

We love that. Laughter can cure the ills of the past two years. We obviously do not mean COVID, but the side issues that emerged because of the pandemic, the anger, the lack of empathy, the tension and long-lasting stress. Laughter helps those “ills” melt away. What better place for laughter than out for dinner with a group of friends.

Thank you, Greenwich Magazine, for a wonderful opening night this week. We were with friends, and we laughed. By the end of the evening there were no ills to speak of. And for the next few days we shall be visiting other restaurants for drinks and meals. We will be celebrating life, spring, and all that our town has to offer.

One final note on dining out. Virginia Woolf once said: “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” We agree. Dine well.

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