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CHEAP EATS WEEK

Borough’s first restaurant week kicks off April 15

By Jotham Sederstrom
The Brooklyn Paper
The Brooklyn Papers / Tom Callan
Jean Jacques Bernat, of Provence en Boite on Third Avenue, and Joseph and Vincent Geraldi of Ristorante Andiamo on 86th Street.

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Goodbye Elaine’s, hello Marco Polo.

In an announcement sure to have Manhattanites reaching for their subway maps, Borough President Marty Markowitz unveiled "Dine In Brooklyn," his answer to the city’s semiannual restaurant week.

During the week of April 15-22, diners will have a chance to nosh on three-course, prix fixe meals from 93 restaurants in 20 Brooklyn neighborhoods. Aside from 38 Zagat-rated eateries, including Planet Thailand in Williamsburg and Patois on Smith Street, the list extends to classics like Tatiana in Brighton Beach and one of Markowitz’s favorites, Junior’s.

"Trust me," said Markowitz, well-known as a devotee of the borough’s culinary delights, "when any of these restaurants see me coming in they have a smile on their face - and that’s not because I’m the borough president, if you know what I mean."

Markowitz boasted that the $18.98 price, inspired by the year Brooklyn joined New York City, is $11 cheaper than what’s demanded for dinners during Manhattan’s restaurant weeks [lunches went for $20.04 this year]. The price is the same for either lunch or dinner, at restaurants offering the special on both menus.

"Manhattanites and many others have been crossing their own bridge and ours for years," said Markowitz, "but the truth is, they’ve been coming to Brooklyn for years because of our restaurants."

Perusing plates of pork filet Wellington from Court Street’s Marco Polo Ristorante, mini-hamburgers from Union Street’s Schnak and sushi from Blue Ribbon Sushi on Fifth Avenue, Markowitz couldn’t resist biting into a jumbo-sized chocolate devil’s food cupcake made lovingly by Fran Sippel of Downtown Atlantic, in Boerum Hill. Chris Sippel, Fran’s cousin and general manager of the restaurant at 364 Atlantic Ave., said the borough president had asked that he stow away one of the 24 cupcakes, which he correctly presumed would disappear soon after their unveiling.

"Marty came over to us right away and asked us to save him one," Chris Sippel said of the cupcakes.

Conspicuously missing from the lineup are the 118-year-old Peter Luger Steak House in Williamsburg and the River Cafe at Fulton Ferry Landing, whose dinner menus nearly quadruple the $18 prix fixe.

"We can’t offer it at this time due to the high cost of our ingredients," said Scott Stamford, a manager at River Cafe.

Joe Chirico, who last month closed his historic Gage & Tollner restaurant in Downtown Brooklyn, stopped by the unveiling at Borough Hall on Thursday to show off a few entrees from Marco Polo, his Italian fine dining establishment in Carroll Gardens.

"Anything to promote Brooklyn," said Chirico, who displayed a mango, chicken and spinach entree for reporters.

In contrast to Manhattan’s event, which charges a fee to participating restaurants, all of the eateries in Brooklyn were allowed to participate for free, said Markowitz spokeswoman Sharon Toomer.

Toomer urged diners to call ahead for reservations, but she didn’t know whether restaurateurs would be accepting them this far in advance.

©2004 Community Newspaper Group


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