College students have easily adapted to the idea of ramen noodles on a daily basis and a special night out consisting of the neighborhood chain restaurant.
Arizona Restaurant Week gives a whole new meaning to fine dining for students: affordability.
Understandably, high-end restaurants like Cork and POSH where menu prices can exceed $200 per person are not your average destination on a Friday night out as a student, but Arizona Restaurant Week changes that.
It's Arizona Restaurant Week’s fourth event, but for the first time the entire state is participating with more than 200 restaurants signed up.
It lasts for nine days through Sunday, Sept. 25. During the event participating restaurants offer a three-course menu between $20 and $40 per person. This price usually excludes beverages, tax and tip but some restaurants are offering an additional wine or cocktail pairing.
“Restaurant week provides good deals for a high-end culinary experience that people wouldn’t usually be able to afford,” says Sara Anderson, the Marketing and Events Manager for Arizona Restaurant Association.
Not only does Restaurant Week give locals an opportunity to venture to new restaurants, it also highlights the state as a culinary destination.
“It’s neat to see that the culinary industry of Arizona encourages people to travel here for Restaurant Week,” says Anderson, who gets asked months ahead of time by people making travel plans for the event.
The Arizona Restaurant Association has also created a new mobile application for the event this year called Dine AZ. With a free download on your smartphone, you can view restaurants participating in the event, browse menus and make a reservation.
Although Top of the Rock Restaurant at the Buttes Marriott Resort in Tempe has participated in the event since its creation, this year is a fresh start for them with an entirely new management team.
“The restaurant has gotten a complete facelift – from the furniture to the type of music we play,” says Executive Chef Akos Szabo, who has been at the restaurant for six months.
Szabo describes the cuisine as “local artisanal with a cutting edge.” He emphasizes that their menu is very local and approachable; it ranges from pairing a craft beer with wings to a 12 oz. ribeye with local vegetables.
“Restaurant week opens doors to a demographic that wouldn’t normally come to the restaurant,” Szabo says.
The management team at Top of the Rock hopes that with the exposure from the event they can gain loyal guests.
“We need the support of the community and locals. Hopefully in the future we can foster a stronger relationship with our community,” says Michael Winata, the director of restaurants at the Buttes.
Some newcomers to restaurant week are food trucks. The word "truck" usually isn’t synonymous with fine dining, but Cycle, a new concept restaurant located in the Lexington Hotel on Central Avenue and Portland Street in downtown Phoenix, is changing that.
Cycle is giving the food truck chefs an opportunity to step out of the box, or truck in this case, and showcase their culinary talent.
Brian Webb, owner and operator of Hey Joe! Filipino food truck is participating for the first time with a different menu than he usually serves.
“It gives us a chance to get up and out of the truck and it gives our customers a chance to have a higher-end meal than what we can serve out of the truck because there are no limitations,” Webb says.
Their cuisine is inspired by the Mactan Island in the Philippines where Webb’s wife is from. The name of their truck is “Hey Joe!” because that’s what the locals call foreigners on the island.
“We serve food that you cannot get anywhere else,” Webb says. One unique item the truck is featuring during the event is ube chips, which are made from purple yams.
If you’re not quite ready to drop into the world of foie gras and prime cut beef tenderloin, Restaurant Week has more approachable gourmet concepts, like hot dogs. Paul Cionczyk traded in the corporate world for a food truck earlier this year when he opened up Epic Hot Dogs.
“We get really creative with what we can put on a sausage,” Cionczyk says. He encourages people to come out and explore something different with his gourmet hotdogs, which represent different regions of the world.
These are only a few of the options for student dining close to the light rail during Restaurant Week. For more information on the event or to make reservations online, visit www.arizonarestaurantweek.com
Reach the reporter at cavohs@asu.edu
