EATS

A Restaurant Week postscript:

The Dallas/Fort Worth chapter of the American Institute of Wine & Food says the 2008 winners for the best RW wine and food pairing menu are executive chef Chris Ward and sommelier Robert Cooper of The Mercury, according to a press release received from event presenter Central Market.

Both men receive the prize of a course at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in the Napa Valley, including airfares and five-night stays at a Napa Valley winery. The Mercury gets to keep AIWF's traveling trophy for a year, and Mr. Ward also will be interviewed on KRLD.

Well, diners, bloggers, servers, chefs and anyone I forgot: It's a wrap! Restaurant Week – all 24 days of it – is over. Have some final words or one last review? Be sure to leave it here. Or go here to relive the great meals, the charming service, the fumbles and the venting. We'll see you back here mid-July to get your list for the 2009 Restaurant Week. What to do for the 11 months between now and next year's event? Go back to the places you liked. Save your pennies for a special meal at those places that charge way more than $35. And don't forget to tip.

Restaurant Week(s) in Dallas fascinates me: It's a way more popular phenomenon here than in other cities I've lived in, and so many more restaurants participate. And though I avoided participating establishments this week in favor of Tex-Mex and pizza joints for upcoming stories, I was curious this year to see what the hubbub was about.

So I decided to check out Craft in the W Hotel for RW on my own dime. Craft is a restaurant that cooks to my personal taste - yes, it's spendy, it's a splurge for my personal budget, too, but I love their respectful way with salads and vegetables, and I'm very keen on pastry chef Shannon Swindle's dessert aesthetic. How would the RW menu measure up to my numerous "normal" experiences?

Photo of Craft's RW tomato salad by "Ralphie"

About 60 Restaurant Week participants will extend their specials through Aug. 31. Go to our Restaurant Week package and look for the places marked with orange buttons to see which ones are still offering dining deals.

Did you have a reservation last week or do you have one for this week? Go to the RW blog to leave your review of your meal or read about other diners' experiences.

Photo of Lavendou by Darnell Renee / DMN

Restaurant Week proper ended last night, but about 90 of the participants will extend their specials through Aug. 24 and some will continue theirs through Aug. 31. Go to our Restaurant Week package and look for the places marked with blue or orange buttons to see which ones are still offering dining deals.

Did you have a reservation last week? Go to the blog to leave your review of your meal or read about other diners' experiences.

Photo of Loft 610's risotto cakes by William DeShazer / DMN

Pegasus News' Teresa Gubbins wrote a great article that addresses the above question. The short answer: It's both. Read her story to hear what positives and negatives restaurant owners and staff find in the promotion.

What do diners think? Read some of their reviews here. So far, there are a lot more "fabulous," "awesome," "excellent" and "thoroughly impressed" comments, but there have been some disappointments.

• Find more Restaurant Week posts

Eats reader Kevin asks, "Do any of the RW participants offer a vegetarian option?"

Clicking through our online menus, I've found a few: Trece's includes Chile Relleno Vegetariano, and Villa-O's includes Organic Vegetable Napolean (first course) and Organic Vegetable Lasagna (second course).

I've spotted a few other menu items that seem in name at least to be vegetarian. Of course, it's possible there's some lurking chicken stock, beef fat or fish sauce, but these are a start: Bijoux's Truffled Risotto, Central 214's Sweet Pea-Mushroom Risotto, Nana's Warm Soba Noodles with Chilled Vegetables (some of the first courses look veggie-friendly, too), Kenichi's Japanese Eggplant Dengaku, and the Second Floor's Wild Mushroom Risotto.

Are there any vegetarian Restaurant Week veterans out there? Help your fellow vegheads out, and give us the scoop on veggie-friendly dining.

Though we were told that Craft in Victory Park was extending an extra week, it turns out it's only extending its participation through Aug. 22. Call now to get your reservations.

Eats reader M had this to say about a RW meal at there: "Craft was a really fantastic experience - the food was excellent and the service was stellar, if not a bit slow between the entrees and dessert. I'm not one to rush through a good meal, so that wasn't a big deal to me. There were a couple of changes to the Craft menu, though, but you have to be easy going when you are there for something like RW, I think. They changed the CM fourth course and the dessert on us, but still..everything was quite good. Craft did not disappoint."

Today through Sunday, about 120 restaurants will offer three-course meals for $35, with $7 of that going to the North Texas Food Bank and Lena Pope Home. Some places will offer Restaurant Week specials through Aug. 24 or Aug. 31. Check out our Restaurant Week package for a list of participants, menus, maps and more.

Tell us: Where do you have reservations? Who was sold out when you called? Then come back and leave your review. We want to know if it was the best meal of your life. Did it disappoint? Did you get the "discount diner" treatment? Would you return and pay full price?

Photo of Craft's monkfish by Courtney Perry / DMN

Restaurant Week proper doesn't start until Monday, but about three dozen of the participants are also part of the Restaurant Week preview weekend, which starts tonight and runs through Sunday dinner. To find places participating in the preview, go to our Restaurant Week package and look for those with green squares next to their names.

There will be three-course meals, plus a specialty cocktail made with 10 Cane Rum, for $40. Here's a taste of some of the drinks: Go Fish will serve Sugar Cane Mojitos and Lavendou Bistro Provencal will be making Martinique Swizzles.

And – just like we did last year – we're looking for your reviews of your experiences, so come back and leave a comment. Was it the best meal of your life? Did it disappoint? Did you get the "discount diner" treatment? Would you return and pay full price?

Last year, you Eatsians were fierce, gushing, snarky and occasionally rapturous about your meals. How honest? How fierce? So much so that, according to one of the Restaurant Week organizers, at least one restaurant declined to participate this year because it didn't want to face its disgruntled diners in the blogosphere again.

Photo of a sugar cane mojito by Ben Torres / Al Dia

Word just arrived that the Second Floor Bistro Bar, the new restaurant at the Westin Galleria, has joined the KRLD Restaurant Week lineup. The restaurant, which opened earlier this summer, is a concept from Scott and Gina Gottlich, founders of Bijoux in Inwood Village.

The Second Floor will offer the special menu for the weeks of Aug. 11, 18, and 25. To reserve, call 972-450-2978 and request a Restaurant Week reservation.

For the RW menu, go to the jump...

The Mansion Restaurant at the Mansion on Turtle Creek and Hibashi Teppan Grill, Sushi and Bar are now participating in KRLD Restaurant Week. The Mansion is offering reservations through August 31 (check out the menu here); Hibashi's are through August 24, plus it'll accept those Central Market Fourth Course cards. Neither will participate in the preview weekend. Check out the full Restaurant Week package.

Eats reader Margie of the Eating in Dallas blog, who had commented on how the Mansion was not on the original list, received a heads up from the restaurant that it would be accepting reservations for Restaurant Week starting today. When asked, KRLD also released that the new Japanese spot Hibashi would join the ranks. This puts the list closer to its original 120 participants after the closings of Riccardi's, Tucker, Kirby's Plano and Scene.

Photo of the Mansion's dining room by Courtney Perry / DMN

It is often whispered that some restaurants put out less than their best efforts for KRLD Restaurant Week. I can remember visits in past years that certainly made me feel like I was getting chumped.

That said, a shoutout goes to Arcodoro & Pomodoro, which has put together a menu designed to lure you back. Francesco Farris showed it to me the other night.

Appetizer choices include buffalo and swordfish carpaccio as well as Sardinian fregula (a pasta) with "slowly cooked veal tripe." Entrees take you from house-made pasta stuffed with black cod and mascarpone to braised shortribs and polenta.

And there's an optional course for an additional $10.50: Wood-oven-baked potato bread with Pecorino Sardo, mint, ricotta and warm Sardinian saba sauce (grape juice reduction).

At $35 a person (plus tax and gratuity) - dessert du jour is included, too - that's a bargain and a great way to sample Sardinian or stick with safer Italian options. It's $20 more to add matching wines. The menu is offered Aug. 8-31. A&P is at 2708 Routh; 214-871-1924.

It's the day foodies have been waiting for since, oh, last September: The KRLD Restaurant Week has been officially revealed (officially, because some got a sneak peek last week). Check out GuideLive.com's Restaurant Week package. We've got the list of participants, how long they're running their specials, online menus, online reservations and more.

So, have your reservations yet? Where you going? Are you excited about some new additions to the list (hello, Fearing's)? Upset that some faves aren't participating (whaddup, Mansion)? Tell us. Then come back after your meals to let us know how it went. Last year, readers had plenty to say.

The final meals of Restaurant Week were served last night. During the three weeks of the promotion (one full week plus two weeks of extensions), we received more than a hundred comments from readers. Some were gushing ("I died and went to heaven and it was Bijoux. Everything about the RW experience at Bijoux was absolutely perfect. The wine, the food, the service... I can't wait to go back and do the full tasting menu. Heaven."); others were threatening ("So if you are going to slot crappy seating times, provide bad service with an attitude, serve small portions, offer no choices and whine about not making money, don't participate! But if you do, act like you will do anything for a repeat customer at full prices because we are all taking notes"). But most comments came back to one basic question: Would you go back and pay full price? Click "Continue reading" to see the reader reviews, or click "Comments" to add to the discussion.

But don't take our word for it: Read what your fellow diners have to say about their Restaurant Week experiences. Some restaurants are offering reservations through September 2. Click here to see which spots are running Restaurant Week specials another week and make your reservations online.

We've received nearly a hundred comments from readers about their experiences during Restaurant Week. And now we're making it easier to find out what people are saying about their meals. Click the link below to see a compilation of all the mini-reviews sorted by restaurant name in alphabetical order.

Restaurants discussed are 2900, Abacus, Al Biernat's, Bijoux, Craft, The Grill on the Alley, Hattie's, Hibiscus, Jasper's, Kenichi, Kitchen 1924, Luqa, McCormick and Schmick's, The Mercury Grill, Nana, Nick and Sam's, Nobu, Oceanaire, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, Riccardi's, Stephan Pyles, Steve Fields, Tramontana, Trece, Tucker and York Street.

Want to add to the discussion? Leave a comment here.

A friend who took advantage of the fact that York Street was serving lunch last week as part of Restaurant Week came away waxing rhapsodic about the Pecos honeydew chef Sharon Hage served. I have to admit, I've never heard of Pecos honeydews. Does anyone have their hands on them besides chef Hage? Where I can get one?

KRLD Restaurant Week's first week ended yesterday, but some restaurants are extending their participation until Aug. 26 or Sep. 22. Last week, many diners (and some restaurant staffers) shared their experiences with us. Did you dine out this weekend? Have a reservation for this week? Let us know how it goes. Leave a comment below.

KRLD has just announced that Al Biernat's has extended its Restaurant Week participation until Sep. 2, so make those reservations now.

This is the second year Central Market has been a part of Restaurant Week, offering certificates to CM shoppers for a free fourth course during Restaurant Week meals at participating restaurants. This year's promotion was scheduled to end last Sunday, but there were cards left, so the stores have continued giving them out.

Right now, the Dallas and Plano locations are sold out. Fort Worth and Southlake are not. But some of the remaining cards are being redistributed to Dallas and Plano. The cards will be available tomorrow, but there's a limited quantity and they will be given to shoppers on a first come, first served basis. All of the cards should be gone tomorrow, so act quickly.

Click here to see which restaurants are participating in the Central Market Fourth Course promotion.

So I just got back from lunch. But this was no ordinary lunch, seeing as I went over to York Street in East Dallas. In a word, it was divine! York Street is one of the few restaurants offering the $35 tasting menu at lunchtime. For starters I had the bouchot mussels with garlic bread bathing in a saffron-chourico broth. I was more than satisfied with my choice, though a diner sitting at a nearby table made me long for the lavener roast quail. (She let out a sultry ummm with ever bite...)

For the main, I feasted on Berkshire pork scaloppini with savoy coleslaw, cracklin's and spiced black fig. And with all the recent blog talk about Sharon Hage's pan fried okra, I had to give them a try. (It's an extra on the menu, but well worth the additional $7.) And what better way to end the afternoon than with lemon pudding cake with wild Maine blueberries.

I say why go ordinary for lunch when you can go divine?

Restaurant Week has finally started. The first meals are taking place today, and we want you to share your experiences. Found a new special occasion place? Disappointed in your fave standby? Menu not up to par? Service terrible? Best meal ever? C'mon, dish.

KRLD just released its list of which restaurants will be extending their Restaurant Week runs, so check our updated Restaurant Week feature to see who is accepting reservations through Aug. 26 or Sep. 2 and who is offering the Central Market Fourth Course. Click the "reservations" link to get your table saved. Then tell us: What is your Restaurant Week plan? Where did you get reservations? Where couldn't you get reservations?

It's less than a month away, the list is up, phone lines are open: now what?

Tell us: What is your Restaurant Week plan? Where did you get reservations? Where couldn't you get reservations?

Here it is, gang: The much-anticipated list of the 2007 participants for Restaurant Week.

Based solely on my six months of chomping through Dallas' dining scene (meaning: I haven't yet eaten at all 117 of the restaurants listed), these are the top ten restaurants where I'd personally make reservations:

York Street
Abacus
Bijoux
Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
Stephan Pyles
Trece
Nana
Al Biernat's
Shinsei
Hattie's

Talk to me: Where are YOU planning to sup this year?

We'll keep you up-to-date with lots o' Restaurant Week info as the dates approach ...