'NYC Winter Outings' Hopes To Expand The Impact Of Restaurant Week
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - New York City leaders on Tuesday kicked off a month of motivation for the struggling tourism industry.
The campaign is called "NYC Winter Outing."
Hotels, shows, museums and restaurants are all offering a unique experience for a fraction of the usual price.
As CBS2's Lisa Rozner reports, with Jamaican jerk chicken, tamarind-glazed salmon and oxtail flatbread, walk into Kokomo in Williamsburg and you'll quickly forget it's winter in New York City.
"My background is Jamaican and my wife is Trinidadian. We tried to take all the different islands and combine everything together and give people a new Caribbean experience," said co-owner Kevol Graham.
It's one of more than 500 restaurants participating in Restaurant Week, which actually goes until Feb. 13. Prix fixe meals range from $29-$59 for lunch and dinner.
It's a much-needed boost for restaurants that opened during the pandemic, like southeast Asian-inspired Piggyback in Midtown.
"It helps drive traffic during the really slow months of the year, which is January and February," said chef and co-owner Leah Cohen.
It's an experience, say the co-owners of Alice in the West Village, which is decorated with relics from retired restaurants and seats from a Staten Island ferry.
"We're really here just to push the envelope," said Waél Deek of Alice Restaurant.
On offer for Restaurant Week?
"Our frito di calamari and our shrimp. We use only fresh calamari from Long Island every day," said executive chef Riccardo Orfino.
It's also an opportunity to try restaurants that have been featured in movies and television. The iconic red stairs at Cucina 8½ were featured on an episode of "Sex and the City," and the restaurant recently reopened under new ownership.
Cucina 8½, in the historic Solow building on West 57th Street, hopes people taking advantage of discounted museum passes or the two tickets for the price of one at Broadway shows come by for lunch or dinner.
"Just let people choose three courses. So if you don't want a dessert, you want to go for a pizza as a middle course, or a pasta, you can do that," said executive chef John Villa.
Zabb PuTawn on the Upper East Side is also participating for lunch and dinner.
"We are so proud to offer this to our customers," said co-owner Chanchai "Charles" Khampinchai.
But they can't do it alone. Some restaurant owners marched to City Hall Tuesday, calling on Congress to send restaurants more relief money, as more than half nationwide are seeing the steepest declines due to the Omicron wave.
For more information on Restaurant Week, CLICK HERE. For more information about NYC Winter Outing, CLICK HERE.
