Dine About Town, which starts up again Jan. 15-31, is on its tenth year. Ten years! The prix-fixe promotion was launched in the middle of the dot-com bust, and has only gained in popularity through a second boom and bust cycle. Even in the Groupon era, it remains beloved (with customers, if not waitstaff). More than a few participating restaurants pack their dining rooms in two of the deadest weeks of the year.
Absinthe (lunch)
1. Fulton Valley chicken, mascarpone polenta, grilled Treviso, kuri squash, sweet onion jus
2. White chocolate panna cotta
1. Aloe vera salad, shrimp, shaved fennel, onion, peanuts, chile vinaigrette
2. Oxtail ravioli, wild mushrooms, caramelized onions, tomatoes, au jus
3. Vietnamese flourless coconut rum cake, kumquat marmalade ice cream
1. Topshell clam with salsify, frisee, Champagne, green peppercorn vinaigrette
2. Natural farm chicken blanquette with Royal Trumpet mushrooms, fines herbes "oyaki"
3. Pain d'epices with apple confiture, vanilla bean cream
1. Grilled local sardines, fresh chickpea salad, parsnip chips, pistou coulis
2. Pan-roasted branzino, roasted salsify, poached artichokes, lobster nage or lamb daube, rosemary-red wine sauce, seasonal vegetables
3. Apple tarte tatin, crème fraiche
1. Dahi vada: lentil dumplings topped with Straus organic yogurt, tamarind, and mint
2. Spicy mung masala dosa
3. Tamil vegetable curry: cauliflower, green beans, potatoes, and cherry tomatoes with coconut rice
4. Rasmalai: Sweet cheese patty in cream flavored with rose, cardamom, and crushed pistachios
1. Crispy goat cheese beignet and frisée salad or snail-and-chanterelle vol au vent
2. Traditional coq au vin, fresh tagliatelle, rainbow carrots
3. Tarte tatin with warm caramel sauce
1. Dungeness crab salad with avocado, apple, grapefruit, and tarragon
2. Maple Leaf Farm duck breast with red cabbage, potato galette, and wild huckleberry sauce
3. Grapefruit granita
Luce (lunch)
1. Baby beets, black olive soil, truffle tremor, verjus, yellow-beet sorbet
2. Braised short rib, spaghettini, wild mushrooms
Sociale (lunch)
1. Persimmon and muzuna salad
2. Pappardelle with braised duck
1. Cauliflower soup, fried oyster beignet, Meyer lemon confit
2. Black skillet-roasted catfish, andouille sausage, shrimp jambalaya, cornbread panzanella
3. Granny Smith apple cobbler, vanilla bean ice cream
A few other restaurants are simply specialing out old favorites: Le Charm is serving its cassoulet, B44 its arros negre, LarkCreakSteak a 10-ounce New York strip, and both Fish and Farm and Maverick
are offering their much-loved fried chicken. And the requisite caveats: I didn't
compare the prix-fixe meal against the restaurant's standard menu to see
whether they represent a deal, and I haven't eaten at some of these
restaurants, at least not for many years.
