The annual Martha’s Vineyard Restaurant Week is upon us, taking place June 2 through 6. The five-day event features opportunities for restaurants to showcase their food to new customers, for diners to have a new restaurant experience, and for all locals to benefit during this typically off-peak week on the Island.
Restaurant Week on the Island began years ago, founded as a collaboration between the Chamber of Commerce and the Island’s media partners as a way to promote restaurants, especially those that support their local community. Restaurant Week follows a model first implemented in New York City in 1992, and now revered and implemented nationwide, according to a press release by the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce.
“We are thrilled to see so much interest in the return of Restaurant Week. We know it can be challenging for restaurants to participate, and we appreciate those that are committed to offering this to the community. We hope everyone will use this as a great excuse to dine out in June before the season really kicks off, and what a way to welcome it,” Nancy Gardella, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce, said in the release.
This year, over 20 Island restaurants will participate, offering prix-fixe lunch or dinner options around the Island.
19 Raw Oyster Bar in Edgartown will offer a three-course prix-fixe menu. The first course is a bowl of Martha’s Vineyard clam chowder, followed by the chef’s choice of three oysters, served with champagne mignonette, kimchi purée, and spicy cocktail sauce, and finished off with a hot lobster roll with fries, a classy take on Island fare.
If you’re in the mood for a classic all-American meal, Edgartown Diner will also be joining in Restaurant Week, with a three-course prix-fixe lunch. Your choice of New England clam chowder, chicken noodle soup, or mozzarella sticks, followed by a grilled chicken Cobb salad, pastrami sandwich, brunch burger, or Philly cheesesteak, and finished off with a slice of chocolate cake. This three-course comfort meal for the soul will come in at $20 June 2 through 6.
For those vegetarians in the crowd, Red Cat Kitchen includes options for you in its three-course prix-fixe dinner offerings. For your first course, choose between Island Fresca or brussels sprouts, followed by pork schnitzel, Vegetarian Showdown, or crab and corn risotto, and wrap up dinner with Fallen Chocolate Cake with vanilla ice cream, or panna cotta, all for $45.
The Sweet Life in Oak Bluffs offers some of its unique fare in a three-course prix-fixe dinner menu. Enjoy truffled cauliflower veloute, followed by seared local fluke, and rounded out with chocolate cake and pistachio, plum-sage ice cream. The Sweet Life sources many of its ingredients locally, including several included in these dishes.
The Black Dog in Vineyard Haven is getting in on the action, serving a three-course prix-fixe dinner for $40. Choose between grilled lobster tails with roasted garlic butter or pan-seared sea scallops with a peach and pear gastrique, followed by roasted duck breast with a blackberry compote, or a Mediterranean-style pan-seared Faroe Islands salmon filet with jasmine rice, and if you have room for your third course, strawberry rhubarb pie à la mode or apple crisp with apple brandy ice cream — a seafood and sweets lover’s dream.
In the mood for Italian? La Sofitta in Vineyard Haven will offer three different options for each of its three courses on its prix-fixe dinner menu during Restaurant Week. To begin, choose between Insalata Della Casa, Trio di Bruschetta (an office favorite), or Calamari e Zucchini Fritti. For the main course, you have the option of Spaghetti al Pomodoro, Merluzzo alla Toscana, which is a codfish filet, or Pollo alla Fellini, an organic half-chicken in spicy sauce, with Parmigiano risotto. For those with a sweet tooth, finish your meal with a cannoli served with chocolate ice cream, a soft warm chocolate cake with cappuccino ice cream, or tiramisu.
For those up-Island, check out Woods in West Tisbury, which will be offering a three course prix-fixe dinner for $45. Start off your meal with peruvian fluke ceviche or burrata, followed by pesto primavera or good farm chicken, and finishing with panna cotta. Vegetarians, check this one out, too.
Other participating restaurants include Roxana Bar and Bettini Restaurant at the Harbor View Hotel, Detente, M.V. Chowder Co., Copper Wok, Waterside Market, the Ritz, Town Bar & Grill, L’Etoile, Chef Deon’s at the VFW, Lucky Hank’s, Oyster Bar 02557, Cardboard Box, Mikado, Garde East, 20 By Nine, Chesca’s, and others.
Martha’s Vineyard Restaurant Week takes place Sunday, June 2, through Thursday, June 6. For a full list of participating restaurants and their menus, visit mvy.com/restaurantweek.html.
This article by Josephine Brennan originally appeared on mvtimes.com.
