Was it a crazy conspiracy against Bushwick or a pure lack of diligence from the organizers that caused Bushwick to be mysteriously left out from Dine In Brooklyn, a restaurant week organized by Borough President Marty Markowitz’s office? Our guess is the latter. But it wouldn’t be Bushwick and its entrepreneurial spirit if the restaurants didn’t decide to do something about this, and start its own Bushwick Restaurant Week to be held in June.
Out of 200 addresses on the Dine in Brooklyn list, none of them points to a Bushwick gem. Williamsburg counts for 20 participating restaurants, Greenpoint for one, and Bushwick for zero. Restaurants in Bushwick, a neighborhood recently recognized by Zagat as “hot” and on a “culinary rise,” were not notified about the event and thus missed the major promotional event and registration.
Dine in Brooklyn took place on March 11-22 and was promoted on the Visit Brooklyn tourism website. Bushwick Restaurant Week is planned for June 17-22, and the participating restaurants will promote the event themselves. Unlike Dine in Brooklyn, the Bushwick Restaurant Week won’t offer fixed-price menus. The father of the idea Bob Murray from NFA Catering is meeting up with the local restaurants tonight to discuss joint action.
It sucks that Bushwick didn’t benefit from the promotion and the funds released for the all-borough event, but we have to say that the idea of Bushwick’s own Restaurant Week gets us pretty excited. It’s wonderful that the organizers don’t simply plan on replicating the traditional restaurant week structure but plan on doing something together like a fair or a barbecue. Bushwick has been a unique place with a strong community where innovative ideas regularly become reality, so we might be looking at the beginning a new wonderful foodie tradition. And let’s face it, after Bushwick Open Studios we will all need to refill on energy with some delicious food à la Bushwick.
Read more about this topic on DNAinfo:
Bushwick Starts Own Restaurant Week After Being ‘Snubbed’ by Brooklyn Event Updated 3 hrs ago
Bushwick Eateries Shut Out of Brooklyn Restaurant Week, Owners Say