News Hospitality Restaurant Week GR readies for 2011
Restaurant Week GR readies for 2011
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By Lisa Mackinder | M&C
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Local restaurants like the Acorn Grille at Thousand Oaks Golf Club, above, and The Green Well, below, hope to build on the success of the inaugural Restaurant Week Grand Rapids with this year’s event, scheduled for Nov. 3-13. COURTESY PHOTOS |
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GRAND RAPIDS — During his tenure at Visit Denver, that city’s convention & visitors bureau, Doug Small witnessed the overwhelming success of Denver Restaurant Week. As current president of Experience Grand Rapids — the greater Grand Rapids area convention and visitors bureau — Small believed that the event would work well in his West Michigan downtown.
“This town is blessed to be home to so many local, independent restaurants,” Small told M&C.
According to Small, Denver was a city that felt it wasn’t being taken seriously for its independent restaurants — until the restaurant week event. Residents there embraced the event and it became an overwhelming success. Feeling that destination appeal — including culinary offerings — differentiates cities, Small hoped Restaurant Week Grand Rapids (RWGR) would put a well-deserved spotlight on the city’s local restaurants.
“We needed to tell the nation that Grand Rapids has a pretty hot culinary scene,” said Small.
Small had an inkling that the response generated in Denver would occur in Grand Rapids. And that hunch proved so accurate, the outcome even exceeded expectations.
“I did not anticipate the number of diners,” said Small. “That just blew me away.”
It also astounded Kelly Stecco, director of sales and marketing at The Acorn Grille at Thousand Oaks Golf Club in Grand Rapids. The restaurant’s high time is the summer, with things typically slowing down in the fall. But participation in the first-ever RWGR last November ramped up the establishment’s sales. According to Stecco, the Acorn Grille was booked eight out of ten nights.
“We went into it not knowing what to expect,” said Stecco. “We didn’t anticipate it being as busy as it was — and (being busy) is a good thing.”
Another Restaurant Week participant, Essence Restaurant Group — which includes The Green Well Gastro Pub and Bistro Bella Vita — had a similar take on the event, with managing partner, James Berg, telling M&C it sold an estimated 700-800 meals at The Green Well Gastro Pub and an estimated 2,800 meals at Bistro Bella Vita.
“It exceeded our expectations with response and traffic,” said Berg.
According to Berg, The Green Well Gastro Pub, which generally remains full year-round, did experience an uptick. But he noticed the biggest difference at Bistro Bella Vita, which experienced a 30-percent increase over the previous year during the same timeframe.
“We saw a significant amount of repeat business within that 10-day time period,” he said, noting the event brought in loyal customers, as well as some new faces.
And that’s an intent event producers hoped to accomplish, according to Sally Zarafonetis, owner of sallyzara.com and project manager for RWGR. She said the event was intended to draw residents from within an hour of Grand Rapids. They hoped to attract new restaurant-goers and those who hadn’t dined out in awhile. For the event, participating restaurants create unique three-course meals at special price points. Held November 3-13 for Restaurant Week Grand Rapids 2011, some restaurants will offer creative three-courses for $25 and others will offer three-courses for two for $25.00.
“People are more apt to go if they know they are going to pay $25 for a meal,” said Zarafonetis.
According to Zarafonetis, RWGR 2010 wrapped up with 19,128 RWGR dinners sold; over 30,000 dinners sold total as attributed to RWGR, because some diners ordered off regular restaurant menus; and $1.2 million dollars in estimated sales as a direct result of the RWGR promotion. During the 2010 event, 57 restaurants participated, including 33 within the DDA District and 24 from throughout Kent County.
Based on the previous year’s success, loftier goals have been set for RWGR 2011 — including gaining more restaurant participation due to increased demand. Zarafonetis indicated participation is well on its way, with 65 restaurants already slated for this year. In total, she said they expect up to 70 restaurants to take part.
Another aim is to attract diners from further distances. Zarafonetis noted studies show that guests often become valuable, repeat customers after attending a restaurant for the first time during restaurant week.
“This proved itself to be the case with RWGR 2010, which showed double-digit growth for restaurants during the event when measured within the same timeframe,” she said.
The final objective is expanding marketing efforts to make RWGR a flagship event. According to Zarafonetis, through the Experience Grand Rapids website and a RWGR Facebook page, visitors and convention-goers may find out about the abundant, high quality dining opportunities — many of them being a farm-to-table approach — year round. Zarafonetis pointed to a study by the Michigan Restaurant Association, which indicated “roughly half of all travelers report that they dine out when they travel, and that dining out is the most popular activity planned after tourists arrive at a destination.”
“RWGR will serve as the flagship event to help profile great restaurants and help attract new conventions and visitors to the downtown area on a year-round basis,” she said.
Increased marketing is icing on the cake for the restaurants. In Stecco’s opinion, RWGR 2010 was well run, well marketed and well publicized. It brought the Acorn Grille opportunity for television interviews with local channels and a visit from a food critic.
“On multiple levels, we had exposure,” said Stecco.
RWGR also brings deserved attention to what Zarafonetis identified as “one of the top 20 culinary schools in the country” — the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education at Grand Rapids Community College, which hosts the opening event. One dollar from every meal ordered is donated to the school’s Restaurant Week Student Scholarship Fund. M&C
