New York appears to take the view that there are 20 days in a week.
PHOTO BY STEPHANIE GARCIA

You don’t have to be in New York to love Restaurant Week, as Monday, July 13 marks the beginning of Charlottesville’s inaugural Restaurant Week, where local foodies can skip the big city for such fine dining institutions such as the C&O, l’étoile, and Fossetts. Until July 19, C’ville diners can chow down on three course meals for only $25.

“We are booked for reservations for Restaurant Week,” chimes the answering machine at l’étoile. Keswick Hall’s Fossetts echoes that sentiment by announcing an extended Restaurant Week run– next week, Chef Hartman will offer a second menu, this time for $35.

“We had so many calls, it was insane,” Fossetts front desk manager Andre Xavier says. “A lot of people were disappointed that we’re booked and not taking any reservations– so the chef decided to make a different menu to offer people a chance to come next week.”

With a reported average of 100 diners each night this week, Fossetts has had to call in extra wait staff and tables to accommodate the onslaught of interest. “We are really pleased with the results,” Xavier says.

It’s a sentiment echoed across the eight Restaurant Week participants. With a rush of interested, and presumably hungry, local diners, Charlottesville’s first Restaurant Week has the potential to set a new standard for local dining– and area eaters can sample fine cuisine a little closer to home.