Results tagged “winterlicious”

Winterlicious, the city-wide foodstravaganza that not everybody loves, is getting a two-week extension from the City: it's now running from February 16 to 28 at a great many (but not all) of the participating restaurants. According to the city's release, sent out this afternoon, the change is "due to the overwhelmingly positive response to this year's Winterlicious" and was made "in light of the financial situation facing restaurateurs in the current economy."

Winterlicious, which runs from today until February 12, is like going home with the perfect lover only to find yourself waking up beside a big mistake. For a city that loves its restaurants, the promise of Winterlicious is enticing—an opportunity to taste a classy three-course meal at either a new restaurant or an upscale restaurant that would usually be too expensive. Unfortunately, the taste it leaves behind is often a bad one for both patrons and staff. So why doesn't Winterlicious work the way we'd like? We took a look at the real Winterlicious, what’s new for this year, and selected our picks and pans of 2009.

Winterlicious is back with 130 restaurants participating. For $15 or $20 for lunch and $25 or $35 for dinner, foodies get a three-course meal including appetizer, main, and dessert. Too bad most restaurants play it safe by offering the standard soup or salad, chicken or beef, and cake or ice cream. Although the food is rarely bad, boring food at nearly $50 a head (after taxes and gratuity) is pretty hard to swallow. Luckily, some chefs are treating Winterlicious like a couture show at Fashion Week and presenting innovative and clever fare.