Alternalicious: a roundup of rebel prix fixes outside the jurisdiction of Winterlicious 2012
Every year, some restaurants decide to opt out of the prix fixe madness of Winterlicious and offer their own special menus and bargains outside the strictures of the official program. “We do it to give Winterlicious a bit of competition, to bring people in,” Elle M’a Dit’s Gregory Furstoss told The Dish. “But we don’t have to have the pressure of being under Winterlicious—we don’t have 200 people booked!” Meanwhile, Ross Bonfanti of midtown’s Il Sogno Ristorante launched his winter prix fixe back when it was tough to get into the official festival and now, several years later, feels no need to jump on board. “I have a good thing going,” he told us. After the jump, a roundup of winter prix fixe menus and deals.
• Gregory Furstoss of Elle M’a Dit is offering prix fixe lunch and dinner menus until February 9. The lunch option is $17 and includes an appetizer, a dessert and a choice of two entrees, while the dinner prix fixe is $28 and features the same appetizer and dessert, but three different mains to choose from.
• Keith Froggett’s fine-dining staple, Scaramouche, is once again serving up the seafood with Lobsterlicious. The three-course prix fixe menu includes a lobster main (grilled, butter poached or served over gnocchi) along with a choice of appetizer and a dessert. At $62 a person, it costs a bit more than your average Winterlicious meal, but hey, for lobster at Scaramouche, it’s a steal. Lobsterlicious is available Monday through Thursday (except Valentine’s Day) until at least mid-February.
• Brunch hot spot School is looking to promote its dinner service with Schoolicious, which runs every Wednesday night from February 1 to March 28. Choose any appetizer, entrée and dessert off the regular menu (no scrimpy prix fixe portions here) for $25 per person.
• Il Sogno Ristorante has a $25 three-course prix fixe dinner that includes an appetizer, main and dessert during Il Sognolicious, which runs from January 27 to February 9. Diners can choose from a mix of regular menu items like the caprese salad, and specials, including sesame seed–encrusted tilapia and a winter salad with toasted walnuts, dried cherries and goat cheese.
• For diners interested in splashing out, Splendido will offer its Winter Game menu through February. The $120 splurge includes a smoked Rocky Point oyster; venison tartare with pastrami venison tongue; quail ballotine with hedgehog mushrooms, poached quince and Perigord truffles; boudin noir and crispy pork belly; rabbit saddle with Fleischnacka, carrots and mustard greens; cloudberry sorbet; and pear and walnut cake.
• Of course, daily deal websites like Groupon are starting to offer a whole other world of bargains for diners (even if the deals don’t always save you a ton of money). Elm Street Italian restaurant Oro won’t offer a prix fixe menu this winter, but does plan to offer a Groupon in the next month, events manager Geraldine Vickers told The Dish. “It’s kind of business as usual right now.”
• UPDATE: Cuban bistro Delux is serving both lunch and dinner prix fixe specials until February 9. The menus are set to change mid-week, but for now the lunch version includes a Cuban sandwich, fries and a Coke in a retro glass bottle for $15. Dinner is decidedly more continental: frisée salad with poached egg and lardon, braised rabbit pappardelle and bittersweet chocolate mousse for $35.
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