By Hana Schuster
I&M Staff Writer
(Sept. 13 , 2011) Nantucket’s annual Fall Restaurant Week, typically a seven-day event, has been shortened this year to just four days.
Restaurant Week was originally scheduled to run from Sept. 26-Oct. 2, which the event’s website, operated by the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce, indicated until last week, when the dates were changed to Sept. 26-29. The final decision to trim the number of days was made this week by event organizers.
Nantucket Restaurant Week – offered in both the spring and fall – affords visitors and residents the opportunity to feast at some of the island’s most acclaimed fine-dining establishments at significantly lower prices, thanks to three-course prix fixe menus for either $25 or $45.
According to Orla Murphy-LaScola, co-owner of American Seasons restaurant and a member of the Nantucket Restaurant Association who helped organize Restaurant Week, several restaurants planning to participate this year recently expressed concerns about offering discounted menus the weekend of Sept. 30-Oct. 2 because they expect the Nantucket Maritime Festival and highly-anticipated Nantucket Project symposium, both occurring those days, will generate more than enough business without the discounts.
“Some restaurants are saying they won’t be involved this year if we do it on that weekend because there will be plenty of people on-island willing to pay full price, in which case it wouldn’t really benefit them to do cheaper menus,” LaScola said.