Why Restaurant Week Is Like Crack

The Times’ deceptive headline — “For 20 Bucks, Is It Worth It?” — refers not to the sometimes disappointing “cheap week” chickensalmoncaesarsalad offerings but rather whether the restaurants think it’s worth it. Whose side are they on anyway?

So they lose money on truffles and fresh morels — what happened to a sense of civic duty? Some of us treat Restaurant Week as a rare opportunity to experience — Bowdlerized, no matter! — places commoners can’t afford or can’t often afford! A culinary bleacher seat, as it were. That’s why stuff like this makes me feel lazy about wanting to take a long lunch:

David Waltuck, the chef and an owner of Chanterelle, said he uses ingredients that are “maybe a little less expensive” like chicken or salmon during the Restaurant Week lunch rush. “I wouldn’t do calves’ liver or tripe or a strong fish,” he said.

Sure, skimp on the liver because it’s too much of an “acquired taste.” Harrumph! The question is whether Restaurant Week is worth it to the consumer! Yet the Times wants us to believe that restauranteurs are somehow magnanimous about it:

“When I called my fish guy last year and told him I wanted to do halibut for Restaurant Week, he told me to put down my crack pipe,” said Alexandra Guarnaschelli, chef at Butter on Lafayette Street. But her grilled halibut with squash emulsion flew out of the kitchen and became a house favorite.

So an open call to establishments participating in Restaurant Week: Pick up the damn crack pipe already! We’re still going to come — it’s addictive!