Musicians entertain hundreds of residents who stopped by the kick-off of Queens Restaurant Week outside Borough Hall on Monday. Anna Gustafson/The Forum Newsgroup
Lining up for everything from a locally brewed beer to Indian food and pollo al funghi – chicken with mushrooms for those not versed in Italian cuisine – people from all corners of the borough kicked off the annual Queens Restaurant Week at Borough Hall on Monday.
Nelson Rockefeller, owner of the Queens Brewery, poured countless cups of his Queens Lager.
The seventh annual event, which will run from Sept. 30 through Oct. 3 and again on Oct. 7 to Oct. 10, features cuisines as diverse as Queens’ residents, including an Italian restaurant in Ozone Park, a Turkish joint in Richmond Hill and an Argentinian spot in Forest Hills. More than 50 restaurants, from Bayside to Howard Beach, are participating.
“Queens Restaurant Week allows diners to enjoy some of the tastiest dishes from around the world without having to spend a lot or travel very far,” Borough President Helen Marshall said at the week’s kick-off event held outside Borough Hall on Monday afternoon, when more than 500 passersby got to taste samples from the participating eateries. “Each year this event is a fabulous celebration of the wide variety of dining experiences available in what is the most diverse county in America. I hope as many people as possible take advantage of Queens Restaurant Week and partake of our borough’s outstanding cuisine.”
Most spots will offer one three-course, prix fixe dinner for $28 and lunch for $14. Some establishments will also offer their specials beyond Oct. 10.
“With our diversity, there’s such great food in Queens and we want to promote that,” said Queens Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Seth Bornstein.
Patty Medina, owner of Uncle Peter’s, an Italian restaurant on 84th Street and Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights, served up plates of pollo al funghi.
On Monday, seven restaurants showed off their culinary goods, including the Long Island City-based Queens Brewery, Uncle Peter’s in Jackson Heights and Haveli Restaurant in Forest Hills.
“Doing Queens Restaurant Week definitely helps us because we’re building stronger relationships with the restaurants we already collaborate with,” said Nelson Rockefeller, owner of the Queens Brewery – which opened this past July and now has its beer featured in 42 spots across the borough.
Pardeep Kumar, who works at Haveli Restaurant, served chicken malai kabab to a long line of people on Monday.
“This event helps us to let people know they have good Indian food right next door,” Kumar said.
The week is a program of the Queens Tourism Council and is sponsored by the Melrose Credit Union, jetBlue Airways, Queens Brewery, and Resorts World Casino New York City, among others.
“We realize and understand that the restaurant industry is part of the fabric of the mosaic that is Queens and NYC,” said Melrose Credit Union Director of Marketing and Public Affairs Robert Nemeroff. “It is the foods of the many different cultures and ethnicities that create the common bonds between all New Yorkers. Food is one of the things that makes Queens the unique and wonderful place that it is, and Restaurant Week exemplified that thought.”
For more information, and to find a list of participating restaurants, visit www.itsinqueens.com/restaurantweek/Queens.
By Anna Gustafson
