Charles Koh
Big changes are coming to Dine Around Seattle® this spring. All March long, food-lovers from Bothell to Belltown, Downtown Seattle to Kirkland, will once again have the opportunity to experience some of the area’s finest restaurants at a delicious price as Seattle Good Business Network presents Dine Around Seattle®. Now in its eleventh year, Dine Around Seattle® will satisfy the fine food cravings of diners throughout the region with three-course prix-fixe menus.
Dine Around Seattle® has been re-branded with a new logo, a new promotional direction and a brand new website. The new website offers a user-friendly way to showcase the 47 participating restaurants- complete with menu offerings, photos, reservations via OpenTable.com, contest giveaways, and links to expanded social media platforms.
Now a program of the non-profit Seattle Good Business Network, Dine Around Seattle® will also raise awareness and dollars to support our local economy and community.
“Since its inception, Dine Around Seattle® has contributed millions to our local economy by driving thousands of diners to our region’s best local restaurants each year,” says Christine Hanna of Seattle Good Business Network. “We’re thrilled to announce that beginning with March’s promotion, Dine Around Seattle® will go even further to support our local food economy by raising awareness and funds for one of the many excellent non-profits in the field. We have tremendous respect for FareStart, the culinary job training and placement program for homeless and disadvantaged individuals, and have selected it as our first recipient,” says Hanna.
All month long, participating restaurants will share information about FareStart to customers, and many restaurants will offer diners a chance to add $1 to their bill to support FareStart at the end of their meal.
“The success of FareStart has long depended on support from the local restaurant community–from the restaurants who hire graduates of our programs and participate in Guest Chef Night, to the diners who visit our restaurant,” says Christina Starr of FareStart. “We are honored to be the beneficiary of Dine Around Seattle® and so grateful to all of the participating restaurants and diners.”
About Dine Around Seattle®
Participating restaurants will offer three-course prix fixe dinners for $30, with some offering lunch for $15. This price does not include beverages, tax or gratuity. Each restaurant will offer their Dine Around Seattle® menu Sundays through Thursdays, from March 3rd through the 28th. Beginning February 15th diners interested in making reservations can do so via the OpenTable reservations widget at www.dinearoundseattle.org and at the Dine Around Facebook page, www.facebook.com/dinearoundseattle. Dine Around Seattle®’s diners are encouraged to check in during their dining experiences via Facebook, Twitter (@dinearoundsea), FourSquare, Instagram, and Pinterest.
The complete list of participating restaurants includes: Andaluca, Art Restaurant & Lounge, Assaggio Ristorante, Barking Frog, Barolo Ristorante, Beachhouse Bar + Grill, Betty Restaurant & Bar, Blueacre Seafood, BluWater Bistro- Green Lake, BluWater Bistro- Leschi, Cantinetta- Bellevue, Cantinetta- Wallingford, Carmelita, Chandler’s Crabhouse, Chiso Sushi, Cicchetti Kitchen + Bar, Coastal Kitchen, Crow Restaurant & Bar, Cutters Crabhouse, Daniel’s Broiler, Fresh Bistro, The Georgian, Hunger 2.0, The Hunt Club, La Bête, Lecosho, Le Grand Bistro Americain, Local 360 Café & Bar, Mamma Melina Ristorante & Pizzeria, Monsoon, Monsoon East, Nishino, Olivar, Palisade Waterfront Restaurant, Peso’s Kitchen & Lounge, Ponti Seafood Grill, Preservation Kitchen, Ray’s Boathouse, The Scotch and Vine, Spazzo Italian Grill & Wine Bar, Steelhead Diner, Tango Restaurant, Ten Mercer, Toulouse Petit, Trace, Volterra- Ballard, Volterra-Kirkland.
Seattle Good Business Network is a non-profit network of residents and local businesses building a vibrant, self-reliant local economy, by buying, producing, and investing locally. Through its popular, Think Local, campaign, the organization has run over 100 full pages in The Stranger, Seattle Weekly, City Arts and Seattle Magazine, featuring fun photos of hundreds of local, independent businesses. This past December, its Gift Local campaign inspired over 2000 residents to take a pledge to shop local for the holidays. Dine Around Seattle® is the organization’s latest addition to its efforts to catalyze a strong local economy and community.
To learn more about Seattle Good Business Network’s ongoing and upcoming initiatives see www.seattlenetwork.org. For a complete directory of members, go towww.thinklocalseattle.org.
About FARESTART
FareStart provides a community that transforms lives by empowering homeless and disadvantaged men, women, and families to achieve self-sufficiency through life skills, job training and employment in the food service industry. Over the past 21 years, FareStart has provided opportunities for nearly 6,500 people to transform their lives, while also serving over 5.5 million meals to disadvantaged men, women, and children. Every day, men and women transform their lives in the adult program, which includes culinary training, life-skills classes, counseling, and assistance with housing, food, clothing and other support services to assist FareStart students as they change their lives. FareStart’s Graduate Support Services program provides ongoing guidance to adult graduates, providing a full year (and sometimes longer) of support to help individuals move forward to self-sufficiency. FareStart, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, generates about one third of its annual operating revenue through business operations, such as Guest Chef Night at the FareStart Restaurant. For more information, visitwww.farestart.org.
