It’s nearly time to dig in as Aberdeen Restaurant Week makes a welcome return to the city.
Last held in November 2020 during a hugely difficult time for hospitality, the foodie fortnight proved extremely popular with North-east residents, with the majority of venues involved reporting a huge increase in covers across the duration of the event, and many fully booked each night, giving a big boost at a time when it was most needed.
Returning citywide from November 1 - 14, organiser Aberdeen Inspired is urging local businesses to get involved and sign up to take part. Once again, the event is open to all Aberdeen city centre eateries and participation is free. Businesses are asked to create a unique set priced menu exclusively for the event to give customers a flavour of their usual offering.
As businesses continue to recover from the pandemic, it is hoped the popular event will have a positive knock-on effect on local restaurants, cafes and bistros and also encourage people in to shop, enjoy Aberdeen’s cultural offering or make a night of it and enjoy a stay in a city centre hotel.
Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said: “We are thrilled to confirm the eagerly awaited return of Aberdeen Restaurant Week in November. The event, which was extended to a foodie fortnight last year, really helps bring footfall safely into the city centre. It gives a big boost to the hospitality sector and the feedback we received from businesses at the time really brought home what a difference it made.
“A huge proportion of our businesses reported record covers over the duration of the two week event, with many opting to extend the promotion themselves as they had received such a good reaction from the public. We hope it will do exactly that when it returns to the city once again and we would encourage interested restaurants and cafes to sign up and get involved as soon as possible.”
Nadine Carmichael, head of sales and marketing, the DRG, said: “We love the atmosphere during Aberdeen Restaurant Week - we’ll be fully booked every day throughout. I know our regular customers come in to take advantage of a great offer, but we also get lots of first visits too. With over 1700 customers dining in Amarone and Café Andaluz during the event in 2019, I was astonished that 85% of bookers have had a repeat visit to one of our restaurants. You can bet when our team have their days off, they’ll be out trying out new places taking part too.”
Louise MacLean, business development director, Signature Group, added: “The Spiritualist, just off Bon Accord Terrace, is delighted to once again participate in Aberdeen Restaurant Week. Last year we saw an increase in food sales of around 53% during the two weeks that the Restaurant Week ran. In addition to the increase in sales it also provides us with an opportunity to try out new dishes as well as shine a spotlight on the greatest hits of our food offering. This allows our culinary team to get creative and offer something exciting for our existing customers but also access and attract new customers through the increased profile the event provides.
“It is especially good at encouraging people to eat out on midweek nights when restaurants typically have seats to fill. We have participated in Aberdeen Restaurant Week for three years and would encourage any restaurant to join in to help highlight the flourishing food scene here in Aberdeen.”
For more information and to sign up to Aberdeen Restaurant Week, visit https://www.aberdeeninspired.com/festival/restaurant-week