Get the Knives and Forks Ready for Greenwich Restaurant Week

Photos: Transportation Association of Greenwich Executive Director James Boutelle with board member and Greenwich Restaurant Week organizer Jen Danzi. Plates of fried calamari and salmon tartare served on homemade potato chips at Harvest restaurant. Credit: Barbara Heins.

Eat, drink, be merry and help raise some much needed money for the Transportation Association of Greenwich (TAG).

The 2nd Annual Greenwich Restaurant Week will kick off Nov. 11 with an opening night party at Miller Motorcars Ferrari Maserati dealership at 342 W. Putnam Ave. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the opening night party will benefit TAG, the not-for-profit agency that will provide nearly 70,000 trips to the town’s elderly, disabled and disadvantaged, according to TAG Executive Director James Boutelle.

This year the agency also assumed operation of Safe Rides, the weekend transportation service for Greenwich teens who need transportation home on Friday and Saturday nights. At a Wednesday night press preview of Restaurant Week that was held at Harvest restaurant on Greenwich Avenue, Boutelle said that on Halloween night, more than 80 teens received rides from TAG.

The restaurant week opening night will feature food and beverages from participating restaurants and food and beverage purveyors. More than three dozens food-related businesses in and around Greenwich are participating. Among the restaurants are Harvest, Char, Bella Nonna, Famous Greek Kitchen, Gabriele’s Italian Steakhouse, Little Pub, Le Penguin and The Drawing Room.

“I love that we can do this as a fund-raiser. We have a lot of great restaurants in Greenwich,” Boutelle said.

The idea of creating a Greenwich Restaurant Week was the brainchild of TAG board member Jen Danzi as a way to celebrate Greenwich’s culinary landscape and raise money for the agency.

Danzi said she expects a crowd of about 500 to attend the Nov. 11 opening night where patrons will be able to enjoy vittles and grog amidst the gleaming high-end performance cars. There also will be a silent auction.

TAG has a fleet of 22 buses it operates daily from its headquarters on Riverside Avenue in the Riverside section of Greenwich. TAG vans criss-cross Greenwich and its neighboring communities picking up and delivering clients use TAG to go to employment sites, medical and other human service appointments, and recreation. Among the agencies that contract for TAG’s services are the Association for Retarded Citizens, Greenwich Adult Day Center, the Board of Education, YMCA after school child programs, and social service agencies.

General admission tickets are $150 and $250 for VIP tickets. Tickets may be purchased at www.GreenwichRestaurantWeek.com which also includes a complete list of participating restaurants that are offering various nightly specials, prix fixe menus, truffled dishes and 1/2-price on bottled wines.