Belfast Restaurant Week 2019

Following the huge success of February’s Belfast Restaurant Week, Belfast One and Destination Cathedral Quarter BIDs are again working together to deliver a second Restaurant Week, from Monday 23 to Sunday 29 September. This will run as part of the island-wide Taste the Island initiative, promoted by Tourism NI, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland.

Through feedback from previous participants of February’s Restaurant Week, we have established the dates and proposition that Belfast Restaurant Week will offer the public.

Dates:   Monday 23 to Sunday 29 September

Offer:

• Monday to Thursday:       2 courses for £15 (Monday to Thursday, 5-7pm)
• Monday to Friday:            £10 lunch (Monday to Friday, 12-2pm)
• Saturday and Sunday:     Big Belfast Brunch (co-ordinated city-wide brunch offering)
• Saturday and Sunday:     Taste the City event
• Throughout the week:    food events e.g. tasting menus, themed menus, gin tastings, food tours, etc.

To build on the success of the chef demos held in St George’s Market in February and in line with Taste The Island’s celebration of the Province wide food offering, Taste The City will take place on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 in Writer’s Square. This event will bring together the best of your suppliers with their finest local produce in a food and drink marketplace.

Across the two days there will be the opportunity for you to take part in food demos with a focus on local ingredients. These showcases will see chefs and suppliers come together to demonstrate how produce from across Northern Ireland is used to create some of Belfast’s finest dishes. Visitors will have the opportunity to visit the food and drink market and purchase some of the ingredients there whilst enjoying a programme of live music in our picnic area.

To participate in Restaurant Week your restaurant will need to:

1. Be within a BT1 or BT2 postcode.
2. Have 4+ scores on the doors.
3. Offer 3 courses – starter, main course and dessert (for 2 course offer).

We have tried to ensure that the staggered pricing structure will allow a wide range of restaurants to get involved, while also providing the customer with a simple message of a reason why to come eat out in the city.

Based on restaurant feedback, we have excluded the weekend from the fixed price offer so as to not squeeze profits during the busiest nights of the week. We would like to encourage you to hold special events that celebrate your food and your business that can be incorporated into a programme of events e.g. food tastings, food tours, themed afternoon teas, drinks masterclasses, etc.

Participation in the event is free for members of Belfast One and Destination Cathedral Quarter BIDs. The pricing structure for restaurants outside of this is:

1. If you are a member of Belfast One or Destination Cathedral Quarter BID and have restaurants not part of either BID (but within BT1 or BT2) each additional restaurant will cost £60+ VAT to participate.
2. If you are not a Belfast One or Destination Cathedral Quarter BID member but have a restaurant within a BT1 or BT2 postcode the cost will be £150+ VAT to participate.

Promotion of the event

We will be running a substantial marketing campaign for Belfast Restaurant Week across outdoor advertising, digital, social media, radio and print, as well as a PR campaign. This will start six weeks before the event and carry on throughout the week of the event. A promotional pack will also be provided to participating restaurants.Event launch

There will be a launch event on Tuesday 3 September for media and press.

Next steps

If you are interested in taking part in Belfast Restaurant Week, please email Restaurant Week project manager Lesley Maltman (lesley@theeventor.com).