A local restaurant not included on the official Restaurant Week roster decided to go rogue and run their own three course dinner promotion.
Now Bonvenu in Carytown may be in a bit of hot water with the fundraisers’ organizer after getting a cease-and-desist letter asking them to stop the promotion, according to an article on Style Weekly’s website.
From the article:
Another fairly new restaurant, Bonvenu, was not selected to participate, according to the café’s manager Charmagne Doyle, but decided to join in unofficially. That’s what appears to have prompted a letter that urges the restaurant to stop doing so immediately. “It says that if we don’t stop, they’ll take away our chance of doing it in the future,” Doyle says, wary about starting a restaurant war over a popular community fundraising effort.
Aline Reitzer, organizer of Restaurant Week, declined comment in the Style story until after the conclusion of the event on Sunday. Participating restaurants offer a three course menu at just over $20 a person, with a portion of the proceeds going to support a joint program between Meals on Wheels and the food bank.
In a BizSense story earlier this week, it was reported that the fundraiser generates a huge amount of traffic for participating restaurants and that there is a waiting list for restaurants seeking to participate.
A local restaurant not included on the official Restaurant Week roster decided to go rogue and run their own three course dinner promotion.
Now Bonvenu in Carytown may be in a bit of hot water with the fundraisers’ organizer after getting a cease-and-desist letter asking them to stop the promotion, according to an article on Style Weekly’s website.
From the article:
Another fairly new restaurant, Bonvenu, was not selected to participate, according to the café’s manager Charmagne Doyle, but decided to join in unofficially. That’s what appears to have prompted a letter that urges the restaurant to stop doing so immediately. “It says that if we don’t stop, they’ll take away our chance of doing it in the future,” Doyle says, wary about starting a restaurant war over a popular community fundraising effort.
Aline Reitzer, organizer of Restaurant Week, declined comment in the Style story until after the conclusion of the event on Sunday. Participating restaurants offer a three course menu at just over $20 a person, with a portion of the proceeds going to support a joint program between Meals on Wheels and the food bank.
In a BizSense story earlier this week, it was reported that the fundraiser generates a huge amount of traffic for participating restaurants and that there is a waiting list for restaurants seeking to participate.
Its a free country. If Bonvenu wants to offer a three course meal for just over $20 and donate some of their proceeds to charity then great! I cant imagine why anyone would have a problem with this. Unless they are claiming to be part of the official event which is a different problem altogether.
From what I could see they never said they were part of the official restaurant week line up. They said they were rejected because they had not been open long enough. Unfortunately, that reason seemed inconsistent with which restaurants were actually included. Why limit this since there are a number of good restaurants that want to participate? Can’t eveyone support the Food Bank? And what about Melting Pot or Coast? They are also doing something “unofficial.” Why is bonvenu being singled out (or are they)? I give as an individual to the Food Bank and every year I attend fewer… Read more »
If a restaurant wants to do what bonvenu did, there is zero Aline can do personally or legally.She is wasting your time bizsense, and you are wasting ours.
Where is Aline Reitzer’s “comment”? When may we expect it? Interesting comments on rvafoodie.com Just wondering if we all could have some answers.