Well Dressed Food employees create dishes in Tupper Lake. (Photo provided)

During Eat ADK, a week-long celebration of culinary exploration, participating restaurants, pubs and bistros will offer multiple-course menus at fixed prices, offering deals intended to attract local residents during a slow time of the year for tourism.

Eat ADK is also full of food- and beverage-related events such as “dinner and a movie” at the Palace Theatre and the Lake Placid Center for the Arts in Lake Placid; live music at area bars, studios and restaurants; wine appreciation and culinary classes; and wine and whiskey tastings. Some hotels will offer special packages to those looking to extend their stay in the Adirondacks. Details and a complete schedule of events is continuously being updated and will be found at eatadk.com.

With 45 participating dining establishments, residents and visitors can look forward to sampling the best dishes at discounted prices in the Adirondack communities of Lake Placid, Long Lake, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake and Wilmington.

Restaurants will be offering prix fixe (fixed-price) menus for $15, $20 and $30.

This year’s event highlights both established restaurants as well as recently opened businesses.

The opening event will take place at Saratoga Olive Oil in Lake Placid on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and drinks. There will be a short presentation by organizers and community leaders.

Long Lake’s participation in Eat ADK is new this year. Organizers have scheduled a bus on Saturday, May 4 that will operate throughout the evening to pick up and drop off residents to and from the participating restaurants.

“We are very excited that this popular event keeps growing and more visitors and locals are experiencing the wonderful cuisine in our Adirondack region,” said Eat ADK organizer Kelsey Torrance. “The restaurants highlight the many culinary options available here.”

“The Adirondacks offer diverse, world-class dining and accommodations that attract visitors all year long,” said James McKenna, CEO of the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism. “The specials offered during Eat ADK will encourage locals to try new establishments, and also attract out-of-region visitors who will stay at our hotels, shop in our stores, and discover what makes the Adirondacks such a unique destination.”

–

Backpack food drive

–

Along with celebrating Adirondack cuisine, the event also strives to help local families who need food assistance. Those participating in Eat ADK are encouraged to bring prepared non-perishable, child-friendly food or snacks to the restaurant. The items will be distributed to area public schools that have backpack programs. These programs help alleviate child hunger by discreetly providing hungry children with backpacks full of nutritious and easy-to-prepare food on Friday afternoons so they have food to eat throughout the weekend or during school breaks. Food items can also be dropped off at various locations listed on eatadk.com.

–

EAT ADK origin

–

The idea for an Adirondack restaurant week was hatched at Paul Smith’s College, a four-year college in the Adirondacks with robust culinary and hospitality programs. In 2015, 10 students from the college’s “Field Studies in Hospitality” class led by Professor Kelly Cerialo, worked with Professor Joe Conto, the director of the college’s Hotel, Resort and Tourism Management Program, and the Eat ADK Volunteer Committee. Paul Smith’s is now a sponsor of Eat ADK Restaurant Week. Students and faculty from the college continue to work closely with the restaurant week committee to organize this event.