Guyana Restaurant Week extended
The Guyana Restaurant Week will have another run this month as a result of its success which has left many restaurateurs pleased.
President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana, Mitra Ramkumar said the extension will be from December 4 to 13, and gives the persons who were not able to enjoy the ‘culinary adventure’ another opportunity to ‘Explore, Eat… Repeat.’
“Guyana Restaurant Week in a pandemic was a tremendous success, many restaurants have reported that almost every night, they have been turning away persons that showed up and even at the reservation stage,” Mr. Ramkumar said.
DPI also spoke with Andrew James, Manager of OMG and Arawak Steak House.
“This year Guyana Restaurant week has been tremendous, the response from our diners has been very, very good, and we are prepared for them as usual with our exquisite menus and our excellent service we have been ready and up to the challenge,” Mr. James said.
The restaurant, like many others, is in the process of recovering from the effects of the pandemic which initially caused the total closure of the restaurant and bar, due to the imposed restrictions.
However, Mr. James said adjustments were made to accommodate outdoor dining when that was eventually allowed.
The reopening of business saw the restaurant putting several measures in place to ensure the safety of customers and staff and followed the gazetted guidelines to operate in the pandemic.
“Slowly persons started coming out back and joining us outdoor, Guyana Restaurant Week however, we have seen a significant increase, it was a tremendous response, people came out and in spite of the outdoor dining facility, people were happy, we got good reviews from our customers about the facility, about the service and about the quality of our food,” Mr. James said.
The restaurant also promoted delivery and curbside pickup and this was also supported by customers.
“We are so excited; we can’t wait for those who did not make it…we feel motivated and we know that for the extension the response will be just as good,” Mr. James added.
Meanwhile, Signature restaurant was opened just in time for Restaurant Week. Chef Raúl Jaisingh said the response was encouraging.
“It was difficult for us to plan on how we were going to deal with the dining situation because obviously we are not allowed to do indoor dining, so we came up with a plan where we strategically packed our meals, so that people can get that fine dining experience even though we are doing takeout,” Jaisingh noted.
He said the restaurant caters for classic fine dining cuisine that could be delivered.
“The extension for us is amazing because new busines will generate all the time, new clientele because I’m sure the ones who have tried our food, we got rave reviews from them and the ones who did not get to try now have the opportunity with the extension,” the Chef noted.