NYC restaurant week winter edition is here

By Alexa Santos, News 12 Digital
NYC Restaurant Week is a foodie's dream come true. 
Hundreds of restaurants throughout the city roll out special prix-fixe tasting menus at a very affordable price. 
Restaurants in all five boroughs get involved, and take it as an opportunity to both bring in new customers and show existing customers something new. 
The restaurant week menus include a two-course lunch for $26, and/or a three-course dinner for $42. NYC Restaurant Week for the winter is from Jan. 21 through Feb. 9. 
News 12 caught up with restaurants in the Bronx and Brooklyn ready to show off what they're made of. 

Artie's Steak and Seafood on City Island in the Bronx is the first and only Bronx restaurant to participate in NYC Restaurant Week. 
Chef/owner Spiros Chagares says his participation in the event shines a light not only on his restaurant, but on all of City Island. "Customers come to City Island, and a lot of them have never experienced City Island.

"It's a dual­-edge on that sword because they come out, they get a feel for the island, they get a nice break from the hustle and bustle, and they find out that we have real  quality food," says Chagares.
Artie's Steak and Seafood is offering both lunch and dinner menus. Chagares says all the items on the restaurant week menus are new and unique, meaning they're not offered on Artie's Steak and Seafood's regular menu. 
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While Artie's Steak & Seafood is the only restaurant in the Bronx participating in NYC Restaurant Week, Brooklyn is a different story. 
There are a dozen restaurants involved with restaurant week throughout the borough. 
 At Antica Pesa in Williamsburg, both the chef and owner hail directly from Rome. There's actually an Antica Pesa in Rome owned by the same family.
Lorenzo Panella, owner of Antica Pesa Brooklyn, says the restaurant started with his great-grandparents. 
The restaurant's menu changes seasonally, but for the restaurant week menu, Chef Emanuele Baldassini coordinated with Panella's brother, who runs the Antica Pesa in Rome. 
Antica Pesa offers a dinner menu for restaurant week, and some of the items are the same as the regular menu. 
Both Panella and Baldassini say they're excited to bring new customers in, and treat their regular customers to something special with restaurant week.
Baldassini says, "I'm always excited to cook my traditional plates for our guests, and to give them a real Roman experience." 
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