Skift Take
Focusing on events allows Resy to leverage its exclusive, cool-kid restaurant partnerships in a smart way.
— Erika Adams
Reservations and guest management platform Resy is planning to launch a new dining program this year called “Off Menu Week,” according to the company. Resy is positioning the program as a new and improved version of local Restaurant Weeks that take place in cities across the U.S. throughout the year.
In Resy’s version, a select group of restaurant operators from the platform’s six top markets (Los Angeles, D.C., San Francisco, New York City, Austin, and Chicago) will serve up off-menu items and special dishes that chefs are still experimenting with behind the scenes to diners during each respective city’s “Off Menu Week.” Capital One is the official access partner in the venture, and the company’s cardholders get first dibs on reservations to the participating restaurants.
“We keep tabs on every opening and we treat hot reservations like gold. But more than anything, we live for the restaurant moments that make us really feel like insiders — when an off-menu dish appears as a ‘gift’ from the chef, when the somm tops your glass with a bottle they happen to have open,” Resy CEO Ben Leventhal said in a statement.
Resy has previously dabbled in events, including its recent The Women of Food series, but the brand will be pushing harder to develop and grow this category in 2019. A Restaurant Week reinvention, marrying Resy’s cool-kid restaurant connections with a user base of diners who appreciate a unique meal experience, is a step in the right direction towards creating a brand more centered around events and experiences.
“As diners, we crave connection to the creative people behind our favorite restaurants,” Leventhal said. “We thought, let’s throw out the dated premise of Restaurant Week and bring to life a program that’s fundamentally about that connection and creativity.”
