It used to be that Restaurant Week was one week of dinners or lunches for a great deal (usually the year in dollars and cents 2009 = $20.09.).  Now Restaurant week extends for at least another week, and for some restaurants the entire month, and has a much broader depth including shows, and hotel packages.  

This year Arts Boston has everything from Stephen Petronio Company at the Institute for Contemporary Arts at half off to Bobby McFerrin at Symphony Hall.  There is the American Repertory Theatre's much loved Donkey Show and José Matteo's Ballet Theatre's new show, Out of the Dark.  

I can't highlight the entire list of more than 200 restaurants (for that you can peruse the Restaurant Week website by neighborhood or alphabetically to select a few restaurants you always wanted to try but weren't quite sure you could afford or justify). What I can do is round up a few restaurants around town to get you going. To get the most out of restaurant week check out the restaurant's regular menu and their restaurant week menu to see whether you prefer one over the other and if you're really getting the best deal.  In general the high end restaurants are worth a visit during restaurant week.  

The North End

Taranta
210 Hanover Street
(617) 720-0052

Taranta is offering dinner every night of the week. You can start your meal off with pan roasted mussels or an arugula salad with roasted pears and gorgonzola and then move on to a simple pasta with tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella or something a bit more special like the cassava root gnocchi with slow braised lamb ragu or Taranta's brined double thick pork chop.  Finally, of course there is dessert.  Can you handle a cannoli with guava ricotta filling?

Mamma Maria
3 North Sq
(617) 523-0077

Mamma Maria is way more exquisite than the name implies. The atmosphere is elegant and at the same time cozy like staying at a friend's "chateau".  On a regular night, this is a pricey spot for special occasions, but during restaurant week the playing field is leveled with three course dinners for $33.10.  Mamma Maria is offering dinner Monday through Friday and Sunday night for restaurant week.

Back Bay

Asana
776 Boylston Street
(617) 535-8888

Hotel dining can go either way. It is either institutional and a bit too much like an upscale canteen or it can be the most delicious, unique, waited on hand and foot experience because of the focus on service and nature of a high end hotel.  In this particular case I can almost promise your experience will be the latter.

Asana in the Mandarin Oriental is offering the light lunch, which is $15.10 for a two course lunch, as well as the regular three course lunch for $20.10 and dinner for $33.10.  Their dinner mains (not including those that tack on additional $$), potato gnocchi with baby turnips and winter truffle, scallops and smoked Berkshire pork belly and duck breast with Grand Marnier brioche pudding, are reason enough for a reservation.

Sel de La Terre
255 State Street
(617) 720-1300

Sel de La Terre Back Bay is offering both lunch and dinner. There is the option of an additional cheese course for $12 at lunch making it still a great deal for a fabulous meal out. Sometimes a nice big European style lunch is so much better than a heavy multi-course dinner.  From the olive oil poached bass tartine to lamb sausage each dish is carefully thought-out and beyond ordinary.  

Be sure to check out the many venues featuring light lunch options in the Back Bay including:  Atlantic Fish, Brasserie JO, Café at the Taj Boston, Courtyard Restaurant at Boston Public Library, Daily Grill, Forty Dalton, Laurel Grill & Bar, Legal Sea Foods Copley, the Oak Room, Osushi, Samurai Boston, Stanhope Grille, Vlora Restaurant, and Vox Populi.

Beacon Hill

Beacon Hill Hotel
25 Charles Street
(617) 723-7575

Beacon Hill Hotel isn't your average hotel.  It is a well thought out, elegant boutique hotel in a fabulous location. The Bistro is offering some great local fare from Hannah Bells Farmstead cheese of Westport, MA to local fleet skate wing brought in from Scituate the day it is caught.  How's that for local and fresh?

Toscano
41 Charles Street
(617) 723-4090

Toscano is offering the light lunch, lunch, and dinner every day of the week and their menus for both lunch and dinner have so many dishes to choose from.  In addition there are $25 bottles of their featured Italian wine to pair with your meal.  

Downtown

Bistro du Midi
272 Boylston Street
(617) 426-7878

Bistro du Midi is serving the light lunch, lunch, and dinner Monday through Friday.  On Sunday you can enjoy the restaurant week menu for dinner only.  New to the scene Bistro du Midi already has many fans.  Even on a regular day (as in non-restaurant week) the prices seem fair and the food doesn't disappoint.

Marliave
10 Bosworth Street
(617) 422-0004

They sure are not stingy on their menu as there are so many dishes to choose from with treats like Vermont bacon, escargots, Maine's Wolfe Neck Farms flat iron steak with frites, and (a personal favorite) butterscotch pudding.  The lunch and dinner menus are the same so whether you're an early bird or a night owl you can enjoy the same fine fare.  

The Waterfront

Meritage
70 Rowes Wharf
(617) 439-3995

Meritage is offering dinner during the week Monday through Friday.  Their menu has a variety of mouthwatering dishes to choose from beginning with the maple smoked salmon, avocado and creme fraiche tower with cava laced frisee or the cucumber wrapped baby greens tossed in an ice wine dressing.  Second courses include a gorgeous spring vegetable dish of asparagus and parmesan cheese risotto with roasted baby peppers and leeks, diver sea scallops with cider butter, Scottish salmon with sweet pea pudding, and grilled filet mignon with a horseradish onion cream.  

Sensing
3 Battery Wharf
(617) 994-9001

Sensing is offering the light lunch, lunch, and dinner with two different menus for lunch and dinner.  Also fairly new the Boston restaurant scene  this upscale spot is most criticized for it's difficulty to be found.  Make your reservation and then carefully read the directions. ( http://www.sensingrestaurant.com/index.aspx?l=0,37,44,54 )

The Theatre District

If you are going to take advantage of a show you're either headed to the Theatre District or perhaps over to the ART in Cambridge.  

Via Matta
79 Park Plaza
(617) 422-0008

Via Matta is offering both lunch and dinner for restaurant week.  The same menu is offered at lunch and dinner.  I was able to sample their succulent house-brined pork chop with roasted escarole, white beans, soppressata and orange zest.  Just that is worth a restaurant week reservation.  The pork chops are from local butcher Savenor's just blocks away on Charles Street.  Also on the menu is their fresh pasta alla puttanesca and a grilled polenta with vegetables and parmesan.  

Pigalle
75 Charles Street South
(617) 423-4944

Pigalle is offering a great dinner every night of both restaurant weeks.  Their menu is worth a look.  It is also one of the few restaurants offering their restaurant week menu for dinner on the weekend.

Cambridge

The Blue Room
1 Kendall Square
(617) 494-9034

The Blue Room is also offering their restaurant week menu every night for dinner.  They will have classic starters like New England clam chowder, their signature Caesar salad and pulled pork sliders with pickles and coleslaw.   Continue your meal with a taste of spring from some roasted mushrooms, haddock, pinenuts and tomato sauce; a nod to the Irish saint perhaps with beef brisket, braised cabbage and horseradish and potato puree, or a pure taste of the season with asparagus and pea risotto, mascarpone, and basil oil.  Who knows where your meal will take you after that!

Chez Henri
1 Shepard Street
(617) 354-8980

Chez Henri is one of my favorite restaurants and is a great choice for Restaurant Week.  They will be offering their restaurant week menu for dinner every night of the week as well.  To have the full Chez Henri experience, show up a little early and enjoy one of their signature drinks at the bar before settling in to your table.  

T.W. Food
377 Walden Street
(617) 864-4745

T.W. Food is another neighborhood favorite and is an exceptional experience from the airy yet cosy dining room to the careful attention to detail for every dish.  They will be offering dinner seven days a week as well.  It may sound mundane in comparison to a roasted root vegetable salad with lemon parfait and local cranberry preserves or a parsnip and potato soup with smoked paprika, but Chef Weichmann's creamy scrambled farm eggs are out of this world.  This is another menu worth perusing to tempt your palate.  

With a taste of spring beginning to inspire chefs and blossom on your plates, it's a great time to head out somewhere new, go for a special lunch, or plan an extra date night out.  Take Restaurant Week as an opportunity to explore some of Boston's best restaurants.  If you can't make it out during restaurant week, plan a lunch date instead of dinner and you'll still get a great deal.

Photo courtesy of T.W. Foods