Curbside Pickup Comes To Collingswood Restaurant Week

COLLINGSWOOD, NJ — Collingswood is adapting to life amid the coronavirus pandemic with curbside kits during its Restaurant Week event, scheduled to take place from Oct. 18-23.

Participating restaurants will offer an array of meals designed to be shared. The borough’s chefs have developed specialty menus intended for groups as well as individual plates to offer options that fit into every lifestyle, borough officials said.

“Restaurants have become the anchor for our downtown,” Collingswood Mayor Jim Maley said. “Working together the last few months we adapted and problem solved and have given these small businesses a fighting chance. We hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy them — one way or the other — through a very different week.”

A side effect of quarantine in the spring, novice home cooks found themselves becoming foodies, cooking and baking to fill their time. Many developed a new appreciation for the work of their favorite chefs and their uncanny ability to bring new flavor combinations and ingredients together to create dishes unlike any others. As people begin to venture out again for new experiences, food is the perfect launching pad, officials said.

Collingswood restaurant owners said they look forward to welcoming their guests back and sharing their latest creations.

“An event like Restaurant Week does a lot to help increase the visibility of a vibrant downtown dining scene like ours,” Haddon Culinary caterer Lindsey Ferguson said. “It is especially important this year, as it gives restaurants the ability to highlight the creativity and adaptability that has seen them through this incredibly challenging time. We hope to give our community good reason to rally behind its small business owners and all they have to offer throughout the week.”

Officials are hoping that while they are picking up their food, customers will engage in some other activities Collingswood has to offer. Follow dinner with some karaoke or browse through records and antiques, or take dessert to go and visit Collingswood’s art galleries or unique boutiques, they suggest.

Guests should RSVP to participating restaurants directly. Reservations are limited, and restaurants encourage guests to make them early. Prix fixe menus for the fall event are available at www.collingswood.com and the Collingswood Restaurant Week Facebook page.