Alaine Ducasse’s 2010 initiative has grown into a national institution, expecting to surpass last year’s 500,000 guests.
The reservation lines opened this Monday for chef Alaine Ducasse’s Tous au Restaurant – an initiative that will see almost 1,000 restaurants around France offering three course meals on a buy-one-get-one-free deal. The programme runs between September 21 & October 4, 2015.
The initiative, that was launched in 2010 by renowned French chef Alaine Ducasse to get more people into restaurants in France, will see 923 eateries offering two guests a full menu – starter, main, and dessert – for the price of one.
This year’s event runs for two weeks rather than the usual one and marks the first year that a wine list is included. There’s even a second booking opportunity that opens on September 21 for those who missed out.
The restaurants include everything from cheap eateries – where you could dine for two for just USD 28 – to the likes of Le Petit Nice in Marseille which will set you back USD 447 for lunch alone.
Feedback has been mostly positive all around. Although people who took advantage of the initiative in recent years have taken to TripAdvisor to warn that it’s only selected menus that are available – not the restaurant’s usual full menu.
And it might be tough to get a place. The official website has had an electronic countdown ticking down the minutes until Monday morning at 10:00 hrs when the booking lines were open, suggesting the event may be as hotly anticipated as last year when around 500,000 people took part.
