Looks like the drumbeat to show off the culinary capades of Greater Lowell has finally reached a feverpitch. Lowell will partake in a restaurant week in August. Dovetailing w/ the established Boston Restaurant Week for the first year, CVB head honcho Deb Belanger hopes to bring Merrimack Valley along on its own shortly thereafter. The restaurants have not been announced yet, but there will be 25 involved in the prix fixe feat. I can tell you right now Ricardos will be one of them as proprietor Dick Rourke birthed the idea. Many of you have given me lists of places you would like to see involved, so it seems the interest is there. It will be something like $30 for a three-course dins and $20 for a similar lunch. There's talk of a canal-side kick off downtown w/ chefs demonstrating by the water on a fri. night. That would be something. Dates being bandied are Aug. 11-17, so don't book that house at the beach!

If you’re like me, Tuesday is not a fun food day. I’ll hit the gym and maybe have fish, salad or pasta for dins. Ho hum. I save my dining points for wed. thurs. and let it rip on the weekends. But there are times when an exception is necessary. To wit: Taste of Nashoba Valley next Tues. At Lawerence Academy in Groton from 530 to 830 p.m. a host of epic eateries like the Herb Lyceum, Gibbet Hill and Devens Grill will be offering up their latest creations. Local drink purveyers Wachusetts Brewing Co. and Concord Ale’s Rapscallion (brewed in the Mill City) will be opening their taps too. Beer lovers, the naughty rapscallion is worth the head you'll have on wed. morn. Go lightly! Strangely, I never been to the TONV, but this year's line-up just might get me. Places I have not heard of like Harvard Sweet Boutique in Harvard and The Vineyard in Ayer will be there, plus the divine Currier & Chives. If you’ve ever been to a party catered by Maynard’s elegant food co, you know why I underscore this joint. I went to an x-mas party where C&C did the honors and the morsels were up there, right down to the tiny gelato cones to go. For further inticement George Howell’s Coffee Company (Coffee Connection emeratis) will be pouring the post-brew brews. Tix are $17 early, $20 day of. www.nvcoc.com/taste.shtml

Starts on Sunday. Looks like the Left Bank at the Stonehedge Inn is the only local rest. participating. Surprisingly, prices have not crept up from last year: three-course prix-fixe lunch is $20.08, three-course dins: $33.08. Looks like inflation here is a marketing gimmick with the 08 refecting the year. Cute. The Beehive is a swank South End spot I'd like to try and Chez Henri off Harvard Sq. is as romantic a getaway as they come. If you can sneek away for lunch, I would, to avoid maddening crowds. I have not blogged much about the left bank in Tyngs., although they have a top chef who jumped ship from The Harvest in Cambridge last year. I think it's because I keep forgetting they are there, tucked away in an unlikely locale off Pawtucket Blvd. But it is worth the search. For Lowellians LB is the best best next week. BRW runs from March 9 through Friday, March 14. This begs the ques. what happened to Lowell Restaurant Week?

Winterfest’s soup bowl competition is upon us. For a few bucks we can sample soup from a caldron of 16 rests. in the MV, Fri. night and Sat. I've been a judge for the last few yrs. and really got to know the soups in our midst. Like a wine tasting, you can go from booth to booth savoring the flavors and pontificate w/ the artisans who made it. Last year I learned that the Gazebo Cafe ( a noteable no-show this yr.) adds chocolate into its chili. This yr. Sangrias and Hookslide Kelly's will duke it our for best chili. The Old Court's chicken and bacon corn chowder has my vote, but I've been lovin' Centro’s soups, so their sausage, apple veg entry could be a runaway winner. Cobblestones, always a renegade here (remember the pomegranate Iraq soup?) is doing Brazilian chicken and yucca soup. I like it.
This is also a chance to try newcomer Mr. Jalapeno’s Azteca soup. The Merrimack tacoria is set to open this weekend. But I would be remiss (and probably dissed) if I failed to mention the Mambo Grill. Their pumpkin soup (pix above) won first place the first yr. they entered. This yr. they tout roasted red pepper and corn chowder. Interesting combo. Would go down nicely w/ a cerveza, si?
Longtime winner Ricardo’s Cafe Trattoria will tempt w/ chicken parmesan soup. Could be good.
Boston chef and Lowell homeboy Robert Jean (of Teatro and Sorelina fame), What's Cookin' in the Mill City host Bridget Driscoll and radio shock jock Jack Baldwin from WCAP will judge.
The Masonic Temple is the place, Friday 7-9 p.m. and Saturday, 1-4 p.m.

The idea of Lowell Restaurant Week is no longer a flash in the pan. Looks like a week of discount dining is actually going to happen come August in the Merrimack Valley. LRW is partnering w/ Boston Restaurant Week to ride the already established wave.
I’ve been tapped to help get things rolling by surveying the cherished readers of this blog. We are making a list and checking it twice. Trying to find out what restaurants would be nice. Note, they can’t be smallish diners or hidden feedbags in the proverbial wall. They have to lean upper scale to meet the $33.08 and $22.08 prix-fixe diner/lunch criteria. Capice?
So think of the area, from Haverhill to Lawrence, Billerica to Burlington. What are the best 25 restaurants in our midst?

Heard on the street this a.m. that Lowell Restaurant Week's wheels are turning. The Godfather of gastronome Ricky Ricardo and MV PR force Deb Belanger are meeting w/ the Boston Convention and Visitor's Bureau to see about branding LRW w/ the formidable Boston Restaurant Week. Fellow foodies, this sounds promising. Of course Gourmet Gal will keep you posted w/ each new development. A good idea comes from Scott Plath of Cobblestones: include Burlington. This former mall-town-turned-gourmet ghetto is luring diners from Boston with hotspots like Capital Grille and L’Andana, Lowell chef Robert Jean's new Italian bistro. There's also the Lemon Tree, Flatbred Pizza, The Melting Pot and Cafe Escadrille. If Lowell can piggyback on the Burlington buzz and create a line of travel, then maybe the perception that this is the blackhole of dining will recede. If LRW is successful, it can only mean more options for those of us who enjoy a good nosh out.

When I told Gourmet Guy we were going to Taste of the Town this weekend he said "I've already had a taste of Lowell, I don't need anymore." Humbug. He is not a gallivanting gourmet, although he can cook! No, no, no. I told him this is not a gust of cigarette smoke, exhaust fumes or a flurry of parking tix, this is a food binge. All the culinary hotspots will be tossing gourmet bites under your nose. It's a secret who exactly will be there ( Infusions Bistro is a def.) but a food-tasting party is a fine party in my book. It's a tasty time to rub elbows w/ MV chefs/owners and everyone else in restaurant land. The 21 Annual Taste of The Town is Sunday at the DoubleTree Hotel, Lowell is a fete for the hardworking souls of the Low Gen. Hospital Auxiliary. It maybe too late to RSVP, tix are $60.But GG will have a full report on Monday, if Im not in a food coma.

We hear a Lowell Restaurant Week is being bandied. Like Boston's successful week of prefix dining, Lowell’s would feature discounts at the smashing establishments we have here for one blissful week of eating out. Boston's has become so successful most places sell out quickly and it turned biannual. The Left Bank in Tyngs. has long been a participant, but few people make the trek out to the boro when they can dish at Davios. By having a LRW, all the great spots outside Lowell —Gibbet Hill in Groton, Burtons in North Andover, Infusions Bistro in Chelms.— can glom on. With La Boniche, Ricardos and Cobblestones downtown we have enough to keep his going. And w/ Kearney Sq. becoming swinging —Blue Taleh on its way, Centro on Market Street finding its footing, this could be bigger than the Folk Fest, or at least Winterfest. Even Lowla Bear could use a roasted pork loin a la plumb neuvo w/ a side of pinot. No?
To make this a reality, post your support here and let's see if the Gourmet Gal can jump-start this ready-made slam dunk. Summer's the right time says restaurateur Dick Rourke, whose brainstorm this is. OK Dick, but not August, mid-June baby, mid-June.