Top Chef, Low Cost

Watch out New York City: restaurateur and “Top Chef” judge Tom Colicchio has come up with a new, low-cost option for those who looking to save some bucks.

Every Wednesday, Colicchio will turn the front section of his popular and pricey Chelsea restaurant Craftsteak, on 10th Avenue and 15th Street, into “Halfsteak,” which will provide diners with a casual dining experience, with smaller plates and much lower prices.

The new weekly menu was devised by chef de cuisine Shane McBride, who was inspired by his southern upbringing, and offers everything from smoked chicken wings in a white BBQ sauce, to chicken fried cod with hash browns, and a brisket sandwich topped with sauerkraut and provolone. The menu would obviously not be complete without the Halfsteak: a half-portion of Craftsteak’s high-quality, dry-aged strip steak, served with hand-cut fries, all for less than $15. Just remember, it normally costs $50. Pastry chef Erica Leahy has also created new individually sized desserts, including red velvet cupcakes and an ice cream sandwich of the day.

The half-size, half-price concept also extends to cocktails which all cost less than $9, and half-pints of small, artisanal beers which all cost less than $4. Even the notoriously overpriced wine list has been dialed down, with glasses costing around $10 and about 20 bottles for under $50.

A warning: beware of the “Half Naked,” a blend of tequila, Cointreau, jalapeno and fresh lime juice, served in a miniature mason jar.

It just so happens that opening night coincided with part one of the “Top Chef” season finale. Crowds flocked to the restaurant, where Tom Colicchio and his fellow judges Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons, as well as the final four contestants, were gathered around the flat-screen televisions situated above the bar.

“Halfsteak” came as no surprise, given the recent economic recession. In fact, restaurants all over New York have been hurt by the dramatic drop in customers, along with the increase in operational expenses.

A simple phone call can prove that restaurants are desperate. On “Grub Street,” the dining blog for New York magazine, bloggers play Two for Eight, a game that involves calling some of the cities most exclusive restaurants at 4 p.m. to see which ones can squeeze a couple in for dinner. Some recent restaurants that topped the list: Danny Meyer’s Eleven Madison Park and Gramercy Tavern, Chanterelle and The Harrison in TriBeCa, as well as Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Matsugen and his Michelin three-star flagship restaurant, Jean Georges.

Celebrated chef Vongerichten led the recent recession trend last October, when his Greenwich Village restaurant Perry St. began offering a $35 three-course dinner menu. The trend quickly spread through his organization, and today six of his restaurants offer the dinner menu, in addition to a $24 three-course lunch menu.

Next was Mario Batali, when the price of the extravagant 20-course meal at Del Posto was reduced from $250 to $175, and the price of his nine-course tasting menu dropped from $175 to $125.

Tom Colicchio followed shortly after when he made some changes to the menu at his trendy flagship restaurant, Craft. Every Tuesday, Colicchio offers, TOM: Tuesday Dinner. Instead of the usual $185 per person menu, an eight-course meal served is in the private dining room for $150. Craft executive chef Damon Wise has since created Damon: Frugal Friday, a weekly tapas style meal with everything costing less than $10 per plate. Now, he has “Halfsteak.”

When Craftseak first opened in 2006, it received mainly negative reviews. In an effort to save his restaurant, last year Colicchio revamped the menu, and even replaced the restaurant’s initial chef de cuisine, Chris Albrecht. But based on the attendance and the excitement surrounding “Halfsteak,” it is obvious that Colicchio and his restaurants will not be going anywhere anytime soon.