Houstonist Was There: Houston Restaurant Week Check Presentation for End Hunger Network

The fourth year of the annual Houston Restaurant Week ended with a bang last night at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House in the Galleria.

Houston Restaurant Week's ultimate goal was to raise money for the End Hunger Network, a local non-profit dedicated to helping needy families and seniors in the Houston metropolitan area get access to healthy food. Last year, 16 restaurants participated in Houston Restaurant Week, raising a total of $12,000 for the charity. This year, however, was an entirely different ballgame.

The 2008 Houston Restaurant Week saw over 60 restaurants participating -- with many of them extending the special $35 three-course menus ($5 of which went directly to the charity) for an additional week -- and a total amount raised of $78,877, a massive 650% increase over last year's total. Cleverley Stone, the brains behind Houston Restaurant Week, was on hand last night to present the final check to End Hunger, who were both stunned and overjoyed by the amount raised for their charity work. End Hunger's work is especially critical now, with so many Houston-area residents affected by Hurricane Ike, so the $78,877 check was incredibly fortuitous in light of the sudden needs of the Houston community.

The success of this year's Houston Restaurant Week was attributed in great part to the strong online community here in Houston, which helped to spread the word and generate excitement among charity-minded foodies as well as folks just looking for a good deal at a normally expensive restaurant.

Attendees at last night's check presentation included Sybila Vargas of Fox 26 News, Carmelo Mauro of Carmelo's, Kim Padgett of The Padgett Group and Arthur Mooradian, general manager of Del Frisco's. The group was treated to a bounty of hors d'ouevres courtesy of Del Frisco's, and wine from Messina Hof, both of which were generous contributors to Houston Restaurant Week.

The bar has been set incredibly high for next year's Houston Restaurant Week, which will be held in August 2009 and will once again benefit the End Hunger Network. But -- as always -- Houston will surely rise to the challenge, especially if that challenge involves food.