Taste of Nassau offers local cuisine at reduced prices

Nassau Street's pricier restaurants will be more affordable this week, as today marks the start of Taste of Nassau, a joint venture by the USG and area merchants designed to give Princeton students a chance to sample local cuisine.

"This is an event we hope will introduce freshmen and all undergraduates to the exciting restaurants that exist in the town," USG campus and community affairs chair Cindy Hong '09 said.

With discounted prix-fixe meals and special student savings continuing through Thursday, the four-day promotion will allow students to "treat themselves to a nicer meal out," she said.

Zach Kwartler '11 said he may do just that. "If it's a nicer restaurant, you're probably not going to eat there any other time."

While some participants are inexpensive restaurants like Iano's Rosticceria and Ivy Garden, which are popular among students already, Taste of Nassau also includes a few of the town's pricier restaurants at discounted — though not dirt-cheap — prices.

Matt Goldman, executive chef at the Nassau Inn's Yankee Doodle Tap Room, said he sees this week as an opportunity to attract students who normally wouldn't eat at the restaurant. The four-course prix-fixe dinner there costs $25.

"Because we don't do this kind of business with the people, maybe [Taste of Nassau] will open it up this week, and people will come back," he said, noting that though $25 may be steep for some students' budgets, the Taste of Nassau deal is $15 or $20 cheaper than ordering the same courses a la carte.

Triumph, Sotto, Soup Man, Winberie's, Mediterra, Mehek and Masala Grill are also participating in the promotion.

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Masala Grill owner Himanshu Patel said that the variety of restaurants participating gives students, especially freshmen, a chance to explore and develop their tastes.

"Over time, they tend to make their own choices in terms of what they feel comfortable with and stick with it for the rest of their time in Princeton," Patel said.

Taste of Nassau, he said, hastens this process. "Rather than happening in an informal, longer period, this is happening in a concentrated, shorter period."

Patel said that as much as 15 percent of business at Masala comes from University students.

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For some students, he added, Princeton's restaurants provide their first exposure to Indian and other ethnic food.

The USG wants Taste of Nassau to do more than simply expose students to new tastes. Hong said she hopes that such contact between members of the University community and the merchants will improve town/gown relations.

Some students, however, say they are unlikely to take advantage of the discounts being offered mainly for financial reasons.

With University meal plans offering a minimum of 14 meals per week for underclassmen, Liz Williams '09 said it was difficult for her to justify spending extra money on meals as a freshman and sophomore.

Cost was also a key factor in her decision not to join a club or stay in a residential college. If she does decide to eat out this week, it will probably be some place cheaper than most of the places participating in Taste of Nassau.

"Especially if they're on financial aid or don't have lots of money to spend, people are going to go to Panera or Massimo's," Williams said. "During formals week, when students are more prone to eating on Nassau Street, discounts could be used to [greater] advantage."

But if students do want to try out a restaurant, Hong said, Taste of Nassau gives them the chance to do so before a special occasion. "Because this isn't every week, if they like it, people can go back with their parents later."