The art of baking: From art galleries to the kitchen
Making a difference: Jim Casper
December 27, 2023
APPLETON – The Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau (FCCVB) encourages residents to savor the flavors of the Fox Cities through its new Feast Around the Fox Cities event set to kick off Jan. 2.
The month-long event, Maddie Jack, marketing communications manager for the Fox Cities Convention & Visitors Bureau, said will feature 29 restaurants, cafes and brewpubs throughout the Fox Cities region.
“We can’t wait to showcase the incredible Fox Cities food and drink scene with this new event,” she said. “In addition to being a benefit to residents, our strong culinary community is a key component in driving tourism to our area.”
A new twist
The Feast Around the Fox Cities event is replacing Restaurant Week – which Jack said had a good run but needed a bit of recalibration.
“There were certain limitations for restaurant owners during Restaurant Week, (especially when it came to staffing and private events),” she said. “And for the diner, they could only (realistically) get to so many restaurants in a week.”
The hiccups experienced during Restaurant Week, Jack said, led to the exploration of a new format for restaurant owners, and gives participants a larger window to visit participating establishments.
From Jan. 2-31, dozens of establishments across the Fox Cities will offer new and limited-time menu items crafted specifically for the event.
In addition, Jack said, most establishments will also offer exclusive deals on drinks and appetizers.
This year’s event, she said, will be different on many levels – with the first being the reach.
“We cast a wider net when starting the process of building the participant base,” she said. “However, we were intent on building variety. We were also aware of including a variety of communities to be as inclusive as possible.”
The Fox Cities, Jack said, extend as far north as Kaukauna and Little Chute, east to Sherwood, south to Neenah and Menasha and west to Greenville.
In total, 19 communities make up the region known as the Fox Cities.
Feast Around the Fox Cities event participants will offer new and limited-time menu items crafted specifically for the month-long event set for Jan. 2-31. Submitted Photo
“In years past, it was difficult for some of our restaurants to participate because they had a more limited menu with fewer entrees,” she said. “This year, people are going to see bakeries, cafes, different ethnic and global-type cuisines, bars and cocktail lounges.”
The eclectic list of culinary partners, Jack said, adds to the overall experience.
“I am excited that I can do all three meals a day along with after-dinner drinks,” she said.
Much of the event’s details were designed to address feedback the FCCVB received from a post-Restaurant Week survey last year.
“We learned why January (may be ideal for such an event),” she said. “We learned that business between New Year’s Day and Valentine’s Day tends to be slower and they were looking for creative ways to get people in the doors. From the diners’ perspective, they were excited to have something to look forward to in the dead of winter.”
How it works
Special menu items and exclusive deals are available through the event’s Feast Around the Fox Cities mobile passport, which diners can download at foxcities.org/feast-fox-cities.
When visiting a participating establishment, patrons will have the option to “check-in” on their passports, allowing them to be entered into prize drawings.
After the month, one winner will be selected for the “Ultimate Fox Cities Giveaway” grand prize, which is valued at more than $1,000 and includes a two-night hotel stay, a gift certificate to the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center and a variety of other gift cards to Fox Cities’ businesses.
A dozen others will be selected for $50 to $100 gift cards.
Those participating in the Feast Around the Fox Cities event, include:
Garden ViewEl Azteca (multiple locations)Timber TapEmprize Brew MillParker Johns (multiple locations)FratellosFox River Brewing Co.Melting PotRookies Sports Bar and GrillDairyland Brew PubCafe AquilaXe54Osorio’s Latin FusionWhisk and ArrowThe Sweet LairSoda BarZuppasMihm’s Charcoal GrillSante Wine BarVan Abel’s of HollandtownCleo’s Brown BeamArea509RYE RestaurantWilder’s Cutting Edge BistroStone Arch BrewpubBowl 91ACOCA
Maddie Jack said there are 29 food and beverage establishments participating in the 2024 Feast Around the Fox Cities event, including El Azteca. Submitted Photo
“Because we are a destination marketing organization at heart, we wanted to make sure that we tie in with the rest of the community as well,” Jack said. “The giveaway package has the overnight stay so we are hoping that people who come here from outside the area will come and experience Feast as well.”
If a local wins it, Jack said, “staycations are fun, too.”
“Being able to spread the love beyond the culinary community is also important to us,” she said.
Jack said the mobile passport is another aspect of the event that the FCCVB is looking forward to launching.
“We worked with a development company to launch our Fox Cities Arts and History passport, which is currently running on our website,” she said. “(We learned that) the engagement opportunities were great.”
As the bureau started working with this company, Jack said it found that the company had a culinary passport, too, which would allow the bureau to transform Restaurant Week into something similar.
“The part we are most excited about with the digitized passport format is that we can see post-event data that we were not able to access during Restaurant Week,” she said. “With the passport format, we can see how many people download it, while tracking who is eating where and how many coupons were redeemed. It’s important data to have to justify the event.”
The event’s 29 dining and beverage participants, Jack said, far exceeds the bureau’s goal of 25, and is nearly double the average of 15 participants during previous Restaurant Weeks.
For event updates, check out Feast Around the Fox Cities on all of the bureau’s social media platforms.
