#664,665, 667 RKFD Restaurant Week

 Fun Fact #664

RKFD Restaurant Week (R2W)

Good Morning Everyone, I hope you had a wonderful weekend! This week marks the return of Rockford Illinois’ wonderful restaurant week whose goal is to promote local RKFD dining restaurants, among other locations which may have flown under your radar. The event is actually organized by a couple different local networking groups working together such as “GoRockford” and “InCrowd815”. If you want to see the meal deals for both Lunch and dinner this week you’ll want to visit “GoRockford”’s website (Restaurant Week in Rockford, IL Jan. 29 - Feb. 8, 2026), they also tend to keep a handy calendar up for all RKFD events held by members of their network (for a Child and young family specific version try “Stateline Kids”’ website). The event ends on Sunday February 8th (2026). 

While the intent is centered on dine-in locations it does also feature grab-n-go places including (my personal favorite) 640 meats. Honestly im sharing the information about the event because it’s factual and may help inspire you to go learn about other foods and the cultures that created them . . . erm purely for the educational value of course. Yes, the wonderful taste of the meals and a convenient excuse to hang out with friends are just an added side dish I assure you. In all seriousness I hope this information helps you guys and that you all have an amazing week. 

Fun Fact #665

Good Eats

When it comes to dining there is quite a large selection of words used to describe how meals and menus are organized. However, possibly the best known, and widely used is The French Gastronomic Naming convention –likely because it is the only convention recognized by UNESCO as a cultural heritage and is thus the easiest to access in most any language. However when it comes to history it is actually quite young at only 409 years old. 

It all starts in 1617 when the term “Table d’Hote” (Host’s Table) is used to denote tables set aside for guests to receive a predesigned meal by the host whose price was often arranged along with the Inn accommodations. Factors that went into these meals varied, but often they were quick, easy to make, and had 1-3 courses. Apparently this format was really popular and it quickly spread to dining halls, Catering, and Cabarets (musical dances) making it widespread through France and her colonies. 

Yet there was an issue, as Table d’hote grew in popularity regional names for it began to appear such as “Prix Fixe” (Fixed Price), “Set Meal” and “Set Menu”. Then a new innovation occurred where a number of locations began allowing visitors to order/pay for individual dishes “By the card” or “A la Carte”. Given time some of these places grew to only serve A la Carte and helped give rise to what you’d recognize as a Restaurant today.  Yet the Concept is still used in a variety of places even if the name isn't used, but that is a fun fact for another day.

Fun Fact #667

A Place For “Prix Fixe”

While the Term Prix Fixe isnt often used here in The US anymore, this doesn't mean “Prix Fixe” has been tossed out with the scraps, instead it still plays a vital –if hidden– role in restaurants today. You see, while there are an astonishingly large number of places that still only do Prix Fixe meals (particularly in Europe), here in The US it's a bit different.  Many Restaurants will use Prix Fixe to target simpler and easier to prepare meal sets with the intention of attracting patrons during slower parts of the day –giving rise to “The Lunch Menu”. While other places will use them for special events such as Couples Dinners for Valentines day, Childrens Menus, or large family dinner packs (Im looking at you Taco Bell Family tacos… Admittedly I like their Doritos shells).

Interestingly if you add up all these factors and go by the classical sense of the phrase, then the most common Prix Fixe meal on the planet is a chicken tenders meal. However there are some who would argue that calling a Tenders Basket from Culvers a step too far and that Prix Fixe must have a minimum of two dishes… which means the basket (which comes with Fries) would still count but alas you cant please everyone. 

As always thanks for reading, I hope you have enjoyed, and please have a wonderful day!