Expanding your culinary horizons without shrinking your wallet.

That's the premise, boiled down to its most basic ingredients, of the first-ever statewide Restaurant Week in New Hampshire. From May 18-25, more than 150 restaurants and lodging properties across the state will take part in the promotion, designed to get residents and tourists alike to “try something new,” as its slogan states.

Restaurants will serve three-course fixed price lunch and/or dinner menus to patrons looking for deals and discoveries at eateries they may never have tried before. The eight-day event is hosted by the New Hampshire Lodging & Restaurant Association (NHLRA), features restaurants throughout the Granite State offering lunch and/or dinner items at three price levels.

“New Hampshire residents have known for years about the great dining scene we have here,” said Mike Somers, president and CEO of the NHLRA.

“We think Restaurant Week is the perfect time for people to go out and try some of the restaurants they haven't had the chance to try yet, and it's also a great time for visitors to see what their New Hampshire friends have been talking about for years. We're certain that a lot of foodies will be impressed by what New Hampshire chefs are planning for the event.”

Somers said Restaurant Week will also cater to the travelers, featuring “foodie getaways” geared toward dining fans looking to feast in areas of the state far from home. Discounts on lodging can be found at 18 participating hotels around the state.

A mobile-friendly restaurant finder at RestaurantWeekNH.com makes it easy and fun for diners to locate the eateries that best suit their appetites.

Manchester restaurants include 900 Degrees, the Airport Diner, Cactus Jack's Great West Grill, Cotton, Fratello's Italian Grille, the Hanover Street Chophouse, Margaritas, Shorty's, The Yard, Theo's Pizza and Unwine'd.

Over the course of Restaurant Week, there are three levels of pricing at participating restaurants: $10, $15 or $20 for lunches and $15, $25 or $35 for dinners. The pricing for each restaurant is listed on the RestaurantWeekNH.com site.

All are three-course meals.

Celebrity begins at home

Ten chefs from around the state have been chosen as Celebrity Chefs for Restaurant Week based on their contributions to the culinary community in New Hampshire, according to the NHLRA.

Chef Todd Sweet of the Portsmouth Brewery is one of the celebrity chefs. He said the Brewery is running the threecourse menu throughout the week, and is including a fourbeer sampler.

“I like the idea that someone from our area might find a restaurant that week somewhere else in the state, outside their comfort zone, and check it out,” says Sweet.

“There are a lot of great restaurants throughout the state. I'm planning on hitting Jeff Paige's restaurant in Manchester, Cotton. When I was chef at Shaker Village, I used the cookbook that he wrote with James Haller when they worked there, so I want to see what he's doing at Cotton.”

Another celebrity chef is Luca Paris of Luca's Mediterranean Cafe in Keene.

“We were planning on rolling out a new menu this summer anyway, so we'll be debuting it during Restaurant Week,” said Paris. “It's great that Keene is part of this, because we're over here in the corner of the state, and a lot of people only think of the bigger cities like Concord and Manchester for restaurants.

My goal is to have people say to themselves, 'Why haven't I been to Keene before?', and 'When can I come back?' I want to feature Keene, not just my place.”