Frank Occhibove, owner of Jimmy’s Italian Specialties, is using the Trumbull County Tourism Bureau’s Italian Food Trail Restaurant Week to showcase its grocery items, many of which are imported from Italy.

Many larger cities use restaurant weeks as a way to showcase their dining establishments.

Trumbull County Tourism Bureau joins the trend later this month with an Italian Food Trail Restaurant Week from March 22 to 28 built around its Italian Food Trail.

The food trail started about eight years ago when Beth Kotwis Carmichael became CEO of the bureau and wanted to highlight the many restaurants, pizza shops and groceries that draw inspiration from Italian cuisine and the region’s strong Italian immigrant roots. The trail features about 60 locations countywide.

A restaurant week was a natural evolution out of that program, Carmichael said.

“It’s something that we’ve wanted to do for several years, and with the new passport program, we thought it was a great opportunity to try this out,” she said “We thought it was going to be a better opportunity for our partners on the Italian Food Trail to continue to get exposure.”

Marketing manager Samantha Ensminger added, “It’s about generating excitement about the food, but also excitement about the history behind the food too. That’s such a big part of this version of the Italian Food Trail is the history pieces on those specific regional dishes. I want people to go out and eat that week and get those dishes in particular and try them, especially if they’re not from here. I would love for all of the outsiders to get hot peppers and oil that week.”

Carmichael and Ensminger talked with the participants about the best time of year to do the event, trying to pick a time of year when those establishments normally aren’t busy.

It wasn’t planned that way, but restaurant week follows a flurry of activity on social media the past few weeks sparked by the closure of Nova Coffee in downtown Warren and some other locally owned businesses. Several owners have shared their own struggles and encouraged customers to support local dining options instead of the chain restaurants.

Carmichael stressed that the tourism bureau supports all countywide businesses, but the recent closures are, “Disappointing to us, because it is part of our culture and who we are. (At the same time), we’ve seen a rallying around local businesses. And while some are closing, we had Gordo’s (in downtown Warren) that just opened this last week. I do think it’s cyclical.”

Jimmy’s Italian Specialties in Liberty is one of the restaurant week participants, and owner Frank Occhibove said he’s a big proponent of supporting his fellow local business owners.

“Local businesses, in my opinion, is what keeps the community together,” he said. “We’ve seen so many mom and pops like us close down. I try to stay away from the wait ’til after all of us close down to support local (approach). If you follow our social media, I’m constantly showcasing other businesses’ events or key happenings. Some see that as endorsing a competitor. It sounds like a cliche, but I believe a community that works together grows together. That’s something my parents have instilled in me and I’m moving forward with.”

Other confirmed participants so far include Sunrise Inn, Franky’s Pizza and Delicatessen and CharBenay’s Wine on the River in Warren; Salvatore’s Italian Grill, Pesa Italian Rolls and Wedgewood Pizza in Howland; Vernon’s Cafe in Niles; and Station Square Ristorante in Liberty.

The local restaurant week will be different from those in other cities. In many cases, restaurants all offer a prix fixe (French for fixed price) menu — usually an appetizer, entree and dessert — for the same cost. Local participants had more flexibility.

“We decided that, because of the diverse types of restaurants on this trail, I wanted to let them see what works best for them,” Ensminger said. “Here’s the week, here’s what, in general, I want to see … You decide and tell me what’s going to work for you that’s not going to put you out too much, but that will get people excited about what you do. And I let them pick that completely.”

Some places, like Vernon’s, are offering a prix fixe menu. Others, like Franky’s, are doing a family meal. Franky’s owner Ben Hoover said the community focus of the program is what appealed to him and influenced what they offered.

“It’s hard to ignore the impact of Italian food in our area,” Hoover said. “Any opportunity where we can take it away from one single restaurant and just talk about the community and what it means to everybody as a whole, is always a great thing.”

Hoover said they have a package that includes an appetizer, a one-topping pizza and a pint of Cockeye Creamery ice cream or Franky’s Italian ice (products made by his brother, Max Hoover) for one price.

“When (Ensminger) pitched it to me, she said we’re just trying to bring it back to the community and talk about the families who run these restaurants,” Hoover said. “So we thought, OK, let’s turn that around and sort of skew it towards the families who dine with us as well.”

While Jimmy’s sells prepared foods, Occhibove decided to use the restaurant week to focus on the grocery store part of its business and offer a discount on all grocery purchases (wine excluded).

“That’s what sets us apart from everybody else in the area,” Occhibove said. “Everyone else has the meals — the chicken parms, the pasta dishes. We have that also, but we wanted to focus on what everybody else doesn’t have.”