So many aspects of what makes New York special had not been possible over the last year, leading to claims that ‘New York is Dead’. With New Yorkers missing so much of their city, especially connecting over a meal at their favorite restaurants, the start of summer signaled the perfect time to show the world that New York was very much alive and kicking. Rooted in Stella’s ongoing investment and commitment to bars and restaurants, it felt natural for Stella to contribute to the recovery of the industry during the pandemic and bring New Yorkers back around the table.

As a brand, Stella strives to create moments for people to savor life together over delicious food and drinks at restaurants and bars across the country. To reintroduce New Yorkers to their favorite restaurants and the city culture everyone had been missing during the pandemic. Stella Artois created a unique dining experience that celebrated a slice of New York: Seaport Artois.

Seaport Artois invited New Yorkers to rally behind restaurant recovery and get back to one of our favorite past times – great food, great drinks and the company of family and friends. Stella Artois and top chefs from New York’s favorite restaurants came together to create an extended outdoor riverfront patio, where guests could savor an exclusive take on New York's most beloved dish – the iconic pizza.

New Yorkers dine out 130% more than the rest of Americans, but with restaurant closures, city curfews, social distancing and limited outdoor seating option, doing what they love wasn’t possible. The struggle for the restaurant industry was equally challenging, with limited staff and outdoor seating reservations.

With 38% of Stella’s total volume coming from the on-premise, more than double the average across all beer and all imports, Stella’s heart and soul truly lies with restaurants and bars. To help support the city that represents their largest on-premise market and to build brand affinity, Stella’s strategy was to create a unique immersive brand experience that would extend the outdoor patios of some of NYC’s most popular restaurants by giving them additional space and to give New Yorkers the chance to celebrate and support the return of restaurants to their city as they started to open to fuller capacity in the summer.

Collaborating with a diverse mix of top chefs from 11 New York’s restaurants to create a unique, never-tried-before menu, featuring unique takes on New York's most beloved dish: the pizza, with many of chefs creating their first “slice” exclusively for Seaport Artois. The line-up included Michelin starred city favorites, up-and-coming talent, and for one night only iconic chefs whose restaurants had been forced to close during the pandemic.

Consumers booked through Open Table, and all ticket sale proceeds went directly to partner restaurants, as well as donations made to the restaurant recovery efforts through the James Beard Foundation. The event was a true celebration of all aspects of the city and the people who love it, bringing together New York artists and popular NYC brands, all set to the sounds of some of the city’s top DJs, raised above the dining area framed by the New York skyline.

With a completely sold-out event, New Yorkers couldn’t get enough of Stella’s Seaport Artois. 1.2K guests celebrated with us around the table and 7.4K visited the Seaport Artois website - registering their interest to attend (536% of the program goal for data collection). Every week the event provided each participating restaurant with the extra revenue of over 100 additional diners, as well as 240 extra outdoor spaces at hard to come by restaurants for the people of New York. Media outlets including Forbes praised the innovative take on the New York slice and the charitable aspect of the event, resulting in 323 PR placements and 175.9M combined media and digital impressions. Upwards of 30+ media contributors and influencers visited Seaport Artois throughout the Summer, with 100% positive sentiment - leading to both earned and social coverage including popular content on TikTok (a new platform for Stella Artois).