This year’s Encore Restaurant Week (Oct. 10-26) was timed perfectly.

Hot on the heels of big Wilmington food news – Chef Keith Rhodes’ James Beard Nomination and subsequent Top Chef stint, Marc’s on Market and Kornerstone Bistro’s winning Best Dish in a statewide competition – diners around town had the chance to go out and try some old favorites and discover something new and all because Encore magazine editor Shea Carver believes in Wilmington’s food scene.

“I am a big proponent for us finding our footing, much like Charleston’s food scene,” Carver said. “I’ve lived here for 16 years, and in the past three alone, I feel like Wilmington’s culinary scene has gone up many notches in quality.”

Which is serendipitous timing for Carver, who founded the event in 2009 as Wilmington Restaurant Week (later changed to the ERW moniker to include restaurants outside of Wilmington proper). She started the eight-day event just in time to ride the rising wave of Wilmington’s food scene.

Twice a year – once in spring and again in fall – ERW brings together chefs and diners for prix fixe (fixed price, pronounced like prefix) menus, special menu items and discounts on many menu items. This year marked the fifth ERW, and Carver couldn’t have been more pleased with the number of participating restaurants.

“We had 41 participants this go-round. I couldn’t even begin to speculate on how many diners we had, but I can tell you this: it was a lot,” she said.

If the ERW website’s traffic is any indication, thousands of diners made it a point to enjoy breakfast lunch or dinner. October’s web traffic showed 6,688 unique visitors and a total of 12,599 visits. Both numbers represent a tenfold increase in traffic over last year.

The Spring 2011 ERW showed similar increases.

The event also attracted new participants.

“This was our first year,” said Kirsten Mitchell, chef at Cameo 1900 in Lumina Station. “We had a great response. I feel like it brought in a lot of diners who wouldn’t have otherwise come in.”

And drawing in new diners is exactly what Carver was hoping for.

“This [event] creates second-time customers. Everyone – the restaurants and [organizers] – want that,” she said.

In order to create those repeat customers, chefs will create special menus or offer special pricing, with many doing prix fixe menus between $20 and $25. In allowing restaurants the freedom to design their menus and price points, Carver has created an environment in which chefs can try out something new and create a new dining experience even for regular customers.

“I created a special menu geared to couples,” Mitchell said. “It worked. We had a different crowd in here than we usually do and we’ve seen many first-timers return already.”

From the diners’ side, Laura and Howard Resnik have dined at each of the five ERWs, and they enjoy both the variety presented on the menus and the opportunity to try a new restaurant.

“We always attend at least once or twice during restaurant week,” said Laura Resnik. “It’s exciting because the menus are an opportunity for the chef to showcase what they do best. And if we have a great meal during Restaurant Week, there is a good chance we will patronize that restaurant throughout the year.”

Carver gets plenty of positive feedback from diners and restaurants, with many calls to increase the frequency of ERW, an idea she finds flattering, but one that isn’t likely to happen anytime soon.

While adding another week isn’t on the plate, Carver said there’s always room for more restaurants to join. This fall, 41 participated, compared to a little over 25 earlier this year. That’s a number she hopes to grow.

“We’re always trying to expand it,” Carver said.