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Posts Tagged Dining

So Delicious; Can’t Wait to See

Jul 12

Posted by admin in cooking, lifestyle, news

I remember the evening we saw the movie “Big Night” and went home to try to recreate the centerpiece entree, the timbale. Then there was “Tortilla Soup” which became a winter staple in my house–click the link for the recipe. Another favorite was  “Ratatouille” where we practiced our French and laughed ourselves silly at every restaurant menu trying to create its own garden version of this popular dish. Just a few of the many great food movies!

This summer promises a delicious event, great food fun as Meryl StreepMV5BMTM0NjMxMzk1MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMDkzOTI2Mg@@._V1._SX94_SY140_ literally becomes Julia Child in the movie “Julie & Julia” based on the book by a cooking novice who decided she could duplicate the recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. One a day wouldn’t be that hard is what she thought. The book and the movie tell a more interesting, fun tale of harried days and long nights and impressive success.

The cast includes Stanley Tucci who we remember so fondly from Big Night and Amy Adams as the young woman trying to master the Master.

Trust me: The trailer looks great as we await the August opening.

Some people look forward to the next “Harry Potter” (this week); me, I await the food movie.

Delish.

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A Good Eating Month

Jul 1

Posted by admin in coffee, food, news

img00453If you ask enough associations, you’ll get a food a month to celebrate. July covers a lot of tastes.

So today, the 1st of July, is a good time to get on the bandwagon and start celebrating National Ice Cream Month. You don’t want to miss a day of this event. The industry is happy to accommodate with all kinds of new flavors and ingredient combinations. Haagen Dazs simplified the rules a little with its “five” product line–just 5 ingredients for the purity of taste. Trust me on this: Try the five Coffee. If you have ultimate discipline, then celebrate just one day of the month: July 19th, National Ice Cream Day.

For the fruit lovers this is a good month as it is National Blueberry Month. When they are plentiful, the blues bring on the smiles. If you can’t get enough of them, they are easy to freeze and bring cereals to life in the dead of winter! Of course, there’s the whole health discussion and the top marks the blues earn in the antioxidant life-saving category. That makes them extra tasty!

July is also National Hot Dog Month and this coming 4th of July tips the scales with record volume expected of over 150 million hot dogs! That little factoid should have the bakers baking and the relish makers making. Even the mustard people should ready themselves!

These three celebrations set the mood for the month.

Don’t waste a second; get started.

There’s a lot to celebrate.

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They Keep On Coming

Jun 2

Posted by admin in dining out, Economy, news, restaurants

mini_dessert_tnI love the promos that have a short time window. As if they know something no one else knows. Like we are just giving you a 2-week boost because we know things will be better in 3! Ha! Doesn’t work like that.

Yes, there is a little optimism in the air. You can see it with the increased crowds at neighborhood places. You can follow it with people taking an extra day for a long weekend. It is summer after all, and everyone seems to be enjoying the extra hours of daylight by being outside and doing more.

So in the promo world, let me entice you one more time. After all, Two-Buck Chuck may be more popular than expense account meals!

The half-off bottle wine promo for The Palm has been extended until the end of August. No surprise.

Denny’s had an amazingly successful breakfast promo this spring. Now for the month of June, it’s an all-day everyday value slam. Whaddya think–maybe longer?

Happy Hours have returned to their roots–not just lower priced drinks but many with respectable food choices. In Washington DC one of the better buys for an after-work respite is at Vidalia’s. Definitely worth the stop.

Consumer Reports just rated over 100 chain restaurants and listed the good deals and what to look for. There’s even some room for negotiation. Some of the restaurants rated highest for exceptional value include: Black-eyed Pea, Sonny’s Real Pit BBQ, Azteca Mexican Restaurant, Cheddar’s Casual Cafe, and First Watch. Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, Joe’s Crab Shack, and Friendly’s did not have such positive feedback!

Don’t forget the usual suspects that give out coupons; they’re still actively working for your restaurant dollars.

Opportunities exist. Take some time.

Help yourself and the economy through the bright lights of summer.

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Empowerment

May 27

Posted by admin in dining out, life

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The best servers are those who understand they can make a difference in an experience. That’s the scenario at the Lounge at Bourbon Steak in DC’s Four Season Hotel: Empowerment.

When the diner asks, “can we,” and the server does not look flummoxed but responds,”I think we can make it happen,” you know that training has won the game.

The customer wanted something crunchy from the bar menu to go with the tuna tartare. Instead of saying sorry we have nothing like that, the server began an exploratory option guess–how about truffle rolls? No, too fattening.

Want oyster crackers?  No, I eat no shellfish. That was quickly remedied with an analogy drawn from the lore of Saltines. If you smashed a number of saltines and used a circle machine, you would have the basis of an oyster cracker. Close enough.

Nuts?  No, that won’t work. 

Then, the bright light hit. After a quick consult with another server, he came back and said, “sure we can do almost anything, we are a restaurant in a hotel. We have an extensive room service menu. “

We could get chips. Would that work?

All handled with polite sweetness and no charge for the thinking and clever solution!

Ingenuity, the mother of invention, and good training.

The perfect combo!

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The Patient Will Be Rewarded

Jan 24

Posted by admin in Economy, food, life

smithwollenskyNo hospital talk here, just dining news. Yes, it’s true, we are eating out less and spending even less. We are looking for VALUE. Yet, all those wonderful home-cooked, budget cutting meals deserve a little sideways performance every once in a while. The money you save from packing your lunch and not eating out as frequently deserves a little reward strategy.

Hard to know who started the upsurge in prix-fixe dining, but this week we credit Smith & Wollensky for bringing a smile to our faces. As I continue to search daily for good dining deals, they may have demonstrated some real panache this week. Watch for imitators, that’s OK. The more the merrier who join the “let’s eat more economically bandwagon”.

The Smith deal, available in most of its cities but not New York, works like this: $45 a person entitles you to an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. Yes, it is a lot of money, but it is an expensive steak restaurant that could easily cost you almost twice that much. The offer is available daily from 5-7 PM and does not include tax and gratuity.

So what if you eat a little earlier. So what if the filet mignon is a little smaller, you get to enjoy the dessert as compensation! Actually there are three appetizers to choose from including the famous steak accompaniment, a tomato & mozzarella salad, three additional entrees for the non-filet lovers (that is a little difficult to fathom from a restaurant that once tried to promote itself with a big steak knife taunting vegetarians–oh, times have changed!), and three desserts. It’s still expensive; I’m not denying that. I am admitting we need to still dine out. Now it is up to you to have restraint and not order a bottle of wine. Drinks drive the bill. This is a finely priced dinner reward for all those mac ‘n cheese nites.

Another way to treat yourself is to take advantage of one of the many Restaurant Week promotions. Baltimore is having one this week, New York City has exteneded theirs from one week to two, and Washington, DC  has an upcoming one in February. Check out the online reservation service Open Table for restaurants throughout the country that have a specially priced menu for a one -week period. Many restaurants continue the special restaurant week menu for a longer period of time. Betcha that happens a lot this year!

Some restaurants just participate for lunch with a 3-course $20 menu; some offer both lunch and dinner menus; dinner for three courses is frequently $35. Prices vary by location and many neighborhoods have their own interpretation of Restaurant Week.

Keep those programs coming. people will eat out when they think there is a deal worth having. It’s a good balance: eat at home some of the time, and then reward yourself while helping the restaurants stay afloat.

Bon Appetit.

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