Tag Archives: game plan

Sunday Game Plan: NYC Summer Restaurant Week 2022 – 30 years in the making

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NYC Restaurant Week began 30 years ago with 95 participating restaurants in 1992 to approximately over 600 restaurants today.  This season’s restaurant week began on 07/18/22 and will end on 08/21/22 for most participating restaurants, but some of the well-known or higher end place will end their promotion on either 07/31/22 or 08/07/22. The price points this time are $30, $45 and $60. Mastercard is also a sponsor so if you have a Mastercard, you can register your credit card to get $10 credit back into your statement for purchases over $45 and you can purchase up to 3 meals; so in essence you’ll really paying $35 for an order, which is a pretty good deal.

As of 07/19/22 there are 660 participating restaurants. We reviewed 312 dinner and/or brunch menus of restaurants partnering with Mastercard offering $10 credit for meals $45 and over from July 18-31. During my review of 312 menus, which is based on the menu availability and whether they are participating in Mastercard promotion, below is a list of restaurants grouped by meal and number of people that is worth exploring:

Lunch for 1: Bistrot Leo ($30); Boucherie West Village ($45); Chelsea Table + Stage ($30); Lexington Brass ($30); Malii Gramercy ($30); Morton’s ($45); Rivercrest ($30); Sant Ambroeus ($45) and Side Door ($30)

Dinner for 1: Anassa Taverna ($60); Bar Boulud ($60), Chelsea Table + Stage ($60); David Burke Tavern ($45); Empire Burger House ($45); Festival ($60); French Roast ($45); Hangawi ($60); Il Fiorista ($60); Jue Lan Club ($45); Malii Gramercy ($45); Montebello Restaurant ($60); Morton’s Steakhouse ($60); The Ribbon ($45); Rivercrest ($30); Rosa Mexicano ($45) and Sac’s Place ($45)

Lunch for 2: Cibo e Vino ($30); Dos Caminos ($30); Empire Burger House ($30); Jue Lan Club ($30); Nice Matin ($45) and Yama Ramen ($30)

Dinner for 2: Ammos Estiatorio ($60); Boucherie Union Square ($45); Casa Lever ($60); Chateau 49 ($60); Ben & Jack’s Steakhouse ($60); Cibo e Vino ($60); Dos Caminos ($45); Claudette ($45); Essex ($45); Felice 56 ($45); Hoja Santa ($45); Hudson West ($45); Beauty & Essex ($60); La Pizza and La Pasta ($30); The Land Thai Kitchen ($45); Leuca ($60); Lexington Brass ($45); SenYa ($60); Santo Bruklin ($60); Nice Matin ($60); One 19 ($45); Philippe ($60); Redeye Grill ($60) and SeaFire Grill ($60).

Lunch for 3: Ben & Jack’s Steakhouse ($45); Cibo e Vino ($45); Empire Steakhouse ($45); Felice 56 ($30); Gentle Perch ($30); Amali ($30); Fulton ($45); ilili ($45); Jones Wood Foundry ($30); La Bonne Soupe ($30); Lattanzi Cucina Italiana ($45); Mable’s ($30); The Meatball Shop ($45); The Russian Tea Room ($45) and Tudor Steakhouse ($45)

Dinner for 3: Merakia ($60); Bistrot Leo ($60); Alice ($45); City Winery ($45); Copinette ($45); Danju ($60); Elea ($60); Empire Steakhouse ($60); Frankie and Johnnie’s Steakhouse ($60); Amali ($60); Jasmine’s Caribbean ($45); Jones Wood Foundtry ($45); Kellari Taverna ($60); L’Adresse Nomad ($60); La Bonne Soupe ($60); La Masseria ($60); Longo Bros ($60); Mable’s ($45); Pomp & Circumstance ($45); The Russian Tea Room ($60); Cull & Pistol ($45) and Il Falco ($45).

Lunch for 4: David Burke Tavern ($45); Kubeh ($45); Longo Bros ($30); Maggie’s Place ($30); Osteria 57 ($30); Quality Eats ($30); Redeye Grill ($30) and Zabb PuTown ($45)

Dinner for 4: Fine and Rare ($60); Flatiron Room ($60); Hortus ($60); Kurant ($45); Lattanzi Cucina ($60); Osteria 57 ($45); Pera Mediterranean ($60); Pera Soho ($60); Cathedrale ($60); Laut Singapura ($45) and Temple Court ($60)

Lunch for 5 or more: Ammos Estiatorio ($45); Blue Smoke ($30); Bowery Road ($30); Ci Siamo ($45); Montebello Restaurant ($45); Il Gradino ($30)

Dinner for 5 or more: Vallata ($60); Chazz Palmanteri ($60); Baar Baar ($60); Blue Smoke ($45); Bowery Road ($45); Casa Brazilian ($60); Altesi Downtown ($60); Kubeh ($45); Maggie’s Place ($45); Mazu ($45); Mint Marsala ($60); Perrine ($60); Cacio e Pepe ($45) and The Independent ($60)

Stay tuned and follow me on Instagram: @tablespoonsandteaspoons.

Return to work game plan

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After 3.5 months of mostly working from home, I am officially returning to work on-site full time. This is going to be interesting. I have lots of reservations about taking the bus and subway once again despite reports that it’s immaculately clean. This is a four day week, so we have options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I absolutely did not prep anything, however, this week, I am going to finish my leftovers: Savory Mushroom Bread Pudding that I froze because I made surplus of it. I am also defrosting my homemade Beef Broth, shrimp and pork chops. I have lots of carbs including English muffins, whole wheat bread and rice along with eggs, cheese wraps, chicken sausage, garlic, ginger, lemon, tomato paste and mushroom stock. We also have pantry items like pasta sauces, sardines, canned tomatoes, pasta and chips.

This week I am going to tackle the freezer, which is filled with a bunch of frozen foods, making egg breakfast dishes and building my immune system as I will be hydrating myself to last 10 hours wearing a N-95 mask.

Stay tuned as I try to post this week’s meals on Instagram: tablespoonsandteaspoons.

Stay healthy, stay safe and stay happy.

“COVID-19 Lockdown” Game Plan Week 2

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Happy to say that Week 1 of the COVID-19 Lockdown was about 80% successful. I have been able to keep up with the steps which is essentially my meal schedule rather than food prep because my brain was not there to organize my meals. Part of that is just getting back into the groove and gaining momentum to eventually food prep for bigger and better meals.

Here are my pictures from last week’s game plan meals including the Rye French Toast:

Rye French Toast
Alpha Food Pot Pie Beefy Chedd’r (vegan)
Kodiak Cake Chocolate Chip Protein Waffles
Lentil Stew
Fettuccine with Mushroom and Steak Sauce
Fishpeople’s Cod with garlic parmesan potato bacon topping
Bacon wrapped carrots
Parmesan Bacon Orzo with Roasted Carrots and Onion

We have entered week 2 of the COVID-19 Lockdown and things in New York City has gotten worse. The lock down has now extended to another two weeks. There will be no Holy Week services, which I look forward too. However, I have been spiritually more involved in watching live streaming services online.

Given all that is going on I feel lucky and blessed. I am very thankful to God and the good spirits that I have a roof over my head and a job at least for two months. So making every effort to work for the glory of God because HE controls our fate.

In order to stay in compliance, my other half went to the supermarket while I worked from home. This week’s game plan also has ingredients from last week because there were some changes to the steps from last week.

We would love to hear any feedback regarding this week’s game plan. Stay tuned for pictures of my journey through this game plan. Everyone stay safe and may God Bless America!

“COVID-19 Lockdown” Game Plan

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There is so much hysteria to the point that we are on the brink of becoming a martial law country. This lockdown game plan to “flatten the curve” is set up by NYC mayor and governor to hopefully reduce the number of new COVID-19 cases. As a result, I will be working my paid job, which funds this blog remotely. What does this mean?

This means I get the opportunity to hopefully reset and continue where I left off writing this blog. During the past few months I feel like I am getting ghosted by social media platforms such as Instagram. The only silver lining is that businesses and owner have liked my posts but there are so few of them.

When I launched this blog back in 2016, I had a vision that it would progressively grow and turn it into a career that is fulfilling and rewarding. Unfortunately I have experienced a lot of downfalls due to the lack of support and continuously fighting the powerful establishments and potential haters from the past who feel that they are entitled to any achievement on my own through emotional blackmail and spreading rumors by framing me as the evil, crazy and toxic person because I am finally free.

Still fighting the good fight as these people from the past who knew everything about me inside out are using it against me and taking credit for everything I have worked for including my degrees from Fordham, Hunter and University of Illinois. These same people are bragging to other people that without them I’ll never succeed. Ok..I’ll stop..

Given the circumstances that occurred the last month, normalcy on this end has come to a pause overall. However, I am very thankful to God and the good spirits that I have a roof over my head and a job at least for two months. So making every effort to work for the glory of God because HE controls our fate.

With the exponential increase of COVID-19 cases in NYC and in Long Island, and the origin of this debilitating and mysterious virus came from China, there is also an increase in hate crime against Chinese and Asian Americans because people are ignorant. I am thankful that I have not had that experience personally but given the fact that I am a first generation Asian American born in America with a background in public health and health communications that is passionate about food, culinary medicine, health, and research.

While COVID-19 is still hot press it is also an important public health issue because through health promotion, advocacy and communication communities are actually complying with the progressive martial law mandates such as social distancing, limiting store hours, working remotely and shutting down non-essential businesses. While these measures are implemented, the long term effects will be the disappearance of human social interaction that is essential to survival.

In order to stay in compliance, we went to the supermarket two days ago and brought 1-2 weeks worth of groceries. So without further ado and after hours of planning here’s the weekday game plan based on what’s available in the present moment:

We would love to hear any feedback regarding this week’s game plan. Stay tuned for pictures of my journey through this game plan. Everyone stay safe and may God Bless America!

Sunday Game Plan: NYC Restaurant week Winter 2020 & Long Island Restaurant Week

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Happy Chinese New Year! So another health issues popped up and with one week of restaurant week already gone, it is time to give my game plan. This game plan is the Winter 2020 NYC Restaurant Week which began on January 21 and will end on Sunday February 9. Two course lunch/brunch is $26 and a three course dinner is $42.

After reviewing over 290 menus out of the 364 restaurants participating, there were a lot of restaurants continuing to participate plus several new ones. So, here is my plan for this year’s winter restaurant week adventure:

1) The Carlyle in the Upper East for dinner for two. This is the first time that they are participating for restaurant week. Definitely want to try their yellowfin tuna, beet salad, chicken, gnocchi and lavender creme brulee. In addition and it’s optional the wine pairing for all three dishes will be an additional $36.

2) Felidia in Midtown/Upper East Side is a great Italian restaurant with a connection to the Vatican because the owner Lidia Bastianich has served food to past three popes during their visits to New York. Personally I have eaten here this past summer for the Italian Restaurant Week and it will be interesting on how I will be treated because I experienced subtle inequality and slight discrimination when I dined there alone. Reservations go by very quickly.

3) Catch Steak is another restaurant under the Catch corporation located in Meatpacking is also participating in restaurant week for the first time for dinner. All three items chosen for their prix fixe are also sold a la carte. The ambiance of the place is awesome for pictures and girls night out.

4) Manhatta is a hard to get in restaurant under the Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group located in Lower Manhattan. They are also participating in restaurant week for lunch. Miraculously, I managed to get a reservation for a very early lunch. For my solo lunch, I definitely want to try the snails and lamb burger. Out of all the restaurants that are on this list, this is the one I am most excited about.

5) Aburiya Kinnosuke in Midtown is also participating in restaurant week for the first time and will be going for dinner for two. Definitely want to try their tofu, vegetable stir fry, black cod, chicken thigh, Shiratama Amitsu ice cream and mochi ice cream.

6) Ambassador Grill and Lounge located in the Millennium Hotel in the UN is also participating in restaurant week. All three items chosen for their prix fixe are also sold a la carte.

Due to time and obligations, I will not be able to eat at other restaurants this time around, so here is my wish list for restaurants to try: Cathedrale, David Burke Tavern, Tuome, Bann, Woodpecker, Cafe Boulud, Danji, Charlie Palmer Steak, Club A Steakhouse, and DB Bistro Moderne.

Now we will shift gears to Long Island Restaurant Week and over 175 restaurants will be participating. A three course prix fixe will cost $29.95. The awesome thing about this restaurant week is that they will be offering it on Saturdays until 7pm. Given that this restaurant week is coinciding with NYC restaurant week, it’s going to be difficult to participate. Therefore, here are my choices for this restaurant week: Red Salt in Garden City, Luigi’s in New Hyde Park and Imperial Meat Company in Huntington.

Stay tuned on my Instagram: tablespoonsandteaspoons and Twitter: spoonstt for posts during this adventure.

New York City Restaurant Week Winter 2019 Game Plan

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Happy 2019! It’s been 21 days after the New Year but Chinese New Year is coming up. Anyways one of my goals for 2019 is to actively blog while fighting a health scare, working multiple projects and pursuing my next career move. Let’s begin 2019 with a game plan. This game plan is the Winter 2019 NYC Restaurant Week which runs today (January 21) thru Friday February 8.

This restaurant week was not heavily advertised and when I visited the website, I saw that American Express was no longer sponsoring the three week promotion. Well, after reviewing the 313 menus posted, I was more disappointed about the lower amount of discounts offered this season. In addition the timing was terrible on this end because Chinese New Year is on the week of February 4th so I really had to pick and choose my places this season. First, I am going to provide the total number of restaurants offering the best values for lunch, dinner and brunch based on our criteria.

For this season’s restaurant week, I have listed my recommendations for lunch, dinner and brunch.

Brunch: Catch for two and Rahi for two

Lunch: Frankie & Johnnies for one, The Dutch for one, Lure Fishbar for one and T Bar Steak and Lounge for one. For two people, La Pecora Blanca, Legasea, Mamo and Park Avenue Winter are my picks.

Dinner: For solo dinner nights my picks are Ilili, Delmonico’s, Rahi, Park Avenue Winter, Cesca and Gabriel’s. For two people, Maloney & Porcelli, Fine & Rare, Pig & Khao and Mamo. For three people, there’s Club A, Scarpetta and Burke and Wills. If you want to do a group dinner RiverPark, Woodpecker and David Burke Tavern are your best bets.

Stay tuned for upcoming posts and follow me on Instagram: tablespoonsandteaspoons and Twitter: spoonstt.

Cheers!!

GAME PLAN – High Protein Meal Plan on a Budget

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Hello everybody, it has been a six weeks since my last post and I have been working and experimenting on mastering basic cooking techniques that I am proud to share on this blog.

Recently I was glancing through several articles and reviewing food labeling content when I realize do people really know portion control.  For example, on a typical diet, one serving of chicken is 4 oz or 1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons so for about a pound of chicken, total servings would be four people.

Over the weekend we went grocery shopping at Shop Rite and we brought several ingredients to see how many portion meals we can make and how long it would last for under $50.  We created dishes, which will be shown on Instagram throughout the week. These recipes are inspired from Thai and Chinese cuisines in combination with recipes from Ideal Protein.  Here is the game plan that should last at least 7 days:

low carb game plan

Stay tuned for more.  Let us know if you have any questions, concerns, comments or feedback on how to improve this blog.  We are open to suggestions.  Thank you for all your support.

 

 

Christmas Day Game Plan

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On behalf of Tablespoonsandteaspoons we wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.  Since Christmas is on a Sunday this year, we decided to devise a meatless game plan that is comforting yet luxurious.  This game plan is my contribution to this year’s family holiday dinner.  My cousin and aunt are handling the meat dishes. 

Anyways, this year’s game plan includes the following: 

– Roasted Brussel Sprouts 

– Truffle Mustard Macraroni and Cheese (recipe from Food52)

– Merlot Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownies

We will elaborate on the recipe details during the last week of 2016.  Stay tuned. 

(Sunday) Game Plan – The final 15-20 – Week 1

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Hello everybody, it has been a over two weeks since my last post and after doing additional research on healthy meals, weight loss and trying to get off the weight loss plateau, I am devising a diet game plan inspired and partly adapted by the authors of Physique 57 Solution   After reviewing my food supply, I have been attempting to follow  the diet plan as outlined in the book, which appears to be cost-effective, but requires a lot of discipline especially playing catch up with my social life.  To be brief, this two week diet and exercise plan outlined in this book calls for no carbs, no soy, no dairy, no alcohol in combination with pilates, barre and yoga.  The hardest part of all this is getting enough sleep and drinking enough water.

So, in order to ideally lose 5 lbs., I would have to burn 14,000 calories, since 2000 calories equals to 1 lb.  Here’s my ambitious potentially unhealthy and unsafe plan, I want to lose 5lbs. in seven days; easier said than done.

Based on the blogs and fitness articles, the minimum calorie consumption is 1200 calories daily; that is 8,400 calories per week.  According to articles and testimonials about Physique 57, for about a hour of exercise one can lose up to 500 calories.  So five hours of Physique 57 exercises would total up to 2500 calories, that is about 1.25 lbs weight loss from this exercise alone.    Well as they say it is 85% what is consumed and 15% what is burned off.

A few days ago I started on my grocery shopping and had to come up with a game plan that models the diet plan outlined in Physique 57.  To start here is this week’s game plan:

Slide1

The star ingredients of each of these dishes were on sale this week at the various supermarkets in my neighborhood.   I am looking forward to start this diet and exercise plan, hopefully I can lose five pounds in the next seven days.  I will provide updates in the next week of my progress.  Stay tuned!

 

First Sunday Game Plan – Body Cleanse

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It has been a very busy few weeks since my last post and I am making the effort to plan ahead.  I have decided to do a 5 day cleanse through Bodypotential.  My ultimate goal is to be 20 pounds lighter.  Below is my Sunday Game Plan for this week.   The ingredients used to make my dishes were for the most part on sale during the last two weeks:

Watercress $0.79/lb (H Mart)

Snowpeas  $0.99/lb (H Mart)

Crabmeat  $2.00 (Stop and Shop)

Bok Choy  $0.58/lb (H Mart)

Perdue Ground Turkey $2.99 (Stop and Shop)

Quinoa $4.99 (Stop and Shop)

Baby Carrots $1.49/2lbs (Stop and Shop)

Wild Caught Cod $5.99/lb (Stop and Shop)

20160403_200445

I am very excited to post new material this week from this game plan.  There will a post for Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday, which will consists of dishes from restaurants I have eaten in the past.  Stay tuned.