AWESOME DEAL: Pay What You Wish at Just Salad Today

Wallet feeling kind of light? (Or even kind of heavy?) Just Salad, a fast casual restaurant concept serving healthy food--including, yes, salad--at 315 Park Ave South is allowing customers to pay what they wish for any salad or wrap at both lunch (12-1:30pm) and dinner (6-7:30pm) today 4/9.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Food Bank For NYC. Limit 1 wrap or salad (valued up to $10) per person and in-store only.

Dating by Subway Stop

Quick! Where's the best place to meet a Tinder Date near the 18th Street 1 stop? What about the 23rd Street 6 stop? The folks at Thrillist have come up with a handy little guide of all of the best date spots next to EVERY subway stop in Manhattan. You're welcome.

Meet the Indian "Chipotle" Now Open in the Theater District

I'll be the first to admit that having Indian food for lunch often sounds unappealing simply because it's hard to return to my desk and work after a rich, filling, often spicy meal served from an all-you-can-eat buffet. Ironic because I LOVE Indian food. So when I heard about the new fast casual Indian restaurant Chutney Kitchen, which opened up shop in Hell's Kitchen in February, I couldn't wait to try it.

Chutney Kitchen is the brainchild of former finance 9-5'er Silu Sao and her friend since grade school, Pankaj Amin. One morning Sao's 8-year-old daughter asked her why she was working in finance when all she loved was to cook. That week she quit her hedge fund job and enrolled in culinary school. After 2 years of creating recipes reflecting the fresh, high-quality Indian food she likes to eat at home, Sao opened the restaurant with Amin with the goal of providing a light alternative to this cuisine especially geared toward those with special dietary needs like vegetarians and those who eat gluten-free.

The way it works is very much like Chipotle. You choose a base--roti wrap (like a burrito), naan tacos, salad greens, rice bowl, or chaat bowl (garbanzo beans and potatoes)--and then a fill:

• Charbroiled chicken marinated in yogurt and spices ($8.95)
• Pulled pork simmered with tangy spices ($8.95)
• Shredded steak marinated in ginger, garlic and chilies ($9.95)
• Pan-seared potatoes seared with tumeric, cumin and onions ($7.95)
• Farmer's cheese (Paneer) sauteed with a 5-spice blend ($8.95)
• Lentils (Daal) stewed with onions and spices ($7.95)

You can then choose flavors including warm sauces (coconut cashew, tikka, or vindaloo), cold chutneys (date, yogurt, cilantro, or mirchi), and salad dressings (lemon cumin and spicy mango).

If you can't make up your mind (or are just overwhelmed by choices), Chutney Kitchen has some suggestions including the Viva Las Vegas (naan tacos with pulled pork, vindaloo, carrots & cabbage, pickled onions and yogurt and mirchi chutneys) and the Lucy Goosey (Chaat bowl with cucumber and tomatoes, chickpea crunch, and date, yogurt and cilantro chutneys).

I opted for the shredded steak chaat bowl with tikka sauce, carrots & cabbage, corn, chickpea crunch, and yogurt chutney washed down with an Aranciata San Pellegrino. The bowl was enough food for 2 meals for me, which I really appreciated. It was flavorful, yet slightly spicier than I expected. If you don't like spicy, make sure to let the person preparing your food know and they'll steer you clear of anything you won't like.

Other intriguing items on the menu include masala fries ($2.50), hot street chai ($3.50), and mango smoothies ($3.50). The only thing missing was dessert--I would love to see Sao's take on gulab jamun!

Full disclosure: I received a free meal from Chutney Kitchen but the opinions presented here are 100% my own.

AWESOME ALERT: Win Prizes from Peloton, Levain Bakery, Uplift Studios and More!

Have you ever wanted to support a worthy cause, work out at a fancy fitness studio for free, and munch on some divine chocolate chip cookies at the same time? If so, I have some fantastic news for you.

For my 12th year of fundraising for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in their annual MS Walk, I've organized a contest to try and raise $3,000 for research and programming to benefit those with this terrible, debilitating disease. 

The prizes are valued at over $1,500! For every $10 donation, you will earn one chance to win one of these items:

• 30-class pack to my favorite spin studio in NYC, Peloton Cycle ($650 value!)
• 5-class pack to the Fhitting Room, where you'll get an amazing high intensity workout and personalized attention ($170 value!)
• 5-class pack to the amazing, kick-your-butt in the best way possible Uplift Studios ($160 value!)
• 5-class pack to ((305)) Fitness, the best and most fun dance cardio workout from Miami located in the Village ($149 value!)
• 5-class pack to the Union Square cycling studio with all sorts of theme rides, Revolve ($140 value!)
• One dozen assorted cookies from the place in the world that makes them best, Levain Bakery ($71 value!)
• 2 eyebrow waxes to the place that does them best, Boom Boom Brow Bar ($50 value!)
• 2 2-packs of classes from Throwback Fitness to get your recess on ($35 each!)

To enter, make a donation on my walk page and include how many raffle tickets you would like ($10 per ticket) in the notes section. Be sure to include your full name and email address when donating so that I can contact you if you win. Entries will be accepted through 9am ET on Sunday 4/12. All winners will be contacted by Monday 4/13.

Please spread the word to friends! These prizes are too good not to! And thanks for helping fund vital MS research and programming!

AWESOME DEAL: Free Dinner Delivered!

It's a tale as old as time: Start the day with Google-worthy ambitions of preparing a 5-step, 3-course meal for dinner. Decide around lunchtime that eating the Lean Cuisine in your freezer would enable you to better spend your evening binge watching House of Cards. Go home from work and realize you ate that Lean Cuisine last week and since you've already changed into your sweats and sheepskin slippers, going to the grocery store is out of the question. So you spend way too much money on delivery, only to regret whatever you chow down on 45 minutes later because it wasn't healthy/tasty/homemade/hot/etc.

Enter Munchery. Munchery is a dinner-delivery service that's been serving chef-created meals for busy food lovers in San Francisco since 2011. Since it's NYC launch earlier this month, Munchery has collaborated with chefs like Eddie Montalvo of Blue Smoke and Rachel Hazen formerly of Pure Food and Wine to create daily menus of wholesome, affordable food.

Today's menu items include: Honey-Tea Braised Chicken Thighs with pineapple mango salad, brown rice, fresh cilantro ($10.50), Grilled Hanger Steak with creamy potato gratin, broccoli rabe, tomato confit ($13.95), and Vegan Tempeh Couscous Primavera with fava and asparagus ($10.50). They even sell desserts, drinks (including AINY favorite Harmless Harvest coconut water!), and kid-friendly items too.

The way it works is similar to any other food delivery service, but you must select your food and order by the daily deadline of 1pm. You then select the time frame that works for you--in hourly slots from 4 to 9pm--and voila! Dinner! All items are delivered cooked, chilled and packaged in microwave and oven-safe packaging for easy reheating. If you are expecting a particularly busy week, you can order meals up to 7 days in advance and never worry about what is going to satiate you when you do finally get home and around to your binge watching.

Munchery gives back as well. For every order placed, they donate a meal to a local food bank. Additionally, all packaging is made from recyclable and/or compostable materials.

Here's where it gets good...Munchery wants to buy you dinner! Sign up through this link and order up to $20 worth of food for free!

Note: Munchery does not currently deliver to certain outerborough locations (like Astoria, sad face). However, the simple solution is to have the delivery come to your office in Manhattan and just take your food home!

Who Needs Cadbury Anyway?

I never turn down chocolate, but as I've gotten older, quality is something that has become more important to me. That way I can really appreciate the craftmanship that went into my sweet treat. La Maison du Chocolat has the quality thing down pat.

The recently released images of their 2015 Easter collection and my jaw kind of hit the floor when I saw how flawlessly the master chocolatiers where able to create the cutest little traveling ducks--suitcases and all!--all out of different chocolates. Recommended prices in this collection range from $45 for the Aviator Egg (not pictured) to $160 for Easter Flight (the duck on the right in the photo above). They are only available for purchase at the UES location of the store (1018 Madison Avenue).

Here's an awesome video featuring these works of art:

However, if you had something a little cheaper in mind for a hostess or just because gift, they've got you covered as well. I sampled the tube of 7 Maison praliné eggs and loved the variety of different egg fillings, including crunchy, smooth hazelnut, dentelle, and almond slivers ($10).

Receive complimentary shipping on all orders placed through tomorrow 3/31 at La Maison du Chocolat's online boutique.

 

Note: I received the tube of praliné eggs complimentary from La Maison du Chocolat but all opinions are my own.

Come for the Calamari, Stay for the Panna Cotta

The name of one of Astoria's newer Italian joints, Via Vai, is quite fitting. Meaning "coming and going" in Italian, the phrase perfectly describes the nature of most of us New Yorkers, but--as we well know--us busy people always have the time to sit down for a nice meal.

Photo credit: therestaurantfairy.com

My boyfriend and I were invited for dinner a few weeks ago before laughing out loud to Larry David in his Broadway debut in Fish in the Dark (highly recommend!). The space is great, and conveniently located near the Ditmars N/Q stop. I especially loved the white subway tile, the glamorous Faema espresso machine, and the Italian-designed Pavesi brick pizza oven which sits as the centerpiece of the restaurant.

We started with the fried calamari served with fried artichokes and citrus zest ($13). This was a large portion for an appetizer, and properly served with a half lemon in mesh wrap for drizzling. The fried artichokes were a nice touch since I love artichokes but hardly ever eat them.

Fried calamari

Next up were the polpette, or beef meatballs with tomato sauce ($10). Sometimes the simplest dishes are the best. The standout of this dish was the tomato sauce: tangy, not too sweet, and meshed well with the slightly rich classic ricotta-based meatball.

Polpette

The special pasta for the night was beet gnocchi with parmesan fondue, porcini sauce, and toasted hazelnuts. This was a very interesting dish and the colors made it quite beautiful. A bit rich for my taste, but delicious nonetheless.

Beet gnocchi

For a secondi, we tried the maiale, a pork filet tenderloin with prosciutto and sage saltimbocca, white truffle mashed potatoes, and grilled asparagus ($22). The meat in this dish reminded me of breakfast a bit, likely because of the spices used. The asparagus were great (I was craving veggies!), but the mashed potatoes left something to be desired (I think someone forgot the cream or butter or something).

Maiale

The standout of the meal was dessert, which we unfortunately had to rush through (so no espresso :( ) in order to make it to our show on time. We tried both the panna cotta with caramel sauce and the tiramisu (served in a martini glass!)--both $8. The panna cotta was super creamy and both desserts were as traditional as they come. I felt transported back to Rome. If anything, go to Via Vai just for the dessert!

Overall the meal was good and the ambiance pretty great. If I was to return, as mentioned, it might just be for the dessert and to try something made by that goddess of an espresso machine. The pizzas looked pretty incredible as well. Even though it's Astoria, you can never have too many Italian restaurants!

Note: We were comped a meal for two in exchange for this review, but all opinions are our own.