Those of you who read my husband's blog know that he recently posted about our fascination with and loathing for tv cook Rachael Ray. It would be as well to say here that we do occasionally use her recipes and certainly her general ideas when creating the daily gourmet feast known as dinner at the Birns. However, the queen of perkiness does grate on the nerves after not too long. Why do we watch? Clearly we're sick. Shut up. We can stop whenever we want to. Yeah.
Anyway, where I'm going with this is: amongst her many shows, Rachael Ray hosts a program entitled $40 a Day, wherin she visits different cities (usually American, though she has gone to Europe). The gimmick is that she has a budget of $40 per day (duh) with which to feed herself (breakfast, lunch, and dinner, sometimes with a drink or snack thrown in). She patronizes only local establishments, and often supposedly gets the opinion of the yocals as to where the best places are.
SO... my question is this, where would you go here in the greater Grand Rapids area* with $40 to blow? Now, in order to play this little game of mine, you have to give recommendations for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (if you think you'd have monies to spare for a snack or drink, please share where you'd spend them) . If you have favorite dishes at your restaurants, please name them, and better still, if you have a general idea of cost, include that. You don't have to figure in tips - Rachael Ray only does when it suits her. No going out of your way to impress me with your thriftiness either. If you happen to come in severely under budget, so be it, but the point is to get the most out of your forty bucks. Local chains are allowed, but no national chains or big box eateries. Them's the rules, baby. **
Where would I go? I figured it out earlier. I'll tell you later. I want to see if other people have the same ideas as I do. In fact, I'm really looking forward to seeing where y'all would go. Mostly because I'm nosy, but also because I'm hungry, despite a very delish lunch at a place that may well show up on some lists here.
Isn't this a fun game? We can all sit and think about food. Not much better than that, I'm thinking.
*To those reading outside GR that would still like to play, go ahead. I'll have no choice but to trust your recommendations. :)
**A note to certain wise guys who work at a certain local chain who may or may not be related to me - entries listing breakfast, lunch, and dinner all deriving from the same local chain (even if they are different locations) are considered invalid. Nice try.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
15 comments:
Breakfast - Ham and cheese omelet with cinnamon toast at Rainbow Grill. Cost: aprox. $4.
Lunch - Burger and fries at the Cottage bar.
Cost: apox. $7, maybe more.
Dinner - Some kind of steak from Brann's. Probable cost of $15.
Total - $26. Enough left over for desert at Arnie's or something.
Breakfast: Eggs Benedict at Brandwine, $7
Lunch: Sandwich and fries at Bulls Head (perhaps their chicken with pancetta) $8
Dinner: Two selections from San Chez (perhaps hummus and their pepper steak with tortalini) $15
Desert at la dolce vita (they're all good): $8
Brandywine, Marie Catrib's and La Dolce Vita for me... obviously Dolce for dessert but I could lunch at either place... the East Town location for Brandywine of course!!!
Breakfast - Probably $8 or something for the breakfast bar at Big Boy.
Lunch - $8, roughly, for a good sandwhich combo at Jimmy Johns.
Dinner - $8 again for dinner at Panera, Rainbow, Russ', or one of the FIFTY HUNDRED restaurants in the Grand Rapids/Alpine/Grandville/areas stuck inbetween-area.
So what do you do with the other $16? The key here is that you have to actually spend the $40.
Turning Keynesian on us, Steve?
No, we're playing a game called $40 a day. The key here is that you have to spend all $40 on good food. Any idiot can spent $10 a day on trash from McDonald's, the goal of this game is to spend $40 in good quality food but you have to spend all of it. I suggest upgrades for everyone but me and Agnus, though for Agnus I do suggest she have some dinner.
Breakfast:
French Toast, hashbrowns and a Coke from Red Geranium - $10.
Lunch:
The Chicken Cranberry sandwhich and Ice Water from Marie Catrib’s - $8
Study break:
Mint Mocha and Muffin at Urban Mill -$6
Dinner
Burger and Miller Lite, Hot brownie with ice cream for dessert at Main St. Pub in Allendale - $13
Breakfast and snack action for about two weeks: Large tub o' yogurt from GfS $5
lunch: Rew-ban(sp?) sandwich from arbys $5
Snack: other half of Rew-ban.
supper: lamb Gyro from Sammy's Gyros (if I'm in town)
$8 (or so)
Snack: other half of Gyro
Hey lemmon, you have $22 left over. You have to spend it all. Also, no chains!
Hmmm, this is a hard one, but I will give it a try.
For breakfast I would head to The Omelette Shop for about $8 (over in Breton Village). If this is considered a chain (?) then I would head right down the street to Real Food Cafe (YUM) for about $8. I would get an omelet of some sort, of course.
Lunch- Tie between Schnitz Deli and Yesterdog. (I find hot dogs to be repulsive, but it would come highly recommended by the locals, and it is quite the experience). Schnitz would be about $8, Yesterdog about $6.
Coffee Break, of course: Since it has to be local, I would pass up the delicious Beaners and Starbucks, and drive over to Kava House. This would cost about $4.50.
Dinner- Hmmmm. Too bad that Schnitzelbank is gone. I would probably end up at Rose's on Reeds Lake (something nice about eating by the water) or Noto's where I had my wedding reception. Either would be about $15.
Dessert-- If it was summertime, I would head to Jersey Junction in EGR or stay local at Sundaes in the Heights costing about $4 (waffle cone). If winter, I would just eat dessert at the dinner restaurant (adding a few bucks).
Now, I didn't do the math yet, but if I had some cash to spare, I would end my night at a Grand Rapids Brewing Co. and have myself a nice locally brewed beer for $5.
Now I am hungry, and I hope that this gives my husband some ideas for breakfast, lunch, or dinner tomorrow!
Breakfast:
Wolfgang's- They have the best Eggs Benedict (also a spinach version for the non-pig eaters) with the cheezy-oniony-deliciously splendid hash browns.
$10 with crappy coffee
Lunch:
Real Food Cafe- The Dagwood: toasted rye bread, roast beef, ham, turkey, swiss, and coleslaw with a side of their home-made tortilla soup.
$10- napkins are free.
Snack: meet Maggie [with Lydia of course!] for a Miller Lite (even though it is crappy beer) and go with Lydia for a Black and Tan from Founders.
$10- free pretzels at Founders
Dinner:
Lasagane from Vitale's hole in the wall on Leonard with a slice of pie for dessert.
$9.99
$0.01 to spare- ride the pony at the Knapp's Corner Meijer
Breakfast: all you can eat breakfast bar at Big Boy -- $8
Lunch: the buffet at East Garden Buffet -- $6
Dinner: Monte Cristo at Bennigan's, if that is invalid because it is a chain, I would go to the Sam's Joint in Alaska for a burger and fries (I would recommend their wet burritos, if you like them)
Dessert and Drinks: Main St pub in Allendale for Dessert and drinks -- $whatever is left (happy Steve?)
I'd pocket the 22.00 and make out like a bandit, or spend it on food later. Or I'd try to find the Fricano's Pizza place (in muskegon, if you happen to visit a certain student.)and spend it on delicious ten dollar pizzas that melt in your mouth, because they are made the Italian way.
red geranium for breakfast, meat lovers' skillet and coffee, $8
red hot inn for lunch, dunno what the menu is like off-hand but it will run you like $8-12
cottage bar for dinner, cottage burger, brew city fries, and beck's dark $12
cambridge house for the nightcap, glass of wine $8
Post a Comment