Restaurant.com FAIL!

So a few weeks ago, my mom bought some Restaurant.com “gift certificates” for me. It seemed like a good deal – $25 gift certificates for just $2. Not bad, right? Well, that is until you read the fine print and actually go to one of their “participating” restaurants…

[Flickr/Twain]

MAJOR FAIL #1
To sum up my dining experience this evening in a nutshell, the restaurant did NOT accept my Restaurant.com gift certificate. In fact, so many customers before me have tried to redeem their coupons that the restaurant has had to post a sign on their front door stating that they would not honor them. What the heck, Restaurant.com?! Seems like you’re just arbitrarily listing any restaurant that you can think of on your site as a participant. What a MAJOR FAIL!

MAJOR FAIL #2
Coincidentally, my mom decided to try and use her Restaurant.com coupon this evening as well. While she had a completely different experience, it was equally as disappointing as my experience.

Rather than telling you the story, let me break it down with some simple math:

Here’s the premise: The Restaurant.com gift certificate for this restaurant requires the user to spend at least $50 and provide an %18 minimum gratuity on the pre-discounted meal.

Cost of the meal: $58
Cost of the gift certificate: $2
Tip: $10
Tax: $5
Discount: $25
Total: $50

In the words of Mastercard, this is “priceless” and ridiculously ironic if you ask me. Once again, MAJOR FAIL!

CONCLUSION
Now believe you me, I have no intention of ever using Restaurant.com again and I am pretty sure my mom feels the same way,  but don’t just take my word for it. Here’s what some other more prominent bloggers have to say:

• Consumerist – Chris Walters calls it “shady” and warns consumers to watch out for a no good, sneaky third-party vendor – Shopping Essentials – that wants $15 from you every month in exchange for a non-existent service.
• WiseBread – As much as I like and respect WiseBread, I can’t help but wonder if Xin Liu and her readers have been force feed Restaurant.com Kool-Aid, ’cause the feedback is overwhelmingly positive and supportive.

Lenox Dinnerware: Won’t You Be Mine?

*Rolls Dice*
“Come on, baby! Mama needs some new fine china!”

Last night, I was moseying around the Internet when I came across this contest being hosted by The Budget Savvy Bride and Lenox. In exchange for a blog post, tweet, Facebook fandom or a comment, one lucky bride-to-be or would-be-bride (who’s preemptively planning their wedding) can win Lenox’s Confection collection. Retailing at $172.00, this set includes a dinner plate, salad plate, bread and butter plate, teacup and saucer.

The contest asks the following question: What would I do with a new place setting of fine china? Well, for starters, I would be able to host a lovely tea party that’s decked out in true Martha Stewart DIY detailing….as of now, most meals at my house are an exercise at fending for yourself or a buffet line with miss-matched plates and flatware.

Now, as much as I would like to win said dinning set, I am a little confused by the contest’s description and rules. Am I competing for one set (e.g., a setting for one person) or for a complete set (e.g., settings for at least two people, preferably four)? ‘Cause, if the former, that would be really lame — because that would mean that I am forced to buy another set so that my dinner plates matched. How do I have a tea party if I only have one set? I’d need to spend some serious cash so that I have plates and cups for at least four people. ‘Come on now, Lenox marketing department….a blogging contest should not be used as a coupon (e.g, marketing device to get people to shop and buy).

Save with 2 One-Way Tickets

[Photo via Johnny Vulkan/Flickr]

So according to David Grossman at USA Today, it’s actually cheaper to buy two one-way plane tickets than a round-trip flight.  It seems crazy since it pretty much goes against what most people are taught about booking air travel, but the man’s on to something.

This past week, DL and I decided to abandon our original plan to drive to Vegas in October and fly instead. After trying every combination of flight times, airlines and coupon codes on every travel site that I could think of, I too made the surprising realization that I would save more money with two one-way tickets than a round-trip flight (of course, this was also made possible because of good timing and a coupon):

• Flight #1: Virgin America is having a sale right now FYI. I booked one of the price-slashed flights and added a 20% off promo code from Banana Republic (I’d share it, but it’s one-time use only coupon). TOTAL, including tax & fees: $41.30
• Flight #2: United isn’t having a sale, but the price was right on Priceline. (Memo to self, avoid flights on Sundays ’cause they’re outrageously expensive!) TOTAL, including tax & fees: $79.60
• Hypothetical Round Trip Flight: Let’s say, I bought a round trip ticket from Virgin America. TOTAL, including tax & fees: about $135.00 (I can’t remember the exact number at the time and those flights have already jumped in price.)
• TOTAL SAVINGS: Over $15.00…in Vegas lingo, that could be a buffet breakfast at the Bellagio.

W00T! W00T! W00T!

Wedding Season 2009 – DONE!

nataliedee.com

I originally wrote this blog post during my lunch period today, but the blogging gods were not shinning on me and I lost my whole post – boo!

This past weekend marked the end of wedding season 2009 for me – in total, I attended 3 weddings and 1 Chinese banquet. It would have been 2 Chinese banquets, but I couldn’t attend banquet #2 because it was the same night as wedding #3.  It was my understanding that June is the most popular month for weddings – but I don’t see it, it’s September for my friends and family. As one cousin put it, “we’re cheap” (i.e., we prefer to save money by booking a not as popular month for our weddings).

Anyhow, long story short – I’ve gained weight, burned a small hole in my pocketbook and upset my stomach with too much alcohol (though my capacity for the “good stuff” is significantly lower than most bloaks, so it’s not that much of a stretch). But…on the up side, I did get a new dress and eat my fill of cake, shaved ice and ice cream…so no complaints there.

Quoted As “An Expert In Chinese Desserts”

I was pleasantly surprised this morning to learn that I was quoted in local Texas newspaper story about “Bubble Tea” as an “expert in Chinese desserts.” How fitting.

It’s interesting to note, that I am the only person that was quoted in the article. Clearly, none of the major corporate bubble tea/boba chains (i.e. Quickly or Tapioca Express) have a PR person or PR agency with a subscription to ProfNet. PR note to corporate boba marketing teams….it might be a good idea.

“Bubble Tea: Ever Drink A Pearl?”
By Miriam Ramirez, The Monitor
Thursday, May 22, 2008
To view the full article onine, click here.

One interesting find from this article was www.bobafind.com, a site that is surprisingly very accurate in locating the nearest bubble tea/boba shop near you.

Radio Guest Stars: Jeff Ma & Jennifer 8. Lee

Is is just me or have the local Bay Area radio stations been getting some interesting guests this week.

• Jeff Ma – Original member of the MIT Blackjack Team
  Monday, March 23rd | Alice 97.3 | Sarah and Noname in the Morning

Not sure how they got him as a guess, but my guess is that Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures’ PR teams have signed him on to promote their new movie 21, which opens this Friday (3/29). Based on the The New York Times bestseller, “Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions” by Ben Mezrich, it’s the story about MIT Blackjack Team, six MIT students that would go to Vegas every weekend to make bank playing Blackjack by counting cards during the early 90s.

The title character, Kevin Lewis was based on Jack Ma. Apparently Jack had originally attempted to pen his story but gave up quickly after writing one sentence. He then asked his friend Ben Mezrich to write the story and the rest is history.

One interesting tidbit that I remember from the show was about a site called DoublePlayTV.com where Jeff Ma has published instructional videos that teach you how to count cards. If you’re heading to Vegas soon, it’s recommended that you check it out.

If you want to hear the whole interview, here’s a link to the podcast.

Sub-note: I had first learned about the MIT Blackjack Team from a documentary about the world’s greatest heists and thieves that was included as a special feature in the Ocean’s 13 DVD/BluRay. It’s a pretty interesting feature and some of the other heists (including a woman who would steal jewelery but simply walking out of the store with it on her finger).

• Jennifer 8. Lee - Author of “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles”
  Wednesday, March 26rd | KQED Radio (NPR) 88.5| Forum

If you are a foodie with a special interest in China and Chinese/Chinese American culture, then you might want to read a new book by New York Times reporter, Jennifer 8. Lee (Yes, her last name is actually the number 8). Named “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles” the book (I hear….as I have not yet read) is a anthropological study about Chinese food in America.

As part of a fairly typical but very successful publicity/PR book tour in nine U.S. cities. While I am not too familiar with book/publishing public relations, her publicist, Cary Goldstein has been scoring some amazing media placements—NPR, Entertainment Weekly, Reader’s Digest, Everyday with Rachael Ray, Newsweek, AOL’s Home Page, Maxim, Glamour, etc.— with the book only out in less than a month and not yet in wide distribution.

Though my only thought is that it would be nice if she clip those placements and posted on her site, instead of listing them. It would be interesting to read different reviews, especially considering how diverse her placement has been and it would have saved me the trouble of trying to find all of those articles myself (click on the media outlets listed in the paragraph above to see their views on this book).

I had noted her appearance in the San Francisco Bay Area a couple of weeks ago but forgot to save the date and missed her talk at a local book store. On wells. But fortunately, I did tune-in to NPR/KQED Radio at the right time tonight and caught her interview on Forum.

Jennifer share some interesting facts and tidbits about specific dishes, but she raised a few interesting points that had never occurred to me:

• Chinese food in American is actually highly regionalized. For example, there’s a dish called velvet chicken that is very popular in the Chicago/Mid-west region but is largely unheard of in the New York region and California. Likewise, another Chinese American dish called cashew chicken was originally developed in Springfield, MO first and later grew in popularity around the country.
• Chinese Cuisines at the Tipping Point: Several listeners called in during the show to share their experience with Muslim Chinese food or Western Chinese food (i.e. not westernized Chinese food, but rather cuisine from West China) from the Kunming region. Many of them lamented that they were unable to find restaurants that served those styles in the U.S. and asked if she knew were they might be able to find it. Jennifer pointed out that these styles have yet to really become introduced in the U.S. in a very mainstream way, much like Sichuan and Hunan cuisine, though she did note a couple Muslim Chinese food in the Bay Area.
• Traditional Chinese American Cantonese Cuisine is best found in Mexico. This seemed a bit over the top, but Jennifer had an interesting explanation. The Chinese American cuisine that most Americans were first introduced to was a Cantonese style (not to be confused with traditional Cantonese food from China and Hong Kong). In the 60s and 70s, this style in the U.S. became influenced by the influx and popularity of Sichuan and Hunan food (probably coinciding with new waves of Chinese immigration). Meanwhile, the Chinese restaurants in Mexico remained largely untouched by this influence and in some sense could be considered a more traditional Chinese American Cantonese food.

If you want to hear the whole interview, here’s a link to the podcast.

Sub-Note: I first heard about the book from my cousin’s blog and have been trying to locate the book in a brick and mortar bookstore ever since. I was later told to order it from Amazon, which I will once I get around to it.

Spicing Up A Resume: The Downfall of Food Network’s Robert Irvine

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive” –Sir Walter Scott

Apparently, a very well embellished resume can make you a Food Network star and put you on a well paved track to cook book publishing deals, licensing deals to have your own signature kitchen product line and opportunities to hobnob with the rich and famous. It’s a common career move with very attractive rewards, if you’re willing to take the risks.

So pity the fool that gets caught, especially on a very public and very national, possibly international scale. The fool of moment is Robert Irvine, chef and Food Network star of the show, Dinner: Impossible.

In Dinner:Impossible, Irvine is tasked to complete a new “cooking mission” in each episode. For example, he might be assigned to prepare a special going-away dinner for troops about to head to Iraq. The main hook for the show are its crazy 1-2 hour time constraints, coupled with an enormous number of diners (often 100-200 people) and a kitchen that’s usually filled with limited supplies and equipment. I think that people mainly tune in to see if he’ll complete the mission or crack under the pressure.

Last week on February 17th, the St. Petersburg Times published a scathing story that uncovers the truth behind Irvine’s ficticious resume and recent bad business practices. Here are the story’s key revelations:

• Knighthood - Jenn Stebbing, press officer at Buckingham Palace: “He is not a KCVO (Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order), and he wasn’t given a castle by the queen of England.”
• B.S. in Food and Nutrition, University of Leeds – Sarah Spiller, a press officer at the University of Leeds: “We cannot find any connection in our records between Robert and the university.”
• Former White House Chef - Walter Scheib, the White House executive chef from 1994 to 2005: “Irvine’s ONLY connection with the White House is through the Navy Mess facility in the West Wing … never in the period from 4/4/94 until 2/4/05 did he have ANYTHING to do with the preparation, planning, or service of any State Dinner or any other White House Executive Residence food function, public or private.”

As of March 1, this story has been picked up or adapted by many other major U.S. publications and news wires including New York Magazine, Washington Post, United Press International (UPI). All the bad publicity to Irvine’s public image has resulted in the Food Network’s decision not to renew Irvine’s contact for more episodes of Dinner:Impossible. This decision was announced this past Friday in a released statement along with an admission from Irvine. Whether Food Network has decided to cast a new host and continue the show is undetermined at this point.

Interestingly, the PR team decided to e-mail this statement individually to reporters and bloggers rather than releasing it over the wire. I suppose this strategy keep the details from manifesting on the Web in random sites and pick ups while still getting the point-of-view out to those most interested in this story.

From a public relations stand point, Irvine only has himself to blame. It’s one thing to put your best foot forward in order to get in the door; but to make such fantastical lies as to introducing yourself as a knight or being a White House chef is incredible.

Given Food Network’s star making power and squeaky clean image, it amazes me that its human resource department never ran a full background check on Irvine before cultivating him into another “face” for the Food Network brand. I am also surprised that nobody, until now, has called him out on these claims. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do recall several instances on Dinner: Impossible where Irvine would recount his past experience and name drop the White House. But I guess this just show easy it can be to get away with a fake resume.

Moral of the Story: Lying is never a good idea, especially on a resume with which you are using to apply for a job that will throw you into the public eye (aka public scrutiny). As Edison Chen can tell you, crisis communications sucks.

Side Note: Good job to St. Petersburg Times reporter, Ben Montgomery for his excellent work in “investigative” reporting. With so many cuts in editorial staff (meaning that most reporters are reduced to writing more fluff pieces and relying on PR people for all their information), it’s nice to know from a consumer stand point that there are still journalists who are in search of truth and can make the time to do their own research.

Fondue in a Box – Just Heat and Serve

A couple of days ago, I had crazy craving to eat fondue, melted cheese and bread to be exact. It probably developed as a result of eating a LOT of bread and butter (a fancy loaf of sweet batard bread from the French bakery in Berkeley, La Farine and some very high-end, locally-made, butter with minced garlic from Mollie Stone’s) over the course of the day.

Anyhow, to appease my cravings I looked up several different recipes for fondue on The Food Network. Did you know that there is alcohol in fondue? Most recipes called for a dry white wine but you could also put Vodka, Brandy or beer into the mix. Here I was thinking that all I would need is a chunk of cheese and some seasoning. So I picked a Swiss fondue recipe that sounded easy enough to pull off…and headed to Lucky’s.

At the deli section, I walked in circles around the cheese section but to my (not too surprised) dismay, none of the cheeses on my list were sold. What I did find though was a some instant fondue in a box.

“Made in Switzerland” said the back of the box, so it can’t be that bad. I took it home and set off to test out my new foodie find. After roasting some minced garlic for flavor, adding the packaged cheese mixture, stirring and added a touch of paprika, I was done. Took some bread and I ate until I couldn’t eat anymore.

For less than $10, this was a very good fondue, especially when you consider how much fondue restaurants will charge you per person, for the same pot of cheese (more or less).

The following night, I made the same pot with the second half of the packaged cheese mixture for my brother and my cousin. Both approved as well, even impressed that such delicious fondue could come from a box.

Lesson Learned: Don’t discount food just because it comes ready-made in a box. It just might be a delicious meal. I recommend all readers of this blog who are not lactose intolerant to go out and buy some instant fondue and try it. It’s a well-worth it, piece of heaven in your mouth, even if it means regretting all the cheese and bread you ate the next day.

Beef, It’s what “was” for dinner, until now…..

USDA Makes Nation’s Largest Beef Recall

By GREG RISLINGLOS, Associated Press

ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a California slaughterhouse, the subject of an animal-abuse investigation, that provided meat to school lunch programs.

Officials said it was the largest beef recall in the United States, surpassing a 1999 ban of 35 million pounds of ready-to-eat meats. No illnesses have been linked to the newly recalled meat, and officials said the health threat was likely small.

Now this is a rather disturbing headline, especially after the beefy meals that I have had in the past two days. This quote is was especially disturbing:

Officials estimate that about 37 million pounds of the recalled beef went to school programs, but they believe most of the meat probably has already been eaten.

As an avid consumer of beef, I now mentally recalling all of the beef-based meals that I have had in the last few days and it’s not looking pretty. Granted, one comforting thing to keep in mind is that the “officials” say that the beef is unlikely to be contaminated with mad cow disease and that the recall was not made because of illnesses linked to the beef in question, but because of animal cruelty issues.

Interestingly enough, newspapers began reporting on Friday that schools in their local area were pulling the beef from their cafeteria menus because the USDA began to probe the slaughterhouse in Chino, California as a result of a video released by the Human Society. (As a side note, I couldn’t help but notice that most of the schools that I read about were in the south….I wonder why they didn’t purchase meat from a local company….that’s an awful far distance to be transporting raw meat even if it is frozen. But I guess not everyone can follow in the footsteps of Google’s corporate cafeteria, Cafe 150, where all foods serve were grown, produced and raise within 180 mile radius of the Google campus.

Still, even though there is no report of contamination and I sure hope that no one falls ill. Either way, I think that I’ll be eating pork, chicken and fish until this whole thing clears up.

From a public relation’s stand point, I couldn’t help but look up what kinds of press releases where being issues on the recall:

• National Cattlemen’s Beef Association issued a statement via PR Newswire almost immediately after the USDA announcement. Looks like the NCBA were very diligent in monitoring the story and had anticipated the recall in order to get this statement out so quickly.
• USDA release the entire transcript of the spoken announcement via PR NewsChannel and their website. I personally have never used PR NewsChannel nor have I ever issued a press conference transcript over the wire, so I wonder if this is a special government wire and if the transcript is a standard government public relations/public affairs. Anybody know?