One of the great simple pleasures of traveling abroad is stumbling upon a restaurant frequented by locals, followed closely by bathing in gelato and loudly explaining why everything in America is better. Replicate that feeling with today’s Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of European bistro fare at Bistro 324 at The Renaissance Room.
Each weeknight, The Renaissance Room’s stately event space transforms into Bistro 324, where talented chefs construct nightly changing menus of European-inspired bistro fare, tailored to suit the culinary tastes of its American guests. Cheese tortellini splashes into waves of cream sauce and hops aboard lounge chairs of pancetta and mushrooms ($21), and lobster-stuffed ravioli drifts in a house-made vodka sauce ($18). To sample further oceanic fruits, plunge forks into grilled jumbo shrimp atop jalapeño-and-onion risotto ($23), or divide and conquer landlubbed entrees such as panko-crusted eggplant parmesan ($15). Chefs drape 12-ounce new york strip steak in a cape of brandy-sautéed portobello mushrooms and a parmesan-butter sauce ($23) to attract the admiration of upper-class wines. Bistro 324 serves as The Renaissance Room's main dining space, designed and appointed by architect Thomas Hamilton, surrounding guests with deep crown molding and carved wooden accents. Once weather warms, Bistro 324 invites guests to dine alfresco on a stately outdoor patio paved with bricks and mortared with béchamel.
Groupon Says
The Groupon Guide to: the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop
People all over the world celebrate New Year's Eve by watching the ball drop in Times Square, and the ball itself has a come a long way from the papier-mâché wad engulfed in flames that rang in the new year back in 1904. Here's a look at today's cutting-edge ball:
Size: The ball is a scale model of earth, so its size changes every year to match the diminishing diameter of a planet slowly being trampled by its inhabitants.
Material: The ball is constructed from the finest Waterford crystal and held together by several hundred Pepsi stickers.
Contents: Traditionally, the ball is filled with:
• One animal from every species
• Children's letters to Santa
• All the extra money that the year's millionaires are tired of
• The oft-expunged choose-your-own-adventure Bible chapters
Speed: The ball is actually descending imperceptibly slowly throughout the entire year.
Reaction: As soon as the ball reaches its base, millions of people all over the world instantly begin weeping inconsolably in memory of the year that just died.
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