Frankel Ventures

By now, our SpecialsByZip.com subscribers should be well aware that we’ve launched our Season of Giving, Winner a Day Sweepstakes.  Starting December 1st, one randomly selected subscriber is selected each day.  The selected subscriber is the day’s winner, winning a $25 gift certificate to BBar, the new wine bar from Bardolino.

(For those who haven’t received the Season of Giving e-mails, each SpecialsByZip.com subscriber receives one entry.  Extra entries are accumulated for each review, each referral, and for becoming a fan of SpecialsByZip.com’s new facebook page.  The winner is selected at 5 PM, and the results are updated on a special page on our site.)

The Season of Giving stands as the most recent new feature of SpecialsByZip.com, wrapping up a busy 2008.  Over the course of the year, we created RSS feeds for each restaurant and each neighborhood, we created a “restaurant reviews” section where subscribers can review participating establishments, we revamped our menu pages to make them more user-friendly, we launched this blog, and most importantly, added many participants.

I have to admit though, my personal favorite is this Season of Giving.  For those of you who know me personally, and for those I don’t I hope you’ll get to know me through this blog, I love situations where we all benefit - commonly referred to as “win-win” situations (win-win-win for all you Office fans), or economically referred to as Pareto Efficient.

The Season of Giving provides value added for our subscribers, a free chance every day to win an unrestricted $25 gift certificate.  For SpecialsByZip.com, we’ve improved our product and created another vehicle to push referrals and reviews (i.e. increasing community activity).  For Bardolino, we’re promoting the new wine bar, which I should mention is exactly what you’d hope for.  It’s quiet, slightly hidden, and has great food and drink options.  To me, this “special edition” feature epitomizes a win-win.

This being said, I’d love to hear your thoughts.  Do you like the Season of Giving?  Want more contests?  Or is it not important to you?  As always, I know many of you prefer the (relative) anonymity and want to e-mail me directly, so please feel free to do so.

If you haven’t noticed from the SpecialsByZip.com daily e-mail the last couple of days, you can now receive La Crosta nightly specials, featured dishes, and events by e-mail.

With a combination of Italian food and Middle Eastern food on the menu, La Crosta is sure to please a wide range of palates.

La Crosta offers the service speed of pizza restaurant, with the sit-down ambiance not usually found in such locations. Waiter service is availble in a separate dining area.

The menu boasts a range of choice from garden fresh salads to whole wheat pizza and Middle Easter cuisine.

La Crosta is located at 436 East 72nd Street, between 1st and York, in Manhattan.  For more information, please call 212.472.5004.

Recharge’s menu has been updated with some new items.  The restaurant also expanded its hours to include breakfast starting daily at 8 AM.

Breakfast at recharge includes plenty of healthy options like egg white omelettes, low fat muffines, and more.  Traditional breakfast items like pancakes are also available.

Healthalicious’ menu has been updated.  They’ve also announced some great lunch specials, which are included in the restaurant’s menu listing.

Sharz Cafe & Wine Bar’s updated delivery and twilight dinner menus have been posted.

I’m pleased to announce that the winner of the $75 gift certificate to Demare (formerly Bandol Bistro) is Renee Alexander.  Renee’s name was selected from our list of entries, which includes one entry per subscriber, one entry for each referral, and one entry for each restaurant review.

Demare, located at 181 East 78th Street in Manhattan, expanded their hours to include lunch service from Tuesday through Friday (11 AM - 3:30 PM) in addition to their dinner and brunch service.  In another exciting addition to their service, Demare now offers free local delivery.  For more information, please call 212.744.1800.

Later tonight, we’ll be announcing a special contest to win a $75 gift certificate to Demare (formerly Bandol Bistro).  Unlike our standard drawings which last one week, this contest will only be open for 48 hours!

As part of this drawing, we’ll be announcing a new (somewhat revised) dinner menu and an expanded lunch menu for Demare.

As a reminder, every active subscriber to SpecialsByZip.com automatically receives one entry to win the certificate prize.  Subscribers may also earn one additional entry for each referral they make or each review they write.  Extra entries carry over from one drawing to the next and never expire, so some subscribers do have a lot of extra entries.

Glaser’s Bakery returned from its annual summer vacation.  For a few weeks, they’re baking some summer specials like zucchini cake, zucchini bread, and carrot cake.

Ecco La restaurant closed its doors for the final time.  Located at 1660 3rd Avenue, Ecco La served a variety of Italian dishes.  Fans of the restaurant and chef, can dine at Bardolino on 78th and 2nd.

Ecco La belong to the same restaurant group as Bardolino, Figaro Pizza, and Bem Bolado.

In case you missed SpecialsByZip.com’s e-mail yesterday, or if you don’t have Lower Manhattan included in your e-mails, you can now receive Dolce Vita’s nightly specials, featured dishes, and events by e-mail.

According to Dolce Vita,

Somewhere between old Italy and new Italy, somewhere between classic Little Italy and contemporary SoHo lies this little intimate, somewhat rustic nook with beautiful food.  Serving only homemade pastas and sauces, along with fresh meat and seafood to create uncomplicated simplicity on the plate, Dolce Vita serves lunch and dinner, and brunch on weekends.

You won’t find ultra modern, pretense at Dolce Vita.  You walk in to find an exposed brick wall solidifying the space, contrasting the modern New York restaurant kitchen, perhaps not a kitchen that you expect to find walking into a classic farmhouse in Tuscany, but necessary to have this old brick wall experience contemporary life and creating dishes to enjoy against its beautiful brick backdrop.

Dolce vita seats up to 60 comfortably, offering a full bar, beer, cocktails and two wine lists.  One for the adventurous wine drinker, an eclectic list that offers about ten new American and old world Italian style wines pricing anywhere from 30 dollars to 95 dollars, and another list offering about eight whites and eight reds all for 20 dollars a bottle that is also available by the glass.

For more information, please visit Dolce Vita’s page on SpecialsByZip.com.