Eat Well, Spend Less
Penny-Wise Power-Dining
For our post-expense-account world, a bespoke meal deal for every kind of suit.
Illustrations by Grant Hanna
YOU ARE: Harvard don
OCCASION: Grad student wins Fulbright!
DEAL: UpStairs on the Square’s lunch special: $20 for three courses. Ivy League setting, modest outlay.
CONTACT: 91 Winthrop St., Cambridge, 617-864-1933, upstairsonthesquare.com
YOU ARE: Account executive
OCCASION: Wooing top prospect from Akron
DEAL: Top of the Hub’s three-course prix fixe served in the lounge. Same view, with a $38 per-person tab.
Contact: Prudential Center, Boston, 617-536-1775, topofthehub.net
YOU ARE: Broker
OCCASION: Reliving the good old days
DEAL: $35.95 for a three-part dinner at Fleming’s, which includes a ride to and from in a Mercedes Crossover (call ahead).
CONTACT: 217 Stuart St., Boston, 617-292-0808, flemingssteakhouse.com
YOU ARE: Second wife/ “jewelry designer”
OCCASION: Après-Mizu repast with new assistant
DEAL: $16 pan-Asian curry lunch at Asana in the Mandarin Oriental (which inspires new line of sandalwood bangles).
CONTACT: Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 776 Boylston St., Boston, 617-535-8800, mandarinoriental.com
YOU ARE: Venture capitalist
OCCASION: A little one-on-one time with the BlackBerry
DEAL: “Tuscan Country Supper” Mondays and Sundays at L’Andana in Burlington. Caesar, sirloin, chocolate mousse—all for $35.
CONTACT: 86 Cambridge St., Burlington, 781-270-0100, landanagrill.com
YOU ARE: MIT researcher
OCCASION: Blind date/social experiment
DEAL: Bambara’s “express power lunch”: three courses for $14 in under 30 minutes, to keep human interaction to a bare minimum.
CONTACT: Hotel Marlowe, 25 Edwin H. Land Blvd., Cambridge, 617-868-4444, bambara-cambridge.com