A double sawbuck doesn't go very far these days. You could splurge on a decadent week of iced lattes or take advantage of the two-for-one lap dance special at your local gentlemen's club, but most of us are saving our Jacksons for the necessities. A few gallons of gas. New shoes for the kids. Cable TV. Food.
But one thing I've learned is that tightened purse strings don't necessarily mean tightened belts. Screw ramen-and-ketchup soup or a bag of 2-for-$2 quarter-pounders. You deserve better. And with a little imagination and effort, you can still eat like an oil-company exec: restaurant-quality meals, filling and fantastic, for next to nothing.
We contacted Bay area chefs to help you out and issued them a simple challenge: Give us a three-course meal for two, and keep the ingredients to under 20 bucks. Some balked, declaring it was an impossibility or only for people who don't want to eat their fill. Some had a different outlook, claiming that they could make a meal for 10 with less money than that. Most, though, gave it a little thought and put pen to paper, thoughtfully creating menus that home cooks can work their way through to create masterpieces of culinary frugality.
The results were surprising. Some chefs gave us hearty dinners big enough to serve an entire hungry family, while others stretched their dollars to four, five and six courses of exquisite food. We hung out with a few of the chefs — David Miller of Savant Fine Dining, Seble Gizaw of Queen of Sheba and Fabrizio Schenardi at Pelagia Trattoria — to give you a behind-the-scenes view of how these folks go about the business of putting food on the table and keeping costs in line.
You'll find additional recipes from the chefs mentioned above at tampa.creativeloafing.com/foodissue. In coming weeks on my blog, eatmyflorida.com, I'll also be running $20 menus (with recipes) from many other restaurants around the Bay area, including Pacific Wave, Toasted Pheasant, China Yuan and Elements Global Cuisine. Think of it as a free cookbook for hungry and frugal folks who don't want to skimp on flavor. Make an entire menu, or mix and match recipes to create a meal more to your liking. It'll take a little work, but the payoff will be a big taste of the good life in spite of a light wallet.
More from The Food Issue:
A history of Tampa Bay in 10 meals
When did menus start reading like novels?
Where do Tampa Bay's politicians meet to eat?
And where can you get a good iced coffee around here?
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2008.