10 Differences Between a $30 and $4 TV Dinner
On the left, the Loews Regency version of the classic Swanson's fried chicken dinner.
At the Loews Regency Hotel in Manhattan, the price of a "TV Dinner" is on par with Kobe beef or lobster. But other than the nostalgic segmented plates, there's not much "TV Dinner" about this thirty-buck meal.
Introduced last month, the weekly-rotating combos are available downstairs at The Library restaurant or via room service. Here are ten differences we discovered between chef Andrew Rubin's creations on Park Avenue and 61st Street and your average Swanson-brand frozen dinner.
1. There are no pull-back plastic covers on the $30 version.
2. Lowes Regency does not use a microwave or what Rubin remembers using "back in the day"—an oven.
3. You don't have to poke special holes for the dessert. Rubin prepares his old-fashioned chocolate pudding and other desserts separately, so they don't accidentally reach tongue-burning temperatures meant for pot roast.
