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Restaurant notes: Tyson's truck; a moneysaving tip; a 3-martini lunch

How "Mad Men" of Le Meridian.

  1. A three-martini lunch? How positively Mad Men of the new Le Meridian at 1421 Arch St.: The hotel's Amuse restaurant today (August 23) starts a $30 daily lunch that includes onion soup, steak frites, and not one, not two but three highballs. Six options: The Dirty Martini (Svedka, olive juice, regular or blue cheese-stuffed green olives); The Classic Vodka Martini (Stolichnaya, dry vermouth, regular or blue cheese-stuffed green olives); Cosmopolitan (Skyy, Cointreau cranberry, lime juice); Citrus Martini (Skyy citrus, with lemon juice and Cointreau); French Martini (Belvedere, Chambord and pineapple juice); and Parisienne (Hendrick's, dry vermouth, and crème de cassis, shaken). You do not have to drink all three at one sitting; servers will sign vouchers for remaining drinks and they can be redeemed over the next month. (If you do drain all three, you can also book a room.) The deal runs through September; 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. every day.

  2. The name of Tyson Wong Ophaso's forthcoming food truck, which I told you about on Aug. 9, has been changed from Bee-Innovation to Tyson Bees. The bzzz-ness, to hit the road this fall, will include a cool cross-branding deal. Ophaso, former chef at the now-shuttered Chew Man Chu, and his associates are partnering with artists/entrepreneurs Yis Goodwin (known as NoseGo) and Matt Trigaux of the Pine Street clothing/art boutique TrickGo. Goodwin will design and paint the truck, while Trigaux will design a limited-edition T-shirt for employees that will also be available in his store. Tyson Bees is on Twitter, too.

  3. A couple of open/closing notes: Ulysses Voyage, the Greek project that would have filled the former Deux Cheminees space at 1221 Locust St., is caught between Scylla and Charybdis. Some restaurant deals are hits while others are a myth. The space is now up for grabs. On a brighter note, Barbuzzo -- the Mediterranean at 110 S. 13th St. from Bindi/Lolita's Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran -- is being posed for a Sept. 1 opening.

  4. And from reader Katie Sweeney comes an elegantly simple way to save as much as 10% on your bill at Jose Garces' restaurants if you're out with a group: GRG's current promotion offers a $25 gift card with the purchase of a $250 gift card. Most people buy cards as gifts, but there's no reason you can't use them yourself. She and her husband used both cards to help pay the tab for six people at Chifa.