Coffee Meets Bagel

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Our last installation of Coffee Meets Bagel’s mission to find all you Bagels a fun and unique date idea has finally arrived! Our last stop was Little Green Cyclo, where you can get an amazing Vietnamese meal made from the freshest ingredients!

   Name: Little Green Cyclo

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Location(s): 

Marina Green @ Scott St & Marina Boulevard

Market between 7th & 8th Street

5th and Minna Street

Background: Little Green Cyclo is a Vietnamese food truck started by Chef Quynh Nguyen, Monica Wong, and Susie Pham who’s main purpose is to support local business, be eco-friendly and cook with the best ingredients possible. Their hard work and dedication to quality food has earned them the #1 Bay Area Food Truck in the Chase Sapphire’s 2011 Eaters’ Choice Awards. 

   Little Green Cyclo is inspired by the famous Vietnamese street food. The inspiration is apparent in their name, cyclo, referring to the three-wheeled rickshaw vehicle that sells banh mis on the streets of Vietnam.

Garlic Noodles ($8): We ordered the famous garlic noodles cooked with green onion oil. This is one of the most popular dishes on the menu. I can definitely tell why, the noodles were a little chewy and enhanced with an abundance of flavor from the crispy peanut bits and the zesty scallions!

 Masami Free Range Lemongrass Grilled Park Banh Mi ($7): We felt obligated to order a banh mi sandwich since this is the staple meal of the menu. A banh mi is a famous Vietnamese sandwich that consists of pickled carrots & daikon, cucumbers, jalapenos, cilantro, mayo and soy sauce all squished between a big French baguette. I’m a personal fan of all things banh mi and Little Green Cyclo did an awesome job! I liked it because it was a hefty sized sandwich that was filled to the brim with all their organic fixings. Banh mis are a great mixture of sour, sweet and spicy!  

Thai Iced Tea ($3): Don’t forget to order the thai iced tea! It’s a sweet and refreshing way to cool yourself on a nice sunny San Francisco day! 

Make sure to check out the Little Green Cyclo website to look up their food truck schedule. Locations spanning all the way to the East Bay.

Or for your convenience, just follow them on Twitter! @lilgreencyclo

Here is the shorter version of our infographic

We’re all a product of our environments and with their fast-paced and immersive lifestyle that goes double for cities.

Which got us thinking: what exactly does the average single look like in your city?

We analyzed CMB member data in our newest cities - Chicago, LA and DC - to bring you the answers. Check out the highlights below:

CHICAGO: It’s a Hell of a Town.

In the Windy City the average single man is tall, white and godless with a penchant for finance while the average single lady is totally in touch with her spiritual side while her other side earns reams of cash in marketing. Can someone say “power couple”?

LA: Hello Holy-Wood!

In LA a whopping 41% of men and women identify as either Christian or Catholic, (I guess that’s why they call it the City of Angels). LA men tend to be in the entertainment business while women once again prefer marketing. Strangely, in a city famous for its tacos, 43% of male singles are white while at 38% the highest percentage of LA women tend to be Asian!

DC: Degree City?

With 43% of singles possessing an advanced degree, DC is easily the most educated city out of the three.  Nearly 50% of single women have their masters! (Take THAT 20thcentury!) So what do these smarty-pants do with their shiny degrees? Well, 13% of women are still in the process of getting them (students) while 14% of men use their education to become management consultants

We’re all a product of our environments and with their fast-paced and immersive lifestyle that goes double for cities.

Which got us thinking: what exactly does the average single look like in your city?

We analyzed CMB member data in our newest cities - Chicago, LA and DC - to bring you the answers. Check out the highlights below:

CHICAGO: It’s a Hell of a Town.

In the Windy City the average single man is tall, white and godless with a penchant for finance while the average single lady is totally in touch with her spiritual side while her other side earns reams of cash in marketing. Can someone say “power couple”?

LA: Hello Holy-Wood!

In LA a whopping 41% of men and women identify as either Christian or Catholic, (I guess that’s why they call it the City of Angels). LA men tend to be in the entertainment business while women once again prefer marketing. Strangely, in a city famous for its tacos, 43% of male singles are white while at 38% the highest percentage of LA women tend to be Asian!

DC: Degree City?

With 43% of singles possessing an advanced degree, DC is easily the most educated city out of the three.  Nearly 50% of single women have their masters! (Take THAT 20th century!) So what do these smarty-pants do with their shiny degrees? Well, 13% of women are still in the process of getting them (students) while 14% of men use their education to become management consultants

  To use the image, copy & paste the code below!

You are going on your first or second date with your Bagel. You want to get her/him something nice, but you're hesitant and unsure of what to get. You don't want to come off too strong or seem like you're trying too hard.

Well, we've found the perfect solution for you, just in time for Spring- Flowers! 

Yeah, yeah, I know you're probably thinking well, that's nothing new, everyone buys flowers for their date. But, what we found aren't just any flowers, they're the perfect flowers to impress your Bagel without overwhelming her/him.

We spoke with two professional florists: Holly Heider, owner of Chapple Flowers, whose designs have been published in Martha Stewart, Washingtonian, and InTouch; Natalie Bowen, owner of Natalie Bowen Designs and very popular designer for the San Francisco Bay Area. 

They gave us the inside scoop on what flowers both men and women really love and why.

Cabbage Rose: 

Holly loves the Cabbage rose! "They're twice the size of a regular rose and considerably more fragrant."

These flowers are beautiful, simpler than a regular rose, but still has a great meaning - all in all, perfect for your first date. Holly says that giving a single rose is considered an expression of gratitude & appreciation!  

Ranunculus: 

Natalie's expert recommendation for a first or second date is the beautiful flower Rannunculus.

"Ranunculus are beautiful and not risky; most people will love them," says Natalie. They are known to represent radiant charm. 

Both Cabbage Rose and the Ranunculus come in a variety of colors so you can get them in your Bagel's favorite color.

Now go and impress your Bagel.

Thanks Natalie and Holly for your great tips!

All you Bagels in Los Angeles, Listen Up!

We teamed up with Sidecar to get you Bagels rolling for your dates!

Sidecar is a new ridesharing app that is one of a kind! Sidecar allows people in LA to find drivers in the city willing to give them a ride! 

As a recap, Coffee Meets Bagel is touring all over San Francisco to find the best food trucks in order to get you Bagels excited for a new date idea! 

Continuing our fantastic journey through the world of San Francisco Food Trucks, Coffee Meets Bagel ventured out to Curry Up Now; a food truck that shares all the wonderful spices and flavors of Indian street food to the people of the Bay Area. 

Name: Curry Up Now

Cuisine: Indian

Location(s): 

659 Valencia St., San Francisco

321 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto

129 South B St., San Mateo

Background: Inspired by the foods he grew up eating on the streets of India, Akash Kapoor, started Curry Up Now in 2006. His menu is inspired by the vibrant flavors from various regions of India including Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi, Chowpatty and Mumbai. Curry Up Now has launched into a successful company ranging from a selection of trucks and most recently, restaurants!

We decided to try out the newly opened restaurant, located on 659 Valencia Street. It has all the same cuisine as the food trucks but in a more hip and relaxed atmosphere. It was really sleek and modern with plenty of seating and an extensive menu. The menu was a piece of artwork, showcasing all the unique dishes Curry Up Now has to offer! And no fret, if you're vegan or gluten-free, Curry Up Now definitely has something for you!

The menu was so enticing that we couldn't help but order a feast! 

1. Sexy Fries with Paneer ($6): The orange dish to the left are the "sexy fries" consisting of criss-cut sweet potato fries topped with cheese and onions and your choice of protein. We, here at Coffee Meets Bagel, are always up for trying something new, so we went ahead and chose the paneer. Paneer is a popular type of cheese originating from the regions of India. The sexy fries were absolutely wonderful; it was a sweet and creamy dish that just melted in your mouth! 

2. The Naughty Naan ($9): Rotating clock-wise, we reach the naughty naan, a fun take on India's famous Naan bread. They call it an "open-faced" sandwich topped with tikka masala, cheese, greens, onions and some shaved jalapeno for an extra kick. This was our favorite dish out of the three. It was crispy and flavorful due to the sweet tikka masala sauce that smothered the bread. The jalapenos made it slightly spicy but the fresh greens balanced out the heat. 

3. Deconstructed Samosa ($7): The last dish was the deconstructed samosa. A samosa is an Indian pastry that includes some type of savory filling. This particular dish is a "deconstructed samosa" where the pastry is on the bottom and filled with garbanzo beans, pico & chutneys. To make it even better, the dish was topped with cute little samosas on the side! Akash told us this is his favorite dish on the menu. It's no wonder why, the textures were amazing! We loved the crunch from the garbanzo beans and the nice flaky pastry at the bottom. 

4. Mango Lassi ($3): Don't forget to order their mango lassi! This is a famous drink from India, it's basically a frothy mango beverage that is both sweet and refreshing.

Don't forget to tip 'em!

Make sure to check out the Curry Up Now website to look up their food truck schedule. They serve up all over the bay area, even reaching out to Stanford in Palo Alto! 

Or for your convenience, just follow them on Twitter! @CurryUpNow

For the month of March the Coffee Meets Bagel team in San Francisco will visit a food truck for each week to get you Bagels excited for some unique date ideas. For all you young professionals on-the-go, food trucks are a fun and easy way to indulge in a nice lunch. On top of that, it is also a unique way to spend your first date with your Bagel of the day! So, here's our first stop:

Name: Señor Sisig

Cuisine: Filipino/Mexican

Background: Friends since high school, Evan Kidero and Gil Payumo started Señor Sisig, a Filipino-Mexican fusion food launched in 2010. These lovely fellas combined their entrepreneurial skills and passion for food to create a successful company spreading both the flavors of the Philippines and Mexico into the main stream culinary world. 

What does "Sisig" mean, you ask?

Sisig is a filipino term for "snacking on something sour." This is a reference to the unique taste palette of traditional filipino food that heavily relies on salt and vinegar for their staple dishes. Make sure to say hello to Evan and Gil for us when you stop by! 

Food: Sisig Nachos 

Price: $8

Description: This consisted of our choice of meat (pork), topped with nacho cheese, sour cream, guacamole, pico de gallo and jalapenos. This dish was a perfect mix of salty and spicy due to that perfectly marinated pork and all that cheese. Make sure you take plenty of napkins, this is a messy one! 

Food: California Sisig Burrito

Price: $8

Description: This is the most popular item on the menu, including shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole, salsa and french fries. Our favorite part of the burrito were definitely the french fries; it added a nice crispy texture to the burrito. Again, it had a great salty/spicy combination that was balanced out with the guacamole. This would be a much better order for a date, as it is much easier to snack on than the nachos.

Look at us enjoying ourselves in the office! Thanks Señor Sisig for feeding us on this fine day!

Make sure to check out the Señor Sisig website for their truck schedule.

Thanks to all the lovely bagels out there, our company is moving on up! Since the launch in April last year, we have found ourselves in many different offices in order to accomodate our growing size. And today for the fourth time, we have moved offices!

As a keepsake, let's take a look at our past working spaces...

1. This was where it all began, in an open lab!

2. Then we moved to an office fit for three.

3. As things started to kick-off, we moved to an office space fit for five! Hey look it's Soo and Adam! 

And now, for the moment we've all been waiting for...

Ain't it pretty? The new office allows for a lot of space and is big enough to fit our 8-person Coffee Meets Bagel team! And we finally have windows. Yay for Coffee Meets Bagel!

Sunday Spotlight #9 is Chloe Coscarelli, an amazing chef and a proud Coffee Meets Bagel member. 

What makes her amazing? Chloe is the winner of Food Network's Cupcake Wars, which she won with her delicious VEGAN cupcake...yes, the cupcake that didn't have any egg nor butter nor milk still kicked everyone's ass...  

Why else is she amazing? Just take a look at her photo - need we say more?

We asked Chloe to share an easy, fun recipe from her new book, Chloe's Vegan Desserts (to be released in 2 days, on Feb. 19th!). She recommends Mojito Chocolate Chip Cookies, which you can easily try with your Bagel or your friends.

BONUS for NYC guys: Is Chloe your Dream Bagel? Dare to ask her out? Email us at [email protected] and we will make it happen for you.

Follow Chloe on Twitter @ChloeCoscarell.

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Mojito Chocolate Chip Cookies

MAKES ABOUT FORTY-SIX 2½-INCH COOKIES

This recipe mash-up combines the best elements of mojitos and chocolate chip cookies in one! The lime zest adds beautiful green flecks to an otherwise seemingly average cookie. Serve these at your next cocktail party for a sweet surprise.

Make-Ahead Tip:

Cookie dough can be made in advance and kept refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month.

INGREDIENTS

COOKIES

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup vegan margarine

1 cup powdered sugar

½ cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons dark rum

2 teaspoons pure peppermint extract

2 tablespoons lime zest (about 2 or 3 limes)

¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips (dairy-free)

TOPPING (optional)

½ cup granulated sugar Zest of 1 lime

To make the cookies: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 or 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. Using a stand or hand mixer, beat margarine until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, brown sugar, rum, and mint extract, and beat until combined. Mix in the flour mixture ½ cup at a time, then add zest and chocolate chips. Mix until combined.

To make the topping: 

  Valentine's Day Bonus! Ever have a hard time coming up with a good first text? You're not the only one! Try emulating these smooth-talking Bagels. Six creative first texts that you wish you thought of first.

  Most Honest

Bagel A: "Whats up! I don't care you passed I just want one convo. I'm actually in Israel right now, you ever been??"

  Most Creative

Bagel J: "Like Oreo for milk, will you be bagel for my coffee?"

  Most Mistaken

Bagel D: "I missed a comma and for a second thought you liked to eat puppies. "Wow such tactless honestly!" Great smile!"

  Most Suggestive

Bagel S: "Hey! I like red wine and getting sweaty too! Mostly through Bikram Yoga…"

  Most Poetic

Bagel R: "Hey! I'm Ray. My birthday is in May and I like to play. Want to grab a drink some day? I hope you don't say nay."

  Most Bold

Bagel J: "This might be a weird question, but did I make out with you at a penthouse party last New Year's?"

Valentine's Day survey results are in! Find out what other Coffee Meets Bagel members are doing on Valentine's Day and what you should wear on Valentine's Day to impress your date!

As Valentines Day rapidly approaches, our thoughts are turning to love, such as love of our significant others or newfound Bagels. However there’s one love that remains at the top of many people’s minds right now and will take top priority until this weekend is over: love of football. This Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers take on the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl 47. The crazy twist? To win the NFL title, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and Ravens coach John Harbaugh have to face off as brothers. To commemorate this ultimate battle, we have gone the extra yards and unearthed some fun data about our members’ NFL team preferences, using their Facebook LIKES!

Most popular NFL teams in SF, NYC, Boston

The top 3 NFL teams in SF, NYC, Boston among Coffee Meets Bagel members were:

San Francisco: 

#1: SF 49ers

#2: SD Chargers

#3: NE Patriots

New York City: 

#1: NY Giants

#2: NY Jets

#3: Philadelphia Eagles

Boston:

#1: NE Patriots

#2: NY Giants

#3: Philadelphia Eagles

Well, this was not at all surprising....what we immediately delved into next is “Which team fans are the most popular?!”

Which team fans are the most popular?

Of the above 6 teams, NE Patriots fans proved to be the most popular on CMB. They received 5.3% more LIKEs than Giants fans and 17.6% more LIKEs than 49ers fans.

Ravens Fans Come Out On Top Which fans proved to be the cream of the crop? Ravens fans topped all three. Baltimore Ravens fans received 35.0%(!) more LIKEs than Patriots fans, 42.1% more LIKEs than NY Giants fans, and 58.8% more LIKEs than 49ers fans! Ravens fans are clearly the crowd favorite, but we’re not sure why. Don't know what the outcome will be on Sunday but Ravens fans are clearly beating the 49ers on CMB!

Other random facts

We also came across two random facts while doing the analysis. Random fact 1: NFL male fans are taller than non-fans

First, males who indicated they are fans of some kind of NFL teams were on average 3 inches taller than non-fans (5'10" vs. 5'7")!?!? Why? No idea.

  Random fact 2: NFL fans have more friends than non-fans NFL fans had more Facebook friends than non-fans, and this effect held strong for both men and women (male: 881 friends vs. 825 friends, female: 927 friends vs. 829 friends).  OK, we know - this may just be a function of whoever is more active on Facebook, but nevertheless, it was a fun finding!

Good luck to the Baltimore Ravens & a little more luck to SF 49ers this Sunday! (sorry Ravens fans, we live in SF!)

  Credit:

Thanks to the following individuals for making this post happen!

Analysis: @Andy___Wong of http://andywong.authpad.com 

Write-up: @StevenMDean of http://dateworking.com

The first month of 2013 is coming to an end soon but it's still not too late to make a New Year's resolution! Getting fit for the new year is the #1 resolution for many, and it isn't too hard to guess why. There's nothing sexier than being healthy!

Still not convinced? Here's an infographic we put together that shows how being fit will not only make you look great, but it will also lead to a better sex life and relationship. Now get movin'!

 Sources: Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, Peak Health Advocate, University of Minnesota

To use the infographic above, please copy and paste the code below:

By now, most people in the dating world have already seen or heard about the recent Atlantic article about how online dating is purportedly threatening monogamy as we know it. In the chaotic aftermath of that article, many people likely received frantic calls from their parents, pleading with them to close all their online dating accounts and to “stop trivializing romance!” Fortunately for the monogamists and worried parents of the world, a rebuttal article surfaced on The Atlantic the next day, claiming that, statistically, there is little evidence to support such dire claims. But what the evidence did suggest is that online dating may actually lead to more marriages by helping people find more strongly compatible partners. We at Coffee Meets Bagel wanted to jump into this debate, so last week we pushed out a survey asking our lovely bagels what they thought about online dating and whether it was affecting their ability to seek and sustain good relationships. We published a sneak peak of our results on Thursday, and we can confidently say that, at least among the Coffee Meets Bagel population, online dating has not diminished the majority of users’ desire or ability to find serious relationships. Commitment is safe! In fact, 65 percent of Coffee Meets Bagel users said they are primarily looking for a relationship. And online dating doesn’t seem to be hurting anyone’s prospects of finding that sort of relationship. When asked if online dating makes them want more casual dates and fewer serious relationships, 60 percent of men and 50 percent of women said that it has no impact either way, and interestingly, 14 percent of men and 40 percent of women said online dating has the opposite effect – it causes them to want more serious, monogamous relationships! This flies in the face of the original Slater article, which suggested that online daters would be paralyzed by the breadth of alternative matches and thus never be willing to fully commit to the match they found. Online dating may actually help with commitment.

One interesting finding from our survey is that, of the people who believed that online dating made them actually want to more strongly seek committed relationships, most believed that as they met more and more people from online dating sites, they increasingly realized just how hard it can be to find the right match. Rather than give up on finding a match, our bagels seem to emerge from online dating more resolute than ever to find their special someone. Maybe that’s the best New Years resolution of all.

Embed this Image:

<a href="http://blog.coffeemeetsbagel.com/post/40324618919/the-best-new-years-resolution" target="_blank"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/Images_for_cmb/CMB_X-file_02.png" width="750" alt="What do you really think about online dating"></a><p><small>Get one match a day at noon at <a href="http://coffeemeetsbagel.com" target="_blank">Coffee Meets Bagel!</a> </small>

Starbucks $10 Gift Certificate Winner

Thanks everyone for participating! Here are the 3 winners of the survey. We will email you with more details on how you can redeem your gift.

Kat*********@ymail.com

sun*********@gmail.com