I love and appreciate good food. I especially love it if there’s a chance of getting it for free. 

I recently went to brunch at Pacci Ristorante at the Palomar Hotel in Midtown. Every weekend in August, Pacci offers a special brunch menu, called the Scramble Gamble. If you order off this particular menu, the chef comes out at the end of your meal and flips you for it. No joke: She flips a coin, you call heads or tails, and if you win, your meal is on the house. You have a 50% chance of not having to pay for your food—I’d say those odds are pretty sweet.  

There is absolutely no catch. The coin is a regular quarter. The “special” brunch menu is identical to the restaurant’s regular brunch menu (minus one or two items), which is a good thing, because their brunch menu rocks. I ordered the Midtown Benedict—by far the best Benedict I’ve ever had (and I don’t even like eggs Benedict). It had prosciutto, spinach, and tomatoes in it— nom! 

You can also choose from items like the chicken hash, French toast, smoked salmon, and ricotta pancakes. No item on the gamble menu is more than $12. Of course, no brunch is complete without a mimosa or a bloody Mary—I recommend the latter, since the bartenders make their own mix daily. 

THE VERDICT: Excellent food, beautiful décor, but slow service (in our server’s defense, I think he was brand new). Either way, you have a 50% chance of not having to pay for your food—I highly recommend going.