Midtown Lunch

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. Today it’s a bonafied New York food celebrity- Josh Ozersky, editor of NY Magazine’s online food blog “Grub St.”   One of the members of the “Fat Pack” that the NY Times profiled in March, Josh is a personal hero– and his new book ” The Hamburger- A History” is a must read for any like-minded eaters.  As always, we’ll give away a few copies at the end of the profile…

Name: Josh Ozersky

Age: 40

Occupation: Food Editor / Online, New York Magazine

Favorite Kind of Food: Meat

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Vegetables

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: The lamb kebabs at Taam Tov (47th btw. 5+6th); the lamb burger at Anthos (52nd btw. 5+6th); the $28 lunch at Jean Georges (60th & Central Park West); lasagna at Insieme (7th Ave. at 51st); grilled cheese and bacon at Prime Burger (51st btw. Mad+5th); the giant hot dog at Brooklyn Diner (43rd btw. Bway+6th & 57th btw. Bway+7th); the hamburger at Ruby Tuesday’s (7th Ave. btw. 41+42nd).

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch (if any)? Most recently, the haggis cart

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Spiritual advisor to the Amish operators of the Dutch Eating Place in the Reading Terminal Marketin Philadelphia; junior pitmaster at Big Bob Gibson’s bbq in Decatur, AL; security guard at Dirty Martin’s Kum-Back burgers in Austin Texas; Grub Street blogger in Chinatown.

And of course, since we’re promoting the book- I’ve got to ask. What are your thoughts on the Midtown burger landscape? Too big, too misshappen, too rococo: Midtown is scarred by atomic mutants that resemble hamburgers only as much as a chrome-rimmed escalade does a 1972
coupe de ville. Which is to say, they are generally grotesque and vulgar things, even at their best.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers?: What hamburgers, of traditional size and shape, don’t I know about in Midtown?

Wow that is quite the indictment of the Midtown burger.  And here I was thinking we were doing alright… anyway, on to your question: Best hidden hamburger in Midtown?  We all must go on the assumption that you know about all the big ones (and even some of the lesser known ones, like the Blarney Stone on 3rd Ave & 44th– which is one of my favorites). But, I think I’ve got a truly hidden gem (plus your chance to win a copy of Josh’s book) after the jump… Read more »

Last night, Time Out New York announced their Eat Out Awards for 2008, and while most were not Midtown related, there were a few opportunities to root for the home team.  We dominated the Readers’ Choice Fast Food category, with Five Guys beating out Go Go Curry, Zen Burger, and Moaz (the lone non-midtown nominee).

But the biggest smackdown of the night came in the Readers’ Choice Mobile Food Category, where the long awaited Treats Truck vs. Dessert Truck battle finally took place.  Unfortunately $5 Chocolate Bread Pudding was too much to overcome, and the Dessert Truck prevailed.  I wouldn’t worry about it too much though Treats Truck… you’re in great company considering the always amazing (and my personal favorite) Casellula in Hell’s Kitchen, lost out to the Downing St. (do they really need another award) Blue Ribbon in the Best Wine Bar Category.  

Check out the rest of the Midtown mentions (most requiring expense accounts), after the jump… Read more »

With so many quality burger places open in Midtown these days, each place needs it’s own special thing to differentiate themselves from the others.  The way I see it, Burger Joint has the sweet location, Five Guys is for free toppings and freshly cut fries, Pop Burger is the choice if you want sliders, and while the newly opened City Burger is still working out their kinks, it’s clear they’re working off the notion that you wouldn’t mind having some chicken wings or mozarella sticks with your burger.

Goodburger, on the other hand, has never done enough to get me back there on a regular basis.  There is no doubt it is a tasty hamburger, made from quality beef, but it’s always been expensive (the value meals are over $10), and the patty is just not that big.  With all the other options (and my willingness to travel more than a few blocks away from my office) I just didn’t really have a reason to go… until now.

At the beginning of March, Goodburger introduced the “Crabby Patty” to their menu, a deep fried Maryland crab cake sandwich for $7.99.  It’s not on the menu screen, and sometimes they forget to put out the little stand that advertises it, so make sure you ask for it specifically.  I stopped by last week to check it out, and was pretty pleased with the results.  Read more »

Nanking, the Chinese/Thai restaurant with 5 locations spread across New Jersey, Long Island and Queens, has opened their 6th location on Broadway btw. 50+51st.  While I usually shy away from places that focus on more then one ethnicity, a co-worker of mine swears by the Jackson Heights Nanking, so I will give it a shot.  Apparently that outpost is pretty cheap, and features an all you can eat lunch buffet (hello!?!), but the Midtown location will (naturally) be more expensive, and there is no buffet.  The grand opening was on Friday, and their lunch specials are $10 (and come with rice and soup), so it just qualifies as a Midtown Lunch.

A curious shot of the lunch specials menu, after the jump… Read more »

 
The Ranch 1 Mascot on Broadway & 41st doesn’t have as nice as costume as the one on 46th btw. 5+6th. (Of course neither of them is as cool as the Gorilla at Go Go Curry)

• Danny Meyer eats at Yoshinoya in Times Square?!? [NY Mag]
• Cafe Grey is closing, but Landmarc is rolling in the Time Warner Center [NYSun]
• Sietsema enjoys the yakitori at Soba Totto… [VV]
• …while Peter Cherches samples the “Ladies Set” at ISE [Word of Mouth]
• Brasserie Cognac opens next week, and will have a take out area with “pastries, breads, sandwiches, quiche and rotisserie chicken” [Zagat]
• Macchiato Espresso Bar has a pretty gooey looking chocolate cookie! [Food Mayhem]
• Lawrence (aka Superman) declares China Gourmet’s General Tso’s chicken the best in Midtown [NYC Food Guy]
• Check out the first look at the new Empire State Building Yolato [AMNY via Eater]

I try my best not to be too negative on this site, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to complain. Here’s a new space dedicated to anything you’d like to vent about. (If the Eater Complaints Dept. would like royalties, I’ll be happy to pay up…)

First up is Jamba Juice, who was giving away free food this past Monday until 10am (or so they claimed). This was posted in the comments:

I showed up at Jamba Juice at 9:55am (Times Sq. location). The manager there was such a prick. He told me free breakfast was over. I mentioned to him it wasn’t even 10:00am yet, and he got in my face and yelled “FREE BREAKFAST IS OVER” and walked away. Asshole. I’ll never go to Jamba again.

Apparently this soup nazi treatment wasn’t limited to just one customer. Brownie from the website Blondie & Brownie had the same experience at the location on 47th & Broadway:

I had the exact same experience at the exact same Jamba (47th and B’way, yes?) I got there at 9:58 by my cell. Apparently in the land of Jamba it was already 10:03. The place wasn’t even overwhelmed with people. I’ve worked in food service and um, this was not good service. Oh well, saved me 200 mostly empty calories.

When will companies learn that you can’t fuck around when comes to free food. We are a cheap and vengeful group and being denied makes us very very angry…
Moving right along… my favorite kind of complaints are the ones that come from people thinking they are contacting the restaurant directly. I guess people find a Midtown Lunch write up, and think they are on the restaurant website? Either way I always find them hilarious, and while I shouldn’t be giving coverage to stupid people who can’t tell the difference between a blog and a restaurant website- I just can’t resist.
A pretty angry (and misdirected) Sophie’s Cuban email that hit the ML inbox, after the jump… Read more »

Um… if you didn’t eat outside today, you’re an idiot.

The Garment District is quickly becoming my favorite little corner of Midtown Lunch’ing.  And while I admit that most of the places I love might be considered “weird” (or gross) to the average lunch crowd (strange chinese food, Spanish food in a freight elevator), the newly opened Macaron Cafe might change all of that.  A few weeks ago my friend Nosher from www.nycnosh.com told me about the little French cafe on 36th btw. B’way+7th, and yesterday we headed over to check out their nice selection of sandwiches and amazing macarons (the little French cookies that look like mini colored hamburgers- not be confused with macaroons).

Some French porn, and a link to Nosher’s extensive review, after the jump… Read more »