Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er “Vanessa” (& Big Apple BBQ Fast Pass Giveaway!)
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 Vanessa, a marketing person who has the enviable position of being involved with the Big Apple BBQ Block Party this weekend in Madison Square Park. She even snagged us a Fast Pass to give away to one lucky Midtown Lunch reader. ($100 value, the pass will entitle you to food, and shorter lines.)
Name: Vanessa
Age: 38
Occupation: Associate Publisher Marketing, Every Day with Rachael Ray
Where in Midtown do you Work?: 34th and Madison (just close enough to the Treats Truck and not too far away from Gramercy Tavern) I work at Every Day with Rachael Ray so there is definitely no shortage of excellent food. It seems like you’d never have to leave, but sometimes you do have to.
Favorite Kind of Food: Asian (sushi, chinese, the like–anywhere that serves sticky rice), also love just about everything else including sweetbreads.
Least Favorite Kind of Food: Peanut Butter & Jelly and Yogurt (just can’t get past the first bite)
Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: I like the chicken rice bowl at Au Bon Pain. When I have time to travel, I’m quick to get soup at Hale & Hearty. Feeling like I need food fast, I’ll do chicken dumplings at Eden Wok (34th btw. Mad+Park), which may be Kosher but seriously they have the best chicken dumplings. If it’s a sit-down fast lunch I’m looking for, I like Todai (32nd btw. Mad+5th), the one city block Japanese all you can eat buffet. It’s the best buffet I’ve ever encountered. Finally, when I want to go out with a group for a fun Friday lunch it’s always Blue Smoke (27th btw. Park+Lex). I know it’s out of Midtown Lunch boundaries, but it’s the best BBQ in the city. This weekend I might get my fill though, given that I’ll be eating the best BBQ in the country at Madison Square Park for two days.
The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Why and Gallard?…(really Guy & Gallard, but constantly asking myself why I can’t go a block or two further to wich craft)
Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Woorjiip (32nd btw. B’way+5th) literally makes me feel like I’ve left New York and ventured to another country. Once you can navigate the space, its the best lunch ever. Love, love, love the eel.
If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? I have to say, I miss working close to Dishes on 45th. Although it is perhaps one of the priciest go-to lunches I never got bored. Sushi on Friday, soup anytime and summer rolls when you could time it correctly. It was my all-in-one. If I really had to dream though, I’d say Paris (although I’d probably eat a little too much)…the bread alone is worth working there for, not to metion, pate and L’aduree. (I didn’t mean to rhyme)
Now for the good stuff. It’s not Midtown, but if you read this site (and you’re not a vegetarian), I’m guessing you like BBQ, and if you like BBQ the Big Apple BBQ Block Party is the biggest NYC BBQ event of the year. Some of the best pitmasters from around the country converge on Madison Square Park and sell the best dish they have to offer (go here for a complete list of pitmasters and the dish they’ll be serving.) The event is free, and you only pay for what you eat- but the lines can get pretty long. That’s why we’re giving away a fast pass, after the jump…
The Big Apple BBQ Block Party sells a limited number of fast passes, which give you $100 worth of food, and allow you to skip the lines, but they stopped selling them this past Friday… there may be limited number available at the event on Saturday, but if you don’t want to leave it chance, Vanessa has graciously donated a Fast Pass for one lucky Midtown Lunch reader courtesy of Every Day With Rachel Ray. All you have to do is comment below with your favorite BBQ dish and place (from anywhere in the country… doesn’t have to be Midtown), and you’re entered to win. Make sure to include your email address in the “email” field. It won’t show up on the site, but I’ll need it to contact the randomnly drawn winner. Good luck! This contest is now closed. The winner was chosen at random and has been contacted. Thanks for entering!
As always, if you want to be the next Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er, or you’d like to nominate somebody in your office, email me at zach@midtownlunch.com
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:25 am, June 3rd, 2008 under PROFILE: Midtown Lunch'er.
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160 Comments
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the pork platter at the GA Pig – in georgia.
picnic benches. one fireplace where everything is cooked. and once they’re out of a dish – they’re done for that day. everything freshly bbqed each day. and everything is amazingly good. i went there in 2000 – and i still dream about the place – i so need to go back soon. -
By far the best spare ribs I’ve ever eaten are my Dad’s. Once I asked him to show me how to make them, having assumed there’d be some sort of “secret family recipe” and I was baffled to find that it just involves a lot of “grab all the available nearly empty sauce bottles (of all kinds) and shake them clean with a tablespoon or two of apple cider vinegar. Then poor out what you shook.” My mouth is watering just thinking about them.
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brisket from hill country or the ribs at twin anchors in Chicago
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28 day dry aged scotish mountain cattle sirloin steak in my garden with a stella or 10.
And chips twice done in duck fat.
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BBQ is the reason I am not wholly a vegetarian, despite my overall tendencies. Once a year on my birthday I love some pork ribs. Since everyone is going south, and I did enjoy me some Dusty’s and Fat Mat’s while living in ATL, I’ve gotta go for BBQ pork ribs at Norms in Portland Maine. Yum. And cornbread. Or sweet potato fries.
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Peter Pan’s Donuts and Ribs – East Euclid, Ohio
Pulled Pork with several cold beers and some corn bread.
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pulled pork from Rack and Soul is my favorite.
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Jack’s bar in Long Branch, NJ has the most succulent ribs i’ve ever laid lip on… never been to Texas so not saying they’re the best, but for what us northerners have been exposed to, they do a damn fine rib rack with a pitcher of Coors Light.
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When I was in college in Ithaca, NY, I had a fond place in my heart for a little BBQ joint called Ralph’s Ribs. It was the only place for miles where I could get a sweet potato pie. Not many people north of the Mason-Dixon Line seem to know about sweet potato pie it seems. Their loss.
Though Ralph’s has since moved on, I found Maxie’s Supper Club in Ithaca to fill the void. The aptly named “Piggy Platter” always hit the spot and then some.
As for the best BBQ, I’m not sure if I have a single place. When I visit my parents who just moved to North Carolina, I always stop for pulled pork with vinegar sauce and pickles on a Piggly Wiggly bun at this (as far as I know) nameless smoke shack about 10 minutes from their house in Chapel Hill.
On a related note, does anyone know where to get fried pickles in NYC? I’m dieing to sink my teeth into some again. Mama Dips in Chapel Hill makes a damn fine version of them.
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half-slab of ribs at Dreamland in Tuscaloosa, AL. There is no menu, no side dishes, no salads. Your choices are a slab or a half-slab.
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I grew up in Syracuse, so the original Dinosaur BBQ up that way holds a smoky place in my heart. Every time I go visit, I need at least a rack of ribs and a quart of chili. The one in Harlem just isn’t the same, it’s passable, but the Syracuse original makes it look like Dallas BBQ.
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Jughed’s Kansas Style BBQ
Pittsburgh, PA -
Flint’s in Oakland (San Pablo location), any item!
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my favorite barbecue is brisket, smoked for about 6-8 hours in my friends’ house upstate in mahopac. It’s almost like being in montreal.
It’s sort of barbecue for northern jews; hope that lets me qualify!
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my favorite bbq is bridges bbq lodge in shelby, north carolina: http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=192
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The best BBQ I’ve ever had is my own. Buffalo ribs with a homemade rub. It’s not going to win me the contest, but I’m being honest.
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Had a business trip in Kansas City a few years back and ate BBQ everyday I was there. The best burnt ends, ribs, baked beans and corn ever – Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbeque.
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The Beef Ribs from RedBones, Boston MA. (I’m so sorry!)
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Big Ed’s near Piscataway! (Since deceased, but I believe there’s another one elsewhere in Jersey.) They had amazing sides and all you can eat ribs, and the late-night advertising was phenomenally, transcendently bad. (Ie: Kids: Grandad, are you ok? Grandad: I’m dying! Kids: Oooohhh. Grandad: Dying to go to Big Ed’s!!)
The dry ribs from Brother Jimmy’s on the UES.