PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Matt”
Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week, it’s Matt a guy who has *shocker* never tried Thai food? I don’t even know what to make of that…
Name: Matt
Age: 27
Occupation: Television
Where in Midtown do you Work?: NBC
Favorite Kind of Food: I love Pizza, Italian, and Burgers but I try to eat healthy so I go to a lot of health food places now.
Least Favorite Kind of Food: Thai. I’ve never actually had any. When I was in camp, one of the directors got food poisoning a few days before his wedding after eating Thai food. I remember telling everyone “who eats Thai food before their wedding? Isn’t that risky?” To this day I haven’t had it.
Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: I love Jianetto’s pizza truck (on 47th btw. Park+Mad), I love the fancy sandwiches at Dishes, I like Chopt’s salads, Café Duke (on 51st btw. 6+7th) has good whole wheat pizza’s but they fill me up too much.
“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? Variety Café (on 48th btw. 5+6th). They really have everything. The salad is a good deal with lots of toppings, they have whole wheat pasta, and they even have a wok in the back
Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? A lot. I’ve been to Madeline the crepe lady (on 49th btw. 7+8th) which I enjoyed even though she told me “I was killing her” when I didn’t tell her till later it was a to go order. The famous halal cart (on 53rd & 6th) I enjoy at night. I’m going to try Cafe Edison (on 47th btw. B’way+8th) in the future.
If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Italy. I went there in college and the food is just off the charts unbelievable.
Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? In these cold months, I have found my favorite smoothie cart (49th and 6th) has disappeared and my back up (I think 51st and 6th) has disappeared as well. Anyone know of any smoothie carts? I prefer them to places like Jamba juice cause they just use fruit and ice which I love.
As hard as it may be for some of you to stick to the question posed… let’s try today. Got an answer for Matt? Put it in the comments… and 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: 11:30 am, February 3rd, 2009 under PROFILE: Midtown Lunch'er.
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89 Comments
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occupation: television? where: NBC? least fave food is something he’s never even tried? my mum always said if you don’t have anything nice to say, then…
so…yeah. look at all the snow outside! woo, snow!
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This is gonna be a shitstorm…..
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Everyone calm down.
Matt, you should really try Thai, it’s good. Live a little!
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You’re in the right job Matt.
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Problem is with Italian food is 3 or 4 days later you start to feel hungry again.
Doesn’t like Thai….but never tried it.
Muppet.
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thai one on dude!
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is the pool of applicants to be profiled that weak? are you just picking people off the street at this point who have never even been to this site? you probably delayed this guys trip to sbarro or olive garden for taste of the home country.
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Even a guy like Matt could get fucked in Bangkok. Oh, yeah, and food poisoning.
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sorry, but variety is disgusting. there are MUCH better places in that vicinity, or at least there used to be. And you should really try Thai food, it’s pretty good.
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@asdf – I know, it’s crazy right!?! I can’t, for the life of me, imagine why it would be hard to convince people who read this site to be profiled.
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There is a smoothie cart on 53rd between 5th and 6th, I believe.
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Matt’s not allowed to broaden his thimbleful of food choices until he moves over to HBO or Showtime. NBC contract, y’know
Fast food & Health food. So sad.
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Oooh, Zach, profile me! I’ve actually tried my least favorite food (goat cheese-ugh!), so I have credibility, right?
Eats at Variety Cafe and Chopt, least favorite food is (a) Thai, that (b) he has never even tried. You’re right. The candidates for Tuesday’s profiles have hit the bottom of the barrel.
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There’s a smoothie/fruit cart outside my office every day…44th & 6th. One of the few food carts I’ve seen actually lower its prices since food costs went on the rise and the economy tanked. And, so much better than Jamba Juice.
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I hear Walgreens makes an excellent smoothie.
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Zach, are you being sarcastic? I mentioned during last week’s profile that it’s not going to be the easiest thing finding people to profile. You need to have a mighty thick skin to deal with the onslaught of insults a lot of people have been receiving. It’s one thing to deal with them when you’re an anonymous commenter. But it’s totally a different ballgame when your pic is out there.
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stevenp, you goat-cheese poseur!
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Dammit wayne, busted again! (Nice spelling, btw. ;)
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Just b/c someone got sick of it ONCE doesn’t mean that it gets you sick everytime. Would you shun all smoothies b/c ONE got you sick?
Not to be rude, but that kind of reasoning is pretty silly.
Just as well, that means one more seat for me @ Pam’s.
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Roll on the Bar Evue…..the profile issss sooooo “Look at me, ive got a job ,2006″
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@ Boo – To answer your first question… yes. Yes I was.
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Profile Stevenp and Wayne!
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Wow – I am stunned by the onslaught today.
I will offer this to all those who are stunned by the no Thai policy. If you send me the best Thai place near Rock center, I will go there for lunch, try it, and document it for this site. -
Save us the review. “Italy has good food!” Uhh, yeah.
Ralph Wiggum has more insight: “My cat’s breath smells like cat food.”
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Dude, you like some crappy food. Jiannetto’s does not deserve money for their stuff. Great idea, shitty execution.
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Mamacita…you mean the Bert & Ernie of MTL?
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Mamacita: only if you join us for the group…. photo.
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@ Matt – Let’s do it! I would say Topaz, but as another commenter pointed out earlier today they just got over 100 points on their last health inspection. It would probably be cruel to send you there.
I guess there is Pongsri. Although you’d probably have to go to 9th Ave. to get a taste of the really good stuff…
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Mamacita = Cookie Monster
Rudy = Oscar the Grouch
Zach = Human Authority Figure
DocChuck = Guy in raincoat with hand down pants
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he may not like thai, but at least he’s sexy… look at him drinking out of that girthy straw
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I think this is worth a trip to Wondee Siam and at least a couple of interesting dishes should be sampled (no fried rice or crispy spring rolls and call it a day)
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Well to be quite honest, I believe that those freakin’ delis are the cancer killing today’s, GOOD, food selection in NYC. I know that a lot of people like go to them, but I can’t help, but wonder if it’s b/c they, truly, have no sort of taste buds or grew up on really bad food in their lives.
It’s different when you work in an area where it’s a food desert, but this Midtown Lunch’r doesn’t. They work right in the middle of Rockefeller Center. I’m below Times Square and still manage to get myself up there. I mean…this is a foodie site. Your profile is the equivalent of posting on Star Wars site that you’ve only watched the last 3 that came out and refuse to watch the first 3 b/c you heard that they suck? What kind of response did you think that you were going to get?
As for good Thai spots, I do recommend Pam’s Real Thai. It’s not in Rockefeller, but it there is one on 49th and 9th. That’s some really good Thai food.
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I’ll never forget our camp director’s bout of diarrhea in 1991 – it changed all of our lives forever and will live in infamy as a stain on the nation of Thailand. Long live Matt and his zest for life and not very exciting food.
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I think that Matt’s choices are applaudable.
I have personally seen the wok at Variety Cafe and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Judging by Matt’s choices, he seems like the kind of person who would get sick from Thai food…I think its admirable that he chooses to stay away from such things.
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Matt, gird up thy loins and venture over to Pongsri (48th Street between B’way and 8th), and try the Red Curry (with whatever meat strikes your fancy). Their curries are relatively mild (especially the Red), and lean on the sweet side compared to the glorious fire of Wondee Siam, et al. You can handle it. Be strong.
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Camp Friend – stain was a poor choice of word.
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Also, my suspicion is that your camp counselor was detoxing from a heroin-fueled bachelor party, and blamed it on the Thai food to save face.
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Hey guys, give matt a break!! Sometimes food smells like such ass (like for me, indian food) you don’t want to go anywhere near it b/c your body is already rejecting it! For example, if I can’t stand being on the same side of the street that houses an Indian restaurant (as the smells these establishments emit regularly invoke bouts of nausea and open dry heaving), why would I need to actually walk into a restaurant, purchase some food, and put it in my mouth to confirm the fact that I feel sick just smelling it from 100 yds away??? Put it this way, if someone asks you to ingest a bag of poop, do you need to ingest it to know it is vile??? Not that I’m calling Indian food or Thai food poop food—b/c I like most Thai food, but I totally get where Matt is coming from in ruling out a cuisine….And for the record, I have tried several Indian foods accidentally, and the results have been—NOT pretty…
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I think I’m more like the grouchy old men on the balcony, Wayne.
Matt, thanks for being profiled! It’s all in good fun. Please report back on your first taste of Thai, you can redeem yourself young man!
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Goats, we are going to need to break up. My love for Indian food would doom our relationship.
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@Goats
The difference btwn you two, is that you have at least had a personal experience with the food, as opposed to this dude who hasn’t had one at all. He’s just basing it off someone else’s experience as he CLEARLY stated.
Learn how to read before you come in here with your two cents.
Also, I’m convinced that Goats & Megster are trolls.
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You Mean Waldorf & Stadler ,Mama?….. thats what i call my Love orbs…IE: they’re wrinkly with whispy hair and the stuff that comes out of them can horrify.
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If I agree to watch the next episode of Heroes, will you send me 50 bucks?
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if you’re gonna send a guy who’s fearful of getting sick from his first thai experience, curry is probably not the way to go…
perhaps something more simple like pad thai or drunken noodles. -
wayne: so which one of us is Bert?
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Rudy, Statler & Waldorf were also parsimonious, dysfunctional and prone to napping on the job
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As a fellow Matt, I am appalled at this Matt’s cowardice in the face of Thai food and hereby excommunicate him from the community of Matts. He will henceforth be referred to simply as “that wuss who never tried Thai food”.
My least favorite food that I’ve never tried is feces. Or coal. Worst answer to a midtown lunch questionairre ever.
Seriously, the least favorite thing I’ve ever eaten is durian candy. So at least I’m trying.
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Zach
I am sorely disappointed that you have chosen to showcase a “man” who eats whole wheat pasta and salads for lunch. And is, no doubt, a PA for “Days of Our Lives.”
I’ve never actually eaten LUTEFISK before, but I’d hardly tell you it was my least favorite food.
If I did, Mamacita or Wayne or McBeagle or even my dear friend “ben” would undoubtedly call me an “imbecile,” or a “moron,” or a “dimwit.” Ot perhaps just a “loser.” But they, sadly, would be right.
Luckily, I am none of those. I mean, I am not going to start consuming live shrimp or beating cobra hearts, but neither am I going to list those as my least favorite foods.
Just a few quick pieces of advice for our lanky-faced Lunch’r, “Matt:”
1. Dress shirt over fruity-tee = No No. Refer to J. Crew catalog if you insist that this is your “look.”
2. Men don’t drink long GnT’s with a straw. Butch up.
3. Hair Club.
4. Mom’s basement might be cheap, but at 27, you need your own place.
Cheers,
Chuck -
Doc Chuck has spoken, ha ha. Real men stop drinking from straws in high school. I’d also hazard that real men don’t consume smoothies. Numerous Thai and Indian places in midtown. They almost all dumb down the spicing to suit american palates. I find most Italian food to be horribly boring. If I can come to terms w/ the Brussell Sprout, you can try Thai. Dismissing a cuisine as “smelling like ass”, is akin to calling a guy a douchebag because of his pose and undershirt color.
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Low blows from the Doc.
For once, I can’t say that I disagree.
Waiting for Matt’s Thai review with bated breath–hopefully he has a coconut milk-drenched epiphany.
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@mamacita—I would gladly make indian food exceptions just for you!
@ Hungryanon–best believe you better not come near my bridge, or I, being an angry troll, will throw your dumb ass off of it! Or I may eat you, provided you don’t taste like Indian food!
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Dear DocChuck,
Does your wife approve you using other women’s photographs as her likeness? That lanky-faced woman on your MySpace profile for instance….caught with the dear-in-headlights stare while possibly wondering “Why is that strange man taking a picture of me?”
Cheers,
Ben “NMtaB”
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@ Matt and Megster: I personally saw the yellow DOH signs and vermin living in Variety. It’s only a matter of time before you get a roach in your salad (saw that too!)
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Poor Matt!
My first Thai experience involved veggie dumplings and chicken pad thai. I love Thai Food.
you wont know unless you try! So you throw up a little… you’re still alive, right?
:-) -
My first Thai experience involved a nine iron and some ice cubes.
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I love the comments on tuesdays
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glad to see that, even in tough times like these, one can still find work as a television.
(remind me never to let myself be profiled as a midtown luncher, these people get more scrutiny that presidential candidates)
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Have to give the guy credit for being willing to try Thai food now. Just hope he doesn’t poison Zach for putting his photo up …
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If he’s going to try Thai it’s gonna have to be Wondee Siam. no noodles or fried rice.
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I live for the Midtown lunch’er post on Tuesday, yes sometimes I am that sad.
For a horrible moment I thought DocChuck was not going to turn up , as Matt is not obviously one of the Ladeez.
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worst profile ever. the worst.
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@FrankieTony – No, the worst profile ever is the hundreds of unfilled out profiles from all the people who bash the profiled lunch’er every Tuesday, but don’t have the balls to put themselves out there.
Thanks Matt for taking the plunge (although, as a grown man living in NYC, you really should have tried Thai food by now. Let’s see if we can fix that)
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@Goats: Wow, those are some pretty gruff comments.
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sorry matt but you sound like a boring eater
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I think anyone who follows this site has a potential to be a fascinating eater. Just tap into that potential.
I’m still waiting for the courage to try street meat again. =X
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I personally have been to a number of restaurants recomended by Matt and they have all been wonderful. When I’m feeling bad because I have no money, Matt finds me great sushi deals. When I need energy, Matt shows me his favorite Smoothie Carts. You would all be much warmer people if you had a friend like Matt in your life.
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Jesus ,Mary and the gay guy…now matts mother terresa.
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@megster
get a room
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Hey! I did my profile! That gives me the right to bash, or warn of vermin infestation, right?
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if we got a room…matt would be eating thai food off my rock solid abs from all the health food places he’s sent me to over the years….
get back to work @manandwife.
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@stevenp: This billygoat is totally gruff!!!! And proud of it! Though I didn’t get my gruffness from indian food—LOL I left that for the troll to divert his attention while I snuck over the bridge to dine on greener pastures!
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This is what you guys get for being mean to all the Midtown Lunch’ers of the week. Now the only volunteers that will do it are what you want to read, no offense Matt.
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Man, I skip reading one tuesday and it’s crazy all up in here.
You just know potential profilers are out there thinking…
“1. wtf am i wearing in the picture that i want to send to zach
2. do i have any weird food aversions that would make ppl call me a p*ssy
3. are the regular commentators going to rip me a new one…
4. what’s my mom going to say?”ah…
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I vow to actively support all midtown lunchers who are profiled! I have been good for 2 or 3 weeks!
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Wait, I’m arriving at this party too late! I wish I could have bashed the guy a few times before he offered to try Thai food! Oh, shit! Well, dude, you’ll like Thai food. They eat all kinds of weird things. Weird! Weird things you’ve never imagined in your whole life. You’ll be all like, “What is this weird stuff? I can’t eat this!” Listen, it’s not even POSSIBLE for it to be 2009 and people who haven’t tried Thai food still exist! Fuck.
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I’m just wondering about the credability of this Matt character. I have actually witnessed him eating Thai several times, i.e. Lemon Grass on East 34th st. So while Thai may not be his favorite, he has in fact had Thai before. As my friends on Mythbusters would say “FICTION!”.
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Matt I think you are like way sexy. Want to come eat Thai off me? You can put sauce in my belly button.
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Matt, I hope your co-workers are taking you out for drinks tonight to celebrate your surviving this sick trial by fire.
In any event, don’t let the collective cruelty stick to you. We’re all miserable on account of our adventurous pallets and empty wallets. What do you expect?
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The smoothie carts on 49th and 6th and 51st and 6th will be back when it starts getting warmer. They always come back!
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There’s a war coming on Midtown Lunch… It will pit the tastebud-lacking, GMD-loving, salad-eating WASPs who “don’t like ethnic food” against the flavor-loving, GMD-hating, offal-eating cheapskates who actually like to try new things. All will be forced to choose sides. I’ve already decided that Goats will be my mortal enemy after reading him declare his hatred of Indian food (among other atrocities).
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@ Dan L – you sound like the dwarf in “In Bruges” (sorry for the obscure reference)
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Uh…I just went to Topaz yesterday and enjoyed every moment of my pork drunken noodle lunch… until I found a staple in my noodle, that is. So in addition to my staple, they didn’t pass health inspection. Awesome!! Wish I had read Zach’s comment before heading out there.
Matt – I’d also recommend Won Dee Siam. How are things at 30 rock?
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@ Dan L: It’s on like Donkey Kong!
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@Zach: You rule. I totally stole the idea from the dwarf in “In Bruges.”
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@ Miss Menu: That smoothie truck’s great.
@ Matt: Doc Chuck has his Ph.D, Player Hater Degree.
@ Everyone else: Matt’s not the most adventurous eater, but such is the authenticity of ML. Would you rather a scripted reality where all midtown workers are aspiring food critics? I like how Zach switches it up.
@ NBC employees: NBC’s still the bomb. It’s the only network I can still watch (unless one counts the CW.) I particularly love Kathie Lee and Hoda. -
@Indisputable First Lady of Fruit
>>Would you rather a scripted reality where all midtown workers are aspiring food critics?That would be the equivalent of going to a Star Wars fansite and refusing to watch the first 3 original films b/c they’re too ‘old’ or something.
You would get flamed until next millennium.
Same when you go to a foodie site. It does provide diversity, but what do you think is going to happen? -
@ HungryAnon What should one find on a foodie sight? This is an interesting question. Shall we turn to Wikipedia?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodie on Gourmets vs. Foodies:“Although the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, foodies differ from gourmets in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste who may or may not be professionals in the food industry, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news.[1] Gourmets simply want to eat the best food, whereas foodies want to learn everything about food, both the best and the ordinary, and about the science, industry, and personalities surrounding food.”
Zach, in this case, is the foodie. As such, he endeavors to explore the totality of the midtown lunching experience. ML provides the perfect cross section of the experience of eating lunch in midtown- the workers, the delis, the hidden finds, the carts, the openings, the closings, “the best and the ordinary.” I like ML precisely because it is not *just* about the food, but also about the experience of lunching in midtown, an experience of which Matt (and other flamed lunch’ers whom I’ve previously defended) is an indisputable part.
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Also, when’s the next ML Happy Hour?
There’s a smoothie cart one (intermittently) on 54th btwn Park and Mad.
Now, after waiting in the ridiculous line at Chopt (56th btwn Park and Mad) like a cow for slaughter, you can mosey over two blocks for an overpriced smoothie.