PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Jessica”
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 Jessica, a Midtown sales/marketing lunch’er who can cook a meal on the streets of NYC for under $12.
Name: Jessica Hartley
Age: 26
Occupation: Sales Development/Marketing (I also have a blog called Hartley Confections, and I’ll be starring in a webisode called the $12 Challenge on Food Network’s new blog, Food 2 in the next few months. Essentially its a cooking and dating show where you compete to win a date with a foodie by using your culinary skills to prepare a fabulous meal given $12, two hours and the new york city streets as your kitchen.)
Where in Midtown do you Work?: Midtown East
Favorite Kind of Food: Hamburgers, Lasagna, & Mexican Food
Least Favorite Kind of Food: Korean
Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Gourmet 53 (on 53rd & 3rd) for their salad assortments. You get a salad, homemade pita chips, & a cookie for $5.50. I also like Zarela’s for special occassions. It’s my favorite Mexican restaurant in the city! Plus Asian Station (on 52nd btw. Lex+3rd), PJ Clarke’s (on 3rd & 55th), Thai 51 (on 51st btw. 2+3rd), and Yama 49 (on 49th & 2nd.)
“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? Gourmet 53. How can you beat that deal?
Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Crisp (on 3rd btw. 43+44th)
If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Upper West Side. They have so many fabulous restaurants that I’ve yet to try because I live & work on the east side.
Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? How often do you go out for lunch versus bring your own lunch?
Uh… I eat lunch out 5 days a week! As always if you’d like to be next week’s Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d like to nominate), email me at zach@midtownlunch.com.
Posted: 11:50 am, July 14th, 2009 under PROFILE: Midtown Lunch'er.
31 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
ADVERTISEMENT
31 Comments
-
-
perhaps if it gets hot enough during the summer, you can fry an egg on a manhole cover. Plus, you get the added bonus of that gritty city flavoring :)
-
that’s disgusting.. hahaha..
how can u not like korean food… booo to u -
Actually I watched one of the episodes of that show and somebody fried an egg on a hot iron borrowed from a dry cleaners.
-
White Castle, ew or yum, queue Freak of the Week.
-
Very pretty! The White Castle’s the dealbreaker for me, it’s a “yum” for me and a “YUM” for the fact that she’s eating one, hehe
PS: Check this out, Zach! http://eater.com/archives/2009/07/turf_wars_2.php
-
zach, wow frying an egg on a hot iron? i’d never even think of that!
anywho, jessica, you need to give korean food a chance! i didn’t like it much at first either cus i wasn’t going to the right places or ordering the right things. then a korean friend enlightened me, and my life was changed forever.
-
Always a blog link….it’s like a cyber village of the damned.
-
I’ve cut back to going out for lunch from every day to once or twice a week, which makes this website even more essential for the few times I do spend $$ on lunch.
Awesome picture, looks like you’re at a Moby concert serving White Castles.
-
White Castle was a great perk at the Pencils of Promise Charity White Party I attended last month. And I must say, after a few cocktails, they were delicious! More bun than burger though…
And Korean food… I don’t mind bimibop. I love the idea of mixing many ingredients together and how the rice crisps up at the bottom of the bowl. What else do you suggest I try?
And, I haven’t taped the $12 Challenge yet, any suggestions on what I can make for my potential food love?
-
If you could work anywhere for the food you’d choose the upper west side? Seriously? Because you crave mediocre pizza and overpriced chinese food? If you’re favorite foods are burgers, lasagna and mexican, may I suggest you revise this answer to, perhaps include somewhere with decent italian or mexican restaurants (is there a burger district?), like, for example, carroll gardens or jackson heights.
And, if I may make a humble suggestion as someone who formerly worked close to where your local restaurants are, you should go to Jimbo’s Burger Place for lunch and have a cheeseburger. Cheap and delicious and utterly lacking in ambience.
-
boolgogi is a pretty easy transition into Korean food…
-
I agree, alcohol seems like a mandatory prerequisite before enjoy WC sliders.
Not sure what your feelings about sushi are but kimbap which is Korea’s version of sushi rolls with primarily cooked ingredients (veggies, egg, seafood, beef, etc.) is also an easy transition.
If not a sushi fan, stick with the boolgogi/barbecue beef like sushiburger recommended.
-
FREAK OF THE WEEK
(sung to the tune of ‘We Will Rock You’ by Queen)
Freak of
Freak of
The Week
*stomp stomp clap*
Sing it!Freak of
Freak of
The Week
*stomp stomp clap*Freaky you’re the man
on an eats blog
Eatin in the street
gonna be big deal Tues day
You got sauce on your face
A big halal plate
Stuffin your piehole all over the placesingin
Freak of
Freak of
The Week
*stomp stomp clap*Freak of
Freak of
The Week
*stomp stomp clap* -
Clearly, the way to my heart is through food cooked in a public microwave at 7-11.
The correct answer is actually through White Castle (that’s not a joke).
-
Sorry but I have to agree with trokenmatt.
-
doesnt like korean food? we couldnt be friends then.
-
Not liking Korean food…..she should be Spayed.
-
Say no to Korean food. Kimchi is gross! I’m with you, but I haven’t brought lunch from home in 2009 and don’t intend on doing it ever again (unless I have some really amazing Thai leftovers since we’re in a Thai food wasteland here).
-
her wanting to work on the upper west side reminds me of the quote from the Jersey boy Tru Life. “I go to the Jersey Shore to escape the hustle and bustle of North Jersey”
-
Overall pedestrian and bland preferences. Seems like she’d be better off living in the Midwest or something.
-
I had woorijip for lunch. Mm… koreans….
-
Oh, I forgot to answer the question about bringing lunch from home. I bring lunch from home a few times per year. My lunchtime rotation involves Halal guys at 53rd and 7th, Jamaican dutchy, Korean from Cafe Duke, Vietnamese from Bos Lucky Sunday, and scrounging to find something new on the fifth day.
-
OKAY since I am rested up and back from vacation, I guess I can manage answering Jessica’s question. I actually bring lunch almost everyday. I really only have the $$ to buy my lunch at most once a week. I usually spring for a treats truck purchase a few times a month, but ML goes a long way making sure I get the best value for my paltry allowance. Though I’m stuck in a bit of a Kwick Meal II falafel rut lately. (today they were super cute and insistent that I take their flyer/menu with press clippings about Fox and Friends but NO MENTION OF MIDTOWNLUNCH!)
-
Welcome back Sarah.
I’m mean now.
-
despite your recent scolding, Rudy? I’m shocked, frankly.
-
just a girl hoping for lurid comments and doing some shameful self promoting.
like an itunes celebrity playlist where the pr agency phoned it in and there’s no explanations about the songs chosen and it’s a total waste of time.
-
wow some people are really mean
-
i love me some white castles
-
[...] Lunch: No Go Sushi Posted on July 15, 2009 by jessicahartley In lieu of my appearance on Midtown Lunch yesterday afternoon, I felt it was appropriate to talk about well, lunch in Midtown. Though [...]
-
[...] Lunch: Sushi A-No-Go Posted on July 15, 2009 by jessicahartley In lieu of my appearance on Midtown Lunch yesterday afternoon, I felt it was appropriate to talk about well, lunch in Midtown. Though [...]
Explain to me how I would cook on the streets of nyc…