Midtown Lunch

When yesterday’s post about the newly opened Meze Grill (on 8th btw. 55+56th) described it as a “Middle Eastern Chipotle” some commenters were quick to point that most authentic falafel and shawarma stands (here and abroad) operate in much the same way a Chipotle does.  That is, “you pick Pita or Laffa, choose protein, and pick out of an array of salads and sauces. This is a formula that has existed since the days of wandering in the desert. If anything, Chipotle is a Mexican Meze Grill.”

Right.  Except for one thing.  Meze Grill goes a little beyond just the “pick your fillings” on a buffet line formula.  The metaphor extends not just to the way the place operates, and looks… but also to its core essence.  I checked Meze Grill out yesterday, and I think once you do too, you’ll come to the same conclusion:  Meze Grill is the Middle Eastern Chipotle.

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It looks like Miss Softee, the Queen Frostine Ice Cream Truck driver, was inspired by her ice cream sandwich mash up with the Treats Truck last week.  Yesterday was her day off, and she spent it baking.  The result?  Two specials today, featuring homemade goodies.  First, a $6 sundae with a WARM brownie, vanilla ice cream, choc syrup, and a little butterscotch, plus whipped cream (that’s just a model, you can get whatever toppings you want.) The second special is also $6, and features vanilla ice cream topped with a “chilled berry-misu” (whatever that is!)  Sounds good.  She’ll be parked on 40th St. & 5th Ave. from around 12:30pm until around 6:30pm.  After that you can follow her on Twitter, or the Midtown Lunch Twitter Tracker.

Related:
PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Chrissy” (aka Miss Softee)

August is shaping up to be “Crazy New Chains” month.  After weeks of being all carts all the time, it looks like  Midtown has switched gears.  Last week it was the piada, and yesterday we heard about the middle eastern Chipotle, and the kolache.  But out of all of those, I think I’m most excited for this latest one… Barros Lucco: a new, Chilean quick service lunch spot taking over the old 99 Miles to Philly location on 52nd and 2nd.  That particular out of bounds location seems a tad bit cursed, since it has seen burgers, and philly cheesesteaks fail in succession.  But these are Chilean sandwiches!  Something you can’t get anywhere else in Midtown.

The menu will not only feature Chilean sandwiches, like the churrasco, and chacarero, but also the completo- a Chilean hot dog topped with mayo and mashed avocado.  The owner was born in Chile, and the Barros Luco website links to two posts I wrote about an actual Chilean completo and churrasco, so I have high hopes that this place will be bringing the real deal to Midtown. Want to see what they are supposed to look like?  Check it out after the jump.

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• The new Katsuhama on 55th doesn’t have an opening date yet [Midtown Eating]
• Good lunch spot for large groups in Midtown East? [Midtown Eating]
• I got some great recommendations for Jersey City eats this past weekend [Eating Outside Midtown]
• Double Confirm: Jackie Mason hangs out at the Au Bon Pain on 55th & 6th [Miscellaneous]
• Reminder: There’s a ML commenter happy hour at Rudy’s on Thursday [Midtown Connections]

Between the two new locations of Financier Patisserie coming to Midtown the one coming soon to the walkway beneath the Fox News Building (on 6th Ave. btw. 447+48th) is more of a Midtown Lunch destination.  But for those of you on the East side of Midtown TONY is reporting that their 1st Ave. location (on 54th) is now open. They’re hoping to open the 6th Ave. location in “a month to a month in a half.”

Related:
Financier Patisserie to Open Two New Midtown Locations

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown.  A few weeks ago we profiled Elizabeth, half of the team that runs the website The Skint- a great blog dedicated to the daily listing of free and cheap food, events, and other stuff around New York City. This week we profile Chris, the other half.

Name: Chris

Age: 38

Occupation: Web consultant/event lister/former corporate retail director

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Varies, but usually 38th & Madison.

Favorite Kind of Food: Thai, Korean, Indian, Mexican, olives (especially garlic-stuffed and kalamata), pickles, falafel, grilled vegetables, anything with rosemary or thyme, my mom’s Italian sauce.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Haggis, tripe, pre-packaged sushi, anything very spicy, meatloaf

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown:The chopped chickpeas sandwich from ‘wichcraft, especially when the weather’s good enough (and I have enough time) to sit in Bryant Park. Also excited about the reopening of Le Bonne Soup (on 55th btw. 5+6th). For my fried fix, I head to Popeye’s (on 40th btw. 7+8th).

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If you are a disciple of wine peddler turned internet media superstar motivator (and all around entertaining guy) Gary Vaynerchuk, you will be incredibly excited to hear this news: Wine Library TV will be broadcasting live from the Roger Smith Hotel Lab Gallery (on Lexington and 47th) all next week at 5pm (August 24-28th.)  I’m guessing this is all to promote Gary’s new book “Crush It: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion”, which comes out October 13th.

For those of you who’ve never watched an episode of Wine Library TV online, or aren’t already a convert to Gary’s unique outlook on life, you might be saying “Why should I care about this nonsense?” Well, as a guy who got to quit his job a year ago to get paid to be a fat fuck- let’s just say his new book, and general attitude of motivating people to follow their passion and get paid for it, “speaks to me”. Plus the whole thing benefits Mashable’s “Summer of Social Good”, and he’s willing to give one of you the chance to hang with him, drink some free wine (and score some free food!)

One lucky Midtown Lunch’er will get to hang inside the Roger Smith Hotel Lab Gallery during one of the broadcasts with Gary, which includes free wine (natch.) And then, get treated to free dinner for two after the show at Lily’s, the restaurant inside the Roger Smith Hotel. (Not with Gary though, unless he wants to… who knows?  You might make an impression.) All you have to do to enter the contest is tell us in the comments the one thing you’d most want to quit your job to do. (I know you’ve all got something… we work in Midtown for god’s sake.)  One winner will be selected randomly, and will get to hang in the Roger Smith Lab one day next week with Gary for a live taping of Wine Library TV, and score a free dinner for two at Lily’s (check out the menu here.)

Basically if you’ve ever wanted to quit your job to do something you love, Gary’s the guy who can motivate you to do it. Don’t want to be on Wine Library TV?  Enter anyway. You can still win the free dinner- and I’m sure you’d be able to sell the spot with Gary on Craigslist or Ebay for a ton of cash to one of his super fans (he has legions of them.)