PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Doc”
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 we’re proud to welcome a really special guest to the site… it’s Street Food Week on Gourmet.com, and every day they’re posting recommendations from different cities. Yesterday was New York City and Philly, today is Portland and Seattle, and LA, SF, Zurich, SE Asia, Miami, and New Orleans will round out the week. To commemorate the occasion Gourmet’s Executive Editor John “Doc” Willoughby kindly agreed to tell us where he likes to lunch- including his favorite street cart.
Name: Doc
Age: 61
Occupation: Editor, Writer, Dog owner
Where in Midtown do you Work?: Conde Nast
Favorite Kind of Food: As long as it’s got some powerful flavors going on, it’s okay with me.
Least Favorite Kind of Food: Sea slugs and other murky creatures of the deep
Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: If I’m putting on the dog for a writer, whatever Dave says is best that day at Esca; if it’s just me and friends, samsa and bakhsh at Taam Tov (47th between 5th and 6th) or kurobuta tonkatsu at Katsu-Hama (the location on 47th between 5th and Madison).
“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? The Halal Chicken Curry Cart on 43rd and 6th (aka the Trini Paki Boys.) Our boss has spread the word, so at least a few people in the office are eating lunch from this cart every day.
Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Güllüoglu, on 52nd and 2nd. I can’t believe I didn’t hear about this in advance. Going there today.
If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? If it could be anyplace in the world, definitely Istanbul, where the street food is like a fantasy. Greasy lamb intestine sandwiches; awesome grilled corn; simit everywhere; about 25 different kinds of kebabs, best in the world; stuffed mussels; lettuce-wrapped raw ground veal kneaded to silkiness with maras and urfa peppers. Oh, man.
Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? I wonder if there are any places for a relaxed sit-down lunch in this part of town that don’t break the budget?
Oooh… my new favorite, most relaxing, sit down lunch in Midtown is without a doubt Yakitori Totto. And the best part is, you don’t have the break the Midtown Lunch $10 price cap!
Got a recommendation for Doc? Post it in the comments… And, as always if anybody would 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: 12:00 pm, September 22nd, 2009 under PROFILE: Midtown Lunch'er.
15 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
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15 Comments
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Executive Editors need bargain lunch suggestions? Guess the magazine industry is doing especially bad.
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“If I’m putting on the dog for a writer”
I’m not sure what that means, but it skeeves me out for some reason. What does “putting on the dog” mean?
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FREAK OF THE WEEK
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Steve – haven’t you heard? Print media is dying. New media is where it’s at. Sorry Doc, no disrespect intended. But I am very curious as to the answer to Goats’s question.
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@ Steve – McKinsey is doing a number on Conde Nast.
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and ‘putting on the dog’ basically means, pulling out the stops, flashing some bling, wining and dining, etc
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That makes sense then…
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I have to wonder what kind of adventurous diner this guy is since he’s narrowed down his least favorite foods as sea slugs and murky underwater creatures. Not your typical “I don’t like nuts in my baked goods” kind of specificity. Maybe he’s on assignment in Taiwan a lot?
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I recommend Sakagura for sit down lunch. It’s my favorite in midtown. I also like Aburiya Kinosuke.
I love japanese food and i am so lucky to work near these fabulous restaurants. then there is Yakitori Tory’s which is owned by yakitori Totto. There is also Soba Totto. -
@mkim – Is Tory’s open for lunch? I always thought they were, but walked by the other day and they said no…
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Doc’s smart enough not to be heading over to Conde Nast’s Bon Appetit pop up chaos today.
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Zach, you are right. They don’t open for lunch.
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A fellow Conde Nasty. This summer I had surprisingly nice work lunches at Gazala’s Place on 9th and Zereoue (Ivory Coast/French) on the other side of the park on Madison.
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I assumed he shortned “dog and pony show”
At least you’re not Cock Chug.