Midtown Lunch

According to Thrillist, Kolache Mama is on track to open the first of what they hope will be many franchises on September 30th.  As we reported last month, the first location will be on 45th btw. Park+Madison, and will feature sweet and savory Czech pastries known as kolaches.  A menu has been posted on their website and it’s suprisingly ok looking.  The best part?  They’re only $3 each, 2 for $5.

Related:
Kolache Mama Looks to Bring Czech Pastries to the Masses

• Anybody looking for a VIP ticket to the Vendy Awards? [Miscellaneous]
• A list of spots to eat if you don’t want to sit at your desk [Midtown Eating]
• Don’t order hot tea at TGI Fridays [Midtown Eating]
• What did you have for breakfast today? [Midtown Eating]
• “Stop writing about food carts!”  Really? [Miscellaneous]

It’s Miss Softee’s last week parking in Midtown for the summer (and possibly forever if she finds something she likes doing more), and to celebrate she’s having a “special extravaganza” all week long.  Basically, every day this week she’ll be featuring almost every amazing special she’s ever served- all at the same time!  Stop by at some point before the end of the week to have your favorite for the last time.  Plus, on Friday there will be a special going away party from 4-8pm at a location TBD.  Follow her twitter (or the ML Twitter Tracker) for all of the up to minute updates.

Related:
PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Chrissy” (aka Miss Softee)
Meet Queen Frostine: The Ladies of Mister Softee

Remember that blogging thing at Whole Foods I’m doing next Thursday? Well the people at Whole Foods saw some of your comments about price, and said they’d be happy to knock off $10 off the ticket for any Midtown Lunchers who wanted to come. Just use the code MIDTOWNFAN when purchasing your ticket here for the discount. Already bought your ticket? Email them (nehou.culinary.center@wholefoods.com) and they’ll credit you the $10 give you 20% off the cost of another class. ($15 for 2 hours of my exciting insight into the world of blogging.  What could be better?  Come to think of it… don’t answer that.)

Photo courtesy of @twanderingeater via Twitter

Reports are pouring in that Bon Appetit’s Pop Up Cafe (on 57th and 6th) is a madhouse today.  From Lunch’er Korovka in the comments:

“Got there at 12:05pm and there was a line of about 10 ppl. then they didn’t let anyone in for 20+ minutes, so the line stretched halfway down the block. not sure what the hold up was…”

Things weren’t much better at 1:40 when Tina (aka the Wandering Eater) twittered the photo above.

The lines might have been due to reports of credit card machines being down, which apparently lead some to dine and dash…

Read more »

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).

Read more »

The New York Daily News is the latest media outlet to write about street vending as a legitimate money making opportunity, in an article in their money section yesterday.  They’re following in the footsteps of countless other publications who have written trend pieces about the explosion in street vending here in New York City (including the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times.)  It’s refreshing to see the Daily News mention some things that the mainstream media usually ignores (like how much of an impact the weather has on business, and how important private events are to these new crop of trucks) but they still left out an important warning to entrepreneurs looking to get into this business: for all the hype that most of these vendors have generated, none of them are making real money.

Read more »

Got this email from Lunch’er Nicholas last week:

A while back you made a very brief mention of just a out of bounds “Picnic on 57th” (57th just east of Lexington). Well it opened on Monday and I tried it out today. The place looked like a generic Deli walking in but i was hungry and running out of time on my lunch hour so i settled on their “Boneless Wild Berry BBQ Rib Hero” (that’s how it was written on their chalk board…no description otherwise….yes it was a gamble). Well… imagine my face as the sandwich guy (who had clearly never made the sandwich before) began assembling the baguette with (mostly) boneless BBQ riblets (shortrib i think), then roasted corn, grilled onions and finally french fries. He even had to incredulously ask the other sandwich guy if it really meant french fries! It was $8.50 before tax. I’ve attached a cell-phone photo for you…

Read more »