Win a New York City Street Food Walking Tour (With Me)
Every month Foodbuzz, the amazing company that allows me to do Midtown Lunch for a living, features 24 meals, by 24 food websites, all held in the same 24 hour period. This month’s 24/24/24 goes down on Saturday October 24th, and they have graciously donated the money to pay for ten people to go on a street meat tour of Midtown Manhattan with yours truly. That day I’ll lead a group through Midtown on a tasting of 5 of the best chicken and lamb over rice vendors that New York City has to offer (a mini Street Meat Palooza of sorts.) You’ll not only get to try specially made sampler plates at each stop on the tour, but you’ll also get to hear the stories of how each cart came to be, and get to meet the vendors themselves. It’s got something for everybody! (Out of towners and die hard Midtown Lunch’ers alike.)
To enter to win just post a comment below saying why you’re worthy of the prize. 5 winners will be drawn at random on Monday, October 19th, and each winner will be allowed to bring a friend. The tour will take place at Noon on October 24th, and will last around an hour and a half (2 hours tops). All the food and drinks are included, but you’ll have to make your way to Midtown yourselves!
Posted by Zach Brooks at 10:00 am, October 14th, 2009 under Contest.
116 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
116 Comments
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I promise not to beg and whine as blatantly as StreetMeasTumor.
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Why I feel like I deserve to win, a short essay. (rough draft)
One upon a time, a long time ago, I started working in this great metropolis and I was a poor lad. Barely enough to get by on. But I was a hungry lad, so I did what I had to do, I look around corners, in loading docks, went into undesirable doorways to find a deal. This started my love for cheap and tasty food. I noticed how, for some strange reason, when you spent more at the “bigger, fancier” places, you get less flavor. Sure they tasted alright, but they were lacking depth. But when you went to the shady back ally places, they used things that those big places considered contraband. Things like spices and traditional cooking techniques that imparted big bold flavors to whoever dared eat there. I got hooked. There wasn’t a day where I didn’t want something bold and would make me regret why I even considered eating that much hot sauce and grease. It was a drug. A wonderful life liberating drug. I was getting big flavors and actually enjoying my lunches without spending my precious beer money. It was like I was king of the world and nothing could stop me (aside from the impeding ulcer that I’m sure to eventually get). Being in the hood of midtown south west, I had a whole row of awesomely cheap eats. Every major ethnicity was around the corner. Then something happened, something dark and sinister. One by one, they started closing. The Cuban place, the Chinese Mexican place, and so on. Then the unthinkable happened… in one fell swoop, the rest disappeared. Mt “dolla holla” pizza place closed. Cheap Chinese, and cheap Indian gone too. The neighborhood was decimated. I stand here heartbroken, longing for just a bite of actual, honest flavor… but alas, I have no idea where to turn. I had it all and lost it all. They say it’s better to love and lost than to never of loved again. I disagree, I now know what I’ve lost, and am bitter about it. So won’t you please bring some sunshine back into my life, let me know lunch is a meal worth living for again? I want to still have hope…
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Pick me because I am the perfect storm of the negative stereotypes of a food blogger:
Asian, nerdy, spends a disproportionate amount of disposable income on food, bad sense of style, worships Tony Bourdain and David Chang, smugly recounts the nice restaurants I go to to my friends and internet strangers, goes to restaurant openings and then runs home to be the first to review the place on Yelp, and pokes a camera into everything I eat. -
I used to be a midtown luncher and have been following this blog for a while. Now I’m downtown. I love Daniel’s doowntown lunch updates but they’re infrequent and sometimes too far a walk from my office. I miss midtown lunching!
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I deserve it cause I want to say “I win” with a mouth full of combo platter and have all the “regular” ML posters to get pissed cause a “no one” won.
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I deserve it because I’ve done my best to sample everything near where I live, but need the experts to show me the way in Midtown. Plus, I’ve always wanted to really hear from the vendors.
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I’d love to go and experience these carts with like-minded, food hungry people. I’ve gotten some great dining tips from ML and would like to thank Zach in person for introducing me to Cafe Zaiya! :)
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I want to win beacause I would love to try the “BEST” chicken and rice according to Zach the rockstar of Midtown. I’ve been honored to try Carnegie John’s to Freddy’s to Mustafa’s, and I believe that I have had the best chicken and rice. This tour could change my appetite and my mind about this wonderful street food.
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Just don’t pick DocChuck…but if you do, at least you’ll be somewhat shielded by the presence of some of the other folks
And if you pick Goats, make sure you hit up all the places that include cilantro, curry, and offal – if possible, all in the same dish
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I love street meat! I’m in!
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Hi Zach — long time listener, first time caller. I am worthy of this great reward because if I’m hungry right now (and I am), imagine how hungry I’ll be on the 24th! Thanks.
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Oh, I’m so down. And I will vow to be pleasantly drunk for the entire hour.
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Zach I live out of town, in CT, but I would make sure I would make it down for the tour if I am lucky enough to get picked. It would be a gas, and I would bring Formz with me as my guest as he is my son.
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After ducking a commute to NYC for 30 years I started working in Midtown last April. I think I’ve made a pretty good start at identifying my lunch options, but I could definitely use some expert guidance. I think you have a moral obligation here, Zach.
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I deserve to win because I have been training for this day my entire life.
-I routinely eat handfuls of questionable meat products I find on the street to build up my immune system.
-I have learned 7 regional variations of Arabic to best communicate with my favorite Yemeni vendor.
-I have been arrested on more than one occasion for stabbing someone who takes more than 30 seconds to order. (JK-not really)I am SkinnyFatty
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I’m not pheasant plucker, im the pheasant pluckers son.
I’m only plucking pheasants ’till the pheasant plucker comes.Say it fast.
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pick me!
i was too scared to eat street meat until i started reading midtown lunch and now i’m the one trying to convince my friends it’s not scary. it would be an honor to be taken on a tour by you, zack.
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Pick me because you can.
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Because I lived on Halal food 5 days a week during my underpaid college midtown internship years.
Because I’ve eaten at almost every street cart in midtown and would like to know more about them.