Midtown Lunch

Today’s New York Daily News has the obituary for Hallo Berlin Cart owner Rolf Babiel:

BABIEL-Rolf, Founder of Hallo Berlin, age 57 died at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan, NY, on Wednesday, October 21, 2009. Rolf Babiel was born June 24, 1952 in Hoyerswerd, Germany. He went to school there & later worked as a machinist in the open pit at Knappenrode. At age 23, August of 1975 he moved from East to West Berlin. There he drove a milk truck at night. In 1981 he immigrated to the United States. He bought a push cart, called it “Hallo Berlin” & began to sell German Wurst.

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Photo courtesy of Blondie and Brownie

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If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” posts about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

Zach has written about Manchester Pub’s sandwich challenge entry, and Lunch’er Sir-Eats-a-Lot emailed us about a few of their newer menu items, but I thought it was about time this pub received an official once over from this lush. Manchester is pretty small on the inside and there are 3 seating options: the bar, the wobbly cocktail tables or a few long wooden tables set off to the left. On my latest visit I arrived at 5:30pm and I was lucky to snag one of the long tables.

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I can’t believe it but Rolf Babiel’s brother Wolfgang is out right now working the Hallo Berlin cart (on 54th and 5th).  The line down the street was a fine tribute to Rolf (especially on a day when other well known carts seemed a little less crowded because of the weather.)  I let Wolfgang know how sorry we were to hear the news about his brother, and asked him what happened.  He told me that Rolf had cancer, and said as far as the future of the cart goes he’s just taking things day to day… “It still isn’t real for me yet.”

Related:
Hallo Berlin Cart Owner Rolf Babiel Has Passed Away

I guess Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop (on 5th Ave. btw. 22+23rd) is less than happy about the Cupcake Stop Truck’s Tuesday, Thursday & Friday spot right across the street from their 80 year old storefront.  It’s 10 blocks outside the Midtown Lunch boundaries, but kind of appropriate to the events of the past week. Eisenberg’s can always retaliate by opening a truck in front of the Cupcake Stop’s new East Village storefront.

Thanks to Lunch’er Rob for sending along the photo.

When the news first broke that Kwik Meal was going to be opening a pasta cart on 45th and 6th (next to their very famous street meat cart) I think we were all understandably skeptical.  Nevermind the simple fact that pasta from a cart seems like it would be difficult to pull off for anybody, but even if the noodles are cooked right what would pasta even taste like made by a guy known for his lamb over rice platters?  That being said, Muhammed Rahman is a good cook.  He famously spent time cooking at the Russian Tea Room, and he even owns an Italian pizza and pasta joint up in Harlem.  So maybe it’s not far fetched.  And once the positive reviews started pouring in, I had to go check this out for myself.

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Some very sad news to report… Rolf Babiel, one of the owners of Hallo Berlin, has passed away. His unique sense of humor was a huge part of what made the Hallo Berlin cart on 54th and 5th so great, and he will be missed.  According to a worker at the 9th Ave. Express Location, the cart’s future is up in the air for now. (Got an update from his brother this afternoon… Rolf died of Cancer.)

The funeral is this weekend in Hell’s Kitchen. Our thoughts go out to all of his family and friends.

Just got some surprising news from the Street Sweets Truck, who seem to have been doing well at their spots on 50th and 6th, and in front of MoMa.  This morning they will be returning to their first Midtown spot on 55th Street btw. 5+6th Ave… the one they were kicked out of by Pret and Bistro Milano back in June (with a little help from the cops and fire dept.)  Their email didn’t really give an explanation as to why they think now is a good time to put themselves in harm way, but they seem pretty optimistic, even if it ends up just being for a “limited engagement.”  The truck plans on getting to the spot early this morning, but won’t open until 10:30am (so as not to step on the toes of the coffee vendor who parks on that same block.)  I guess we’ll see what happens…

A quick update from the owner>>

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Here we go again… on Monday select KFC locations will be giving away free Kentucky Grilled Chicken (one piece per person.)  After the Oprah/Coupon debacle back in May, it’s kind of surprising… although one free piece of chicken per person should work a little smoother.  According to a PR representative for Riese, their Manhattan KFC locations are all participating.  Get the full list here>>

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