Midtown Lunch

A few months ago, City Sandwich introduced me to trio of sandwiches which are playfully named after friends and family of the owner, Michael Guerrieri. However, up until now, I failed to familiarize myself with the ‘Nuno’ sandwich ($8.95) which is an inspired concoction of morcella (blood sausage), broccoli rabe, mozzarella, and other fixin’s, scrunched between City Sandwich’s superbly crusty and fresh sandwich rolls. Over at the Village Voice, Robert Sietsema was “knocked out” by this sandwich, and I’m inclined to agree – it’s texturally a perfect sandwich, and brims with flavor from the appealingly pungent morcella, earthy greens and creamy cheese. I would certainly encourage Midtown Lunchers to acquaint themselves with this tasty and deceptively fancy sandwich (even thought it’s technically one avenue out of bounds.)

Do you think Kwik Meal makes the best Street Meat? Is Five Guys better than Shake Shack?  And who has the best coffee?  You have until 2pm today to cast your votes in the 2010 Midtown Lunch Reader’s Poll. And remember, you can’t complain unless you vote!  Check out all categories here>>

For those of you who don’t check the ML Forums regularly (what’s wrong with you, btw!) this big news got posted last week by Lunch’er Kopper:  “After an experiment on the East Side that did not go as well as hoped, Omar, the longtime operator of Little Morocco on 39th and 7th is back. So our neighborhood finally has a quality cart again and in addition, he said he was going to add some new items in January. He was working on a new seasoning for the fish and would also be bringing back Kofte. So feel free to drop by and say hi. Its great to have him back.”   Hard to disagree with that!

It was a sad day when Piece of Chicken closed: The last vestige of the New Orleans style restaurant Jezebel. The small take out window provided west-siders with $1-2 fried chicken, livers, collards, waffles and mac & cheese. It was a godsend after a few pitchers at Rudy’s bar (or many of the 9th Avenue dives) and was also a great inexpensive lunch option in Midtown. However, when one door closes another opens, and Smiler Gourmet Deli (on 9th Ave at 45th) located on the opposite corner of the former POC has begun to promote their “Crunchy Chicken,” taking advantage of the locals need to grab something satisfying that is both fast and easy. The special is four pieces for $2.99. That is even cheaper then POC! I had to check it out.

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Schnitzel & Things isn’t the only big truck news this morning… this year’s Vendy Award rookie winner, the Souvlaki GR Truck, will also be opening a brick and mortar location at 116 Stanton Street in the Lower East Side. Sadly, this is bad news for Flatiron Luncher’s hoping to get their fix of souvlaki in the new year.  According to Fork in the Road the truck will be out of commission for all of January while they plan for the new location. (A bunch of BS if you ask us!)  And if that wasn’t enough, this morning’s hot cup of irony comes from Robert Sietsema- who posted a pretty meh review of the brick and mortar shop that 2008 Vendy Award winner Calexico opened in  Greenpoint.

2011 is only 3 days old… is it too early to say this will be the year that food trucks go stationary?

Related:
Flatiron Lunch: Souvlaki GR Truck Gets Comfortable on 21st

Not sure what it is about the holidays, but it seems like every year around this time there is always some kind of big opening or closing- and this year’s bombshell dropped over the weekend…  The Schnitzel & Things Truck has signed a lease for the old Kushi Q space (on 3rd Ave. btw. 45+46th) where they plan to open a brick and mortar store in late February, early March.  This is actually just the latest in what appears to be a new trend among food trucks.  Last week the truck formerly known as NYC Cravings made their big jump to brick and mortar, opening Bian Dang in the new Food Gallery 32.  And, of course, The Dessert Truck, Cupcake Stop, and Calexico have had their brick and mortar locations up and running for awhile.

The plan for the new location is to carry all your favorites from the truck, plus add veal to the menu as a permanent option. There were also be a few new side dishes, and tons of specials- some of which they’ve been tinkering with for the past few months on the truck.  We’re also hearing rumors that for dessert they’ll be selling various goodies from the Treats Truck.  As for Midtown West, and the rest of NYC’s schnitzel fans, don’t worry too much.  The truck will continue to operate just like before.