Midtown Lunch

Becoming a mobile vendor is not quite as easy as ehow would have you believe. So in anticipation of Softee Season 2011 we’ve asked Chrissy (aka Miss Softee) to show us the process of what it takes to become an ice cream vendor in Midtown. So far you’ve met the first few hires here and here, we’ve seen what it takes to get your paperwork in order to become a licensed mobile vendor, and we’ve seen where the trucks live. This week the crew begins to ready the trucks to hit the streets. Take it away Miss Softee!

Soo… just a quick recap on what’s already happened in the process to becoming a licensed mobile food vendor (MFV). These candidates have gone through the application and interviews, reference checks, they’ve  registered to take the MFV food safety class, applied for their tax paperwork, took the actual MFV class, and finally the day has come that they have all the paperwork necessary to head down to the Department of Health and Consumer Affairs down by Wall Street and apply to be mobile food vendors!!  Every time a potential RollingCone hire calls me to say that their paperwork is in and they’re ready to apply, I swear, you can hear the 5 year old kid in their voice because they’re that much closer to becoming an ice cream vendor. (And the whole process is a huge pain the ass!) This is a true labor of love, kids.

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While veal, pork and the Schnitz Burger might get all the play here at Midtown Lunch, this is another schnitz. A Lenten Friday friendly schnitz. A cod schnitz.  The cod schnitzel was one of the very first things I ordered from Schnitzel & Things when they first hit the streets in July of 2009. Available at the truck and S & T’s brick and morter as both a sandwich ($8 on the truck/$8.50 at the store) and a platter with two sides ($10 on the truck/$9.95 at the store). The cod is tender and not overly fishy and the breading gives it a wonderful crunch. While the sandwich will run you more than a filet o’ fish or a fried fish sandwich from Kim’s Aunt, it’s a high quality fish and price-wise it is on par with the Oyster Bar’s fish sandwich options. If you don’t mind paying a little more for your fried fish lunch, this is a good one to try.

The truck is on 52nd and Lex today, or you can head over to their new storefront.

Every Friday our man UltraClay goes south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

Afghan food is one of the many underrepresented cuisines of Midtown and Flatiron or around the rest of New York as far as I’ve seen. There are two pretty well known places on 9th Ave. in the 50s (Afghan Kebab House and Ariana Afghan) but that’s a bit of a hike for those of us who work in the southern reaches of Midtown. So, when someone told me about Bamiyan, on 3rd and 26th street, it went straight onto my to do list.

Earlier this week, a friend and I met up for lunch to check it out.

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• I’m looking for buffalo chicken pizza [Midtown Eating]
• The Air France truck served free pain au chocolat and mushroom crepes this morning [Midtown Eating]
• The Counter is good if you don’t add cranberries and cole slaw! [Midtown Eating]
• Please vote for Brownie’s pie!!! [Miscellaneous]

Last weekend I stopped by the Kelvin Slush Truck as they marked the first day of spring by giving away all proceeds to Red Cross Japan relief. While I was at the truck I couldn’t resist asking about their spring schedule. They should be back on the road for the season starting April 1st and while they’ll be returning to their Flatiron spot on 22nd and 5th, they’ll also be moving around the city and said they’d give midtown a shot with the caveat that it’s hard to find a space to park and the cops seem to be cracking down more on vendors in midtown. In the interest of getting slush to midtown, I thought we could help them out. Any good spots you guys can suggest for Kelvin?

About two weeks, Coco Fresh Tea & Juice opened its storefront on 45th, the second US store for this Taiwanese chain. According to commenter “hungryteresa” the chain is considered one of the better chains in Taiwan- meaning its a big score for Midtown East. I managed to stop by last week to check it out.

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