Midtown Lunch

I’m a big fan of the quality of ingredients you get at ‘wichcraft. Actually, I’m a big fan of anything Tom Colicchio does. I don’t mind trading quantity for quality here and there, so when they updated their seasonal items for summer, you can bet I was in Bryant Park, standing in line to try them. And by “them,” obviously I mean all of them! Although I don’t think any of these are menu newbies, some are definitely old friends that I was happy to see return to the mix (others … not so much).

Warm and melty with the white cheddar, this sandwich was total comfort food. Blackened flank steak was topped with romesco, grilled red onions and aged cheddar on grilled country bread. What really brightened up the flavors was the romesco sauce. (Coincidently, I saw that Williams Sonoma sells it, and having really enjoyed it on this sandwich, I picked up a jar for myself.) Even though this sandwich is on sliced bread and not a more hearty roll like ciabatta, its fillings are heavy and will probably keep you full until dinner. This sandwich ($9.87) was a total gut bomb, in the best sense of the term.

I’ve actually had the local zucchini & mozzarella sandwich ($7.12) before — I fell in love with it last summer and was glad to see it return to the menu. Not only did it include zucchini and mozzarella, but also basil, Parmesan and roasted tomatoes on grilled country bread. Caution: this was a much lighter sandwich than the flank steak, so like Zach explained in in his fat man’s guide to ‘wichcraft, you might need to supplement with something else like a soup or side.

This season’s frittata sandwich will run you $6.88 and included local asparagus, English peas and aged cheddar on a ciabatta roll. While pretty tasty, last season’s earthy roasted mushroom frittata sandwich was more a interesting combination, in my opinion. I wasn’t crazy about the ciabatta this time around and think I would have enjoyed a different kind of bread — perhaps the country bread from the mozzarella sandwich would work better for this. Although, then it wouldn’t really be enough for lunch. Perhaps I just caught them on an off day, but the ciabatta was kinda stale and didn’t do it for me.

I just can’t get excited for chicken salad, but I took one for the team and tried it anyway. ‘wichcraft offers a free-range chicken salad sandwich with walnuts, slow roasted tomatoes, pickled red onions & frisée on multigrain bread ($9.64). The chicken, large chunks of white and dark meats, was very moist and tasty. So, I guess for chicken salad, this was pretty good … but I can’t think of an occasion where I would elect for a chicken salad sandwich for lunch, especially not for the money. I will say, though, if you’re looking for a speedy option, this sammie’s a good bet since there is no heat element — I was outta there in a jiffy.

‘wichcraft, multiple locations