Midtown Lunch

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but it has been stinking hot lately. So hot, that I seriously have trouble getting my appetite up, which is quite rare. This weather makes me crave something cool, no… cold to eat. It reminds me the summer after my sophomore year in college when I worked at a park and lived in a camper with no A/C. As unhealthy as this may sound, it’s true: I “ate” nothing but milkshakes for dinner for three months because it was too hot to prepare or eat anything above freezing (and you might actually be surprised at how filling a tub of frozen cream can be).

When I heard that the Yogurt Culture Company had opened its doors, and they serve up frozen yogurt, I thought, “I’m gonna eat myself a jinormous frozen yogurt for lunch and nobody can stop me.” It’s not soda after all, it’s yogurt! And not just any yogurt, but a brand you’re probably familiar with. According to the New York Times Diner’s Journal, this place is the brainchild of Dannon.

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Morris Grilled Cheese is, to me, a dream of a food truck. The grilled cheese sandwich is a food that’s near and dear to my heart–it’s the first dish I ever learned how to make. Even though I normally don’t go out of my way for American cheese, I still love the classic American cheese on buttered white bread just for nostalgia’s sake. Then when I got a bit older, I developed a more sophisticated cheese love when I was introduced to gruyere, smoked gouda, roquefort, manchego, goat cheese… cheeses of all kine. When I saw the menu several weeks ago in this ML post, I could see that Morris Truck blends the classic sandwich, fancy-ass cheeses, and they sometimes throw in a pork product here and there–it’s almost like they made this menu just for me!

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Macaron Cafe, a place we’ve been enjoying since 2008, will celebrate the Grand Opening of its third and “flagship” location today on 3rd Ave btw. 46th + 47th. And the best part is… each customer will receive one free macaron. According to their menu, they’ll also have an $8.75 roast beef sandwich special and a $9.75 vermicelli pasta salad along with their regular lunch sandwiches and salads, which sound amazing and they’re all under $10. In addition, this Macaron Cafe will offer an expanded evening menu from 5-8 Monday-Friday that will include French wine, champagne, and petits plats (aka French tapas). Perhaps a new happy hour spot?

Freeloaders, what are you waiting for!?  You have until 8pm tonight (or until supplies run out, we’re guessing.)

Macaron Cafe, 750 Third Avenue

Do you wonder what the ML contributors do when they’re not eating lunch in Midtown? (We’re actually pretty easy to stalk!)

Dinner at Joe Beef in Montreal. Photo by Clay Williams.

Rachel escaped the heat with some cold soba, Brian checked out new style smoked fish, Donny stopped by Lonestar Taco’s booth at New Amsterdam Market, Chris was unimpressed by Kristalbelli’s fancy Korean Barbecue, Blondie insisted that you need to eat at Talde, Brownie tried out the 99 cent ice cream truck and I recapped my birthday dinner at Montreal’s Joe Beef.

Elsewhere in the ML universe… In Los Angeles, Zach listed some sandwiches worth breaking the $10 mark for – along with some that aren’t, in Philly, Jamie had beer with lunch, and Downtown, Andrea tried out a new Greek cart with tasty sweets.

Yesterday kicked off Restaurant Days at Rock Center, an outside picnic of sorts highlighting merchants at Rockefeller Center. As a long time Rock Center worker–we’re talking over 10 years now–I’m up on my lunch options in the Rock Center concourse and surrounding environs. Are Rock Center days my favorite food event of the year? No. I’ll be the first to admit that there are definitely skippable offerings, but among those ordinary (or shall we say “everyday values”) there are gems worth seeking out. I scoped out the scene yesterday and here are my picks. Read more »

It’s easy to ignore Turco Mediterranean Grill (9th Ave between 43rd and 44th St). From the outside it looks like your run-of-the-mill falafel and kebab joint, which are fairly well represented throughout Hells Kitchen. Lord knows I’ve walked by this place plenty of times without giving it a thought. But as it happened, these guys popped into my radar after a game of seamless web roulette during a late night at the office. Expecting a run of the mill plate of street meat piled onto a stale pita and limp iceberg lettuce, I was pleased to get a plate of ultra moist meat, slightly crisped on the edges, crunchy shredded vegetables, tender grilled peppers, and a fresh, pillowy sesame pita (I would later learn the pita is baked in-house). Despite their out-of-bounds location, I felt that a plate of food that good deserved a visit, and indeed it was worth it.

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I walked by this storefront-in-progress in the middle of Friday’s heat wave and burst out laughing. I mean … I couldn’t imagine anything I wanted less at that exact moment. We on this blog are not huge fans of Hale & Hearty (I fell for a completely underwhelming “Thai” chicken soup some months ago), but if you are, a new shop is under construction on 40th street between 7th and 8th avenues.

Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Elisse, a college student/summer intern who doesn’t drink coffee (!?!) and is looking for some bagged lunch recommendations.

Name:Elisse

Age: 19

Occupation: Marketing intern, also blogging here about food and other aspects of life in NYC

Where in Midtown do you work? 5th Ave. near Bryant Park

Favorite Kind of Food: Indian, Thai, and Italian. Sometimes I get a stomachache after eating spicy Indian curries but I can’t stop myself because they taste so good!

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I don’t really like takeout Chinese food (I do like more traditional dishes that are less oily, like at dim sum restaurants) but in general I’m really open to everything. I don’t drink soda or coffee.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: I love the Chopped Chickpea sandwich at ‘Wichcraft, especially when I get to eat it outside in Bryant Park. I am also obsessed with Panera (on 5th btw. 39+40th), which recently opened a couple blocks from my office; for years I have always gotten the “you pick two” deal with the Mediterranean Veggie sandwich and Asian Sesame Chicken salad. I hope they never get rid of those two items. Also, I used to intern near Certe in the West 50s and I love their soft shell crab sandwich.

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