Midtown Lunch

Fresh and Hearty is a new truck that just started appearing on the street in the last few weeks. I caught them parked on 45th Street near 6th Avenue last week. They were across the street from Pret A Manger, which is not really a great place to park if you’re going to be selling generic sandwiches, soups, and salads.

The menu wasn’t terribly exciting and the prices were moderate to high. They seem to really be pushing their combo deal which gets you a soup and a half panini for $8 or a soup and salad for $7. No soda or chips?

As the weather has warmed up, I’m not particularly in the mood for soup. And we all know how ML feels about salads. So instead, I asked the guy if it was possible to get two half sandwiches. He said that wasn’t something they normally do but he’d make it happen. He charged me $7 for two half sandwiches. Score!

I left with the Mediterranean Chicken and the Turkey Muenster Jam. The half sandwiches together seemed to make a nice sized sandwich. I figured this would be enough for lunch, but was surprised when I got hungry again about an hour later.

These were called paninis, but the sandwiches weren’t terribly hot and the cheese was certainly not melted. I can’t imagine they were actually grilled. However, the crusty rosemary ciabatta was nice.

The chicken was a bit dry and the chipotle hummus needed to be more prevalent for some smoky spice. The feta, roasted red peppers, and cucumbers were fresh but they were placed down rather sparingly.

The turkey sandwich had some more kick from a spicy Dijon mustard and sweet grilled onions, but again this was a rather underwhelming sandwich. Ingredients were fresh, but the sandwiches themselves were just ok. They would certainly do in a pinch, but if I was looking for generic, uninspired sandwiches like this, I would go to Pret across the street. And probably get more for my money.

Fresh and Hearty is moving around the city, but should be on 47th btw. Park+Madison today. Check their Twitter feed to be sure.