Just a friendly reminder… today is the last day for the Bon Appetit Pop Up Cafe, so if you haven’t made it up to Lincoln Center (on 64th and Columbus) for a sandwich made by Emeril Lagasse, Michael White, Bill Telepan or Missy Robbins (all for $10 or less) you’ll want to do that today between 11am and 3pm.

Related:
Your First Look at the Now Open Bon Appetit Cafe (aka Is It Worth the Trek to Lincoln Center?)

The Bon Appetit Pop Up Cafe and Supper Club was fast becoming an “Autumn in Midtown” tradition, until they decided to move it to this year’s new center of the fashion week action in Lincoln Center. So not only will we not be able to score the random giveaways that used to happen in front of the Bryant Park Tents, they’ve also taken away our fancy prepared by famous chefs but only cost$10 lunches! Yesterday was opening day, so Brownie and I stopped by to see if the new location is worth trekking a few blocks out of bounds for.

The Cafe is staying true to tradition with affordable items created by celebrity chefs leading to a menu containing some small salads and reasonably sized sandwiches.

Of the entire menu only one item, the $13.50 lobster roll by Laurent Tournodel, is over ML’s price limit. We tried three of the sandwiches:

Michael White’s Open-Faced Tuna

Telepan’s Vegetarian Cubano (I know, the words Vegetarian and Cubano should never go together, but if they had called it a Vegetarian Panini instead we’d have no complaints about this bad boy.)

And Missy Robbins’ (?) prosciutto sandwich. All were excellently done: fresh bread, good ingredients, fast turnover.

Like the previous years, Bon Appetit also got some of New York’s best desserts on one table. This year, Brooklyn’s Baked, Momofuku’s Christina Tosi, and Le Bernardin’s Micheal Laiskonis contributed two delicious desserts each including a taste of Momofuku’s new Cake Truffles. Of course, we got a spread of the sweets with the clear winner being Baked’s Cowboy Cookie with Oatmeal, Pretzels, and Chocolate Chunks.

If you’re one of the many Fashion industry drones who will be running back and forth from Lincoln Center throughout this week, Bon Appetit’s Cafe will surely come in handy for some much needed sustenance. And if you’re someone who’s gone to the Bon Appetit Cafe every year, you should definitely make the short trek outside the ML boundaries. Though they don’t have the reusable totes again, there will be free food and drink samplings every day.

The BA Cafe will be open through Thursday from 9am to 11am for breakfast.  And 11am to 3pm for lunch. A full menu of available items can be found on their website http://www.bacafe.com/

Bon Appetit Cafe at Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall, 64th+Columbus

Related:
2009: Your First Look at the Bon Appetit Supper Club and Pop Up Cafe
2008: Lunch at the Bon Appetit Pop Up Cafe
2007: Emeril, Giada, Govind, Cat Cora, Pichet and more serve up lunch for under $10 in Midtown!

Reports are pouring in that Bon Appetit’s Pop Up Cafe (on 57th and 6th) is a madhouse today.  From Lunch’er Korovka in the comments:

“Got there at 12:05pm and there was a line of about 10 ppl. then they didn’t let anyone in for 20+ minutes, so the line stretched halfway down the block. not sure what the hold up was…”

Things weren’t much better at 1:40 when Tina (aka the Wandering Eater) twittered the photo above.

The lines might have been due to reports of credit card machines being down, which apparently lead some to dine and dash…

From Lunch’er “Liv” in the comments:

Had the JLT yesterday and it was delish. Salmon sandwich today was pretty good too. Too bad I didn’t get to try the corn soup. I had it while on line but the credit card machines broke down today and we were on line for over 20 minutes. Soup was lukewarm but then so I left with the cashier. We weren’t told we could pay by cash until 15 minutes into waiting so we just waited and waited, and watched some people start to eat, or finish their food. One man in a nice suit ate his meatballs while on line — i only realized he ate it when he held up the plate to drink the sauce, and then REMOVE the plate from his tray to place by the window so he didn’t have to pay for it. Another man ate his muffin (?) and his sandwich and left the tray by the window. I hope those on the line outside know why they were waiting — it wasn’t because it was crowded. It was because of the chaos they couldn’t control.

Related:
Your First Look at the Bon Appetit Supper Club and Pop Up Cafe

As anybody who reads this blog on a daily basis knows, I am a fat and cheap bastard. I like my lunch big, gross and inexpensive. But that doesn’t mean I can’t class it up every once in awhile. And when I eat dinner out in NYC I tend to gravitate towards the fancy spots. Basically, what I’m trying to admit is that I’m a famous chef whore. Which makes the annual Bon Appetit Pop Up Cafe for me (and those like me) one of the more exciting events in Midtown Lunch’ing. Every year, for one week we get a chance to eat some fun fast food, made by famous chefs, and it’s all under $10.

The Cafe opened at 11am this morning, and your first look at the food and space is after the jump…

It’s a different space this year, and everything is more spaced out and organized.

There’s also a large seating area upstairs once you pay for your food.

Soup station

Salad Station

Free wine samples! And Stumptown Coffee available for sale (which is exciting for any coffee nerds out there.)

New this year… a small “market fresh table” with fruit and veggies for sale.

Nate Appleman’s Vegetarian Sandwich ($8) & Jose Andres’ Serrano Ham & Manchego sandwich ($9).

Emeril Lagasse’s Roast Turkey Panini ($9)

Tom Douglas’ Salmon Sandwich ($9.50)

Cat Cora’s Brisket Wrap being made downstairs in the kitchen

Sweets!

More sweets!

The deal of the century! Daniel Boulud’s signature terrine trio ($8.50). Sure, you’re spending almost 9 bucks for a few bites of food… but it’s freakin’ Daniel Boulud. And this would probably cost you three times as much at Bar Boulud! Fat man likes a lot of food for his money. Fat man also like terrines. Oh, and the best part? It’s in the salad section! That means it’s good for you.

You can easily complain (and many will) that some of the food is too expensive for the amount of food you get (and in some cases you’d be right), but it’s a great one week a year splurge- and in the end, you’re getting good food made by chefs whose food normally cost more. Click here for a complete menu and list of daily specials. The cafe is open through Friday from 11am to 3pm.

The lines can get pretty long, so the earlier you get there the better… and we’ll see how the new layout works. Feel free to post updates in the comments…

Bon Appetit Supper Club and Cafe, NW Corner of 57th and 6th Ave

For fancy food enthusiasts and chef stalkers the biggest Midtown Lunching event of the year has finally arrived. The Bon Appetit Pop Up Supper Club and Cafe opens today at 11am, featuring pre made soups, salads, and sandwiches from some of the most famous chefs in the country. It’s basically like the fanciest Midtown deli you’ve ever seen, with daily specials, plus demos and appearances from chefs scattered throughout the week. I’m more about the food than the chefs, but if you’re a fan of Iron Chef Cat Cora, Daniel Boulud, Nate Appleman, Top Chef’s Richard Blais and Fabio Viviani, Gina DePalma or Emeril- they’re all appearing at some point this week. Here’s the complete menu of stuff for sale, plus a list of events/appearances. Also be aware the location has changed from previous years… it’s now on the NW corner of 57th and 6th Ave. Full report coming later today live from the scene. Check out last year’s coverage here.

Related:
BA Supper Club Menu Revealed
This Year’s Bon Appetit Supper Club Will Include Outdoor Seating
Day 1: Lunch at the 2008 Bon Appetit Pop Up Cafe

Related:
This Year’s Bon Appetit Supper Club Will Include Outdoor Seating

The Bon Appetit Supper Club & Cafe will be open for lunch September 21-25th from 11am to 3pm.  Mark it on your calendars!

Related:
Day 1: Lunch at the Bon Appetit Pop Up Cafe (2008)
Emeril, Giada, Govind, Cat Cora, Pichet and more serve up lunch for under $10 in Midtown! (2007)