Midtown Lunch

I like the sweet stuff just as much as the next guy, but desserts are not exactly my area of expertise. I tried the chocolate chip cookie from the Street Sweets Truck, and thought it was fine, but for a comprehensive look at their offerings I decided to turn to Kathy YL Chan, our resident coffee, sweets, and Hawaiian food expert here on Midtown Lunch (she’s also the blogger behind A Passion for Food.) She “sacrificed” herself by trying a good number of the Street Sweets Truck offerings, and filed this Top 5.

First the Treats Truck, then Dessert Truck, Wafels & Dinges, and now the Street Sweets Truck (followed by the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck). It would be easily to shake one’s head at the severe overflow of baked good and dessert oriented trucks in the city, but as far as I’m concerned (from a consumer perspective) the more, the merrier.

Unlike the other aforementioned trucks, Street Sweets Truck sets itself apart by being tied to a stone and mortar bakery in Brooklyn, One Girl Cookies. One Girl Cookies bakes a good number (but not all) of the products sold at the SS truck, including a selection of One Girl Cookies and some goods exclusively made for for SST.

I sampled my way around a good portion of their products, and while nothing is “the best of its kind”, as a whole SST is a notch above Treats Truck, the most comparable of moving dessert vehicles in town. Below, the top five to note for your next SST visit.

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If you love the concretes they serve at the Shake Shack, but don’t have time to make it to the UWS or Madison Square Park on your lunch break, you’ll want to pay attention to this news. Spoon City, a tiny take out soup, sandwich, and ice cream window has just opened on 5th Avenue btw. 33+34th serving the exact same frozen custard they serve at the Shack. They’re not affiliated in any way, but according to the guy behind the counter Spoon City uses the exact same machinery, and the same ingredients vendor that the Shake Shack uses.

Normally I don’t know if I can tell the difference between ice cream and “frozen custard” (which apparently is a Coney Island specialty) but I do know this: the Shacky Road concrete from the Shack Shack is freakin’ amazing, and if this Spoon City can even replicate a bit of that magic here in Midtown, I’m all for it!

In other words, how could I walk all the way over there and not order something…

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Although recently they’ve been really good about it, I’ve given the Riese Company a lot of crap over the years for not participating in various free food promotions at some of their Midtown franchises.  Well after reading this news on the NRN Website I’m here to say I TAKE IT ALL BACK:

The Riese Organization, a longtime multi-concept franchisee in New York City, is converting all 13 of its Dunkin’ Donuts stores to the Tim Hortons brand… Riese said he plans to close the Dunkin’ locations on Friday and reopen the stores July 13 under the Tim Hortons banner.

According to a different article on NRN, Tim Hortons also has cut a deal to co-brand three Manhattan locations of Cold Stone Creamery with Tim Hortons (including the Times Square location on 42nd btw. 7+8th), which will hopefully clear the way for items like  “muffin ‘bowls’ (i.e., with the tops removed) to serve ice cream in, ice cream-based coffee drinks or donut piece mix-ins for the ice cream as potential exclusive menu items at the co-branded locations.” My lord.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Tim Hortons, it is basically the Canadian version of Dunkin Donuts started by a famous hockey player named Tim Horton (natch). I’ve only had it once (on a road trip to Montreal) and I can’t speak for their doughnuts- but based on their iced cappuccino alone I am pretty excited to welcome Tim Hortons to Midtown with open arms! It is like ice cold crack in a cup, and I will probably drink one every day between now and the end of the summer.

As for why Riese is no longer in business with DD, the original article goes on to note that Dunkin Donuts claims to have terminated their contract due to “violated health and safety regulations”. (Not a surpise to anybody who has walked into a Tad’s Steak.) I don’t care either way… I will take a dirty Tim Hortons over no Tim Hortons any day of the week. As long as they don’t screw up those iced cappuccinos.

A list of all Riese owned Dunkin Donuts locations (which will presumably become Tim Hortons locations on Monday) is after the jump.

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The annual summertime Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory stand has returned to Pershing Square.  It is set up on 42nd and Park, right next to the restaurant Pershing Square, and Blondie and Brownie are reporting that they will be open from Noon to 7pm seven days a week until August.  The dirty little secret… Pershing Square (the restaurant) sells Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory ice cream all year long on their menu (but it’s obviously a lot more fun buying from an outdoor stand!) [Blondie and Brownie]

Here’s a strange marketing decision… Remember Golosi, the by the inch pizza and gelato place that took over the old Yolato spot on Park Ave. btw. 41+42nd.  Well, it looks like they are now selling Golosi branded gelato in other locations. (Thanks to Lunch’er Dave for sending in this photo of Golosi being sold in the Old Bridge Deli on Lex. and 41st.) I thought we had confirmation that Golosi was pretty much the same owners and product as Yolato, but in different packaging.  So it seems strange that they would do anything to confuse the situation.  Yolato is already being sold at a large number of Midtown delis. I tried to get more info on their website, but it’s just a static page designed to look like a website.  Very strange… UPDATE: Apparently any similarities between Golosi and Yolato (and there are a lot of them) are just a coincidence. A rep from Golosi has emailed in to say that “Golosi and Yolato are two different companies with different owners.” And their website is under construction. Their “temporary website” (an online ordering page, run by Seamless Web) can be found here.

A few things have happened since Kathy YL Chan (from A Passion for Food) compiled her Food Porn Guide to Navigating Cafe Zaiya (on 41st btw. Mad+5th) for Midtown Lunch. Beard Papa is now gone, replaced by a coffee and dessert bar.  Since Kathy is our resident coffee, dessert, and Cafe Zaiya expert we told her to go whole hog on their new offerings and report back.  Here is what she found…

Since you’ve already had a first look at the menu and set up of Cafe Zaiya’s new coffee and dessert station, let’s just get straight to the point. The best thing on Cafe Zaiya’s new drink bar menu is SHAVE ICE. It’s near impossible to find shave ice in this city, much less a decent bowl of shave ice. It’s a terribly painful fact for someone who grew up in Hawai’i, consuming shave ice bowls on a daily basis. Zaiya’s shave runs $3.79 for a small and $4.29 for a large, and comes in one flavor: Green Tea. Unlike most places which fill the cup with shave ice and then put on the syrup, Zaiya fills half the cup with shave ice then pours on green tea syrup and plenty of condensed milk. Then more ice, till it forms a decent mound, and then more syrup and condensed milk.

How about the toppings?

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Photo courtesy of Kathy YL Chan from A Passion for Food

It looks like Cafe Zaiya’s new dessert and drink bar has opened (where the Beard Papas used to be) and Kathy YL Chan is already on the scene.  She laments the loss of the delicious cream puffs, but the black sesame frappe she posted about on Serious Eats New York looks pretty amazing.

A look at the complete menu of drinks (and shaved ice!?) is after the jump…

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Got a little bit of sad news from the Papa Perrone Pizza Truck (on 55th btw. Mad+Park) this morning.  He’s retiring their official entry into the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge.  The mozzarella stick/french fry/chicken finger homage to the Rutgers’ Grease Trucks may come back in September, for now you’ll have to make due with his regular menu of offerings. Though to make it up for it, starting today Papa Perrone will be serving the famous Louie G’s Italian Ices from Brooklyn.  The flavors will rotate, and $2 will get you two scoops.  Today he’s got Vanilla/Oreo, Spumoni, Rainbow and Lemon.  Might be a good option if the Kogi BBQ line at the Dessert Truck is too long…

Related:
An Inside Look at the Papa Perrone’s Grease Truck Special