Midtown Lunch

And for the first time in the history of Midtown street food, a cart/truck has found a spot on Day 1 without any trouble whatsoever. The Dessert Truck parked on Park Ave. btw. 51+52nd and sold delicious desserts for 4+ hours today without any hassles. No trouble from the cops. No trouble from other vendors (despite a Mister Softee Truck being parked two blocks away.) And no trouble finding customers. In fact, co-owner Chris told me that sales today rivaled their regular nighttime business. Who said Midtown Lunchers wouldn’t want to stuff their faces with chocolate bread pudding on a Monday?!?

So, if everything goes as smoothly as it went today, The Dessert Truck will be parked in that same spot Monday-Friday 11:30 am to 4pm forrrrreverrrrrrrrr! Keep your fingers crossed…

Photos courtesy of Serious Eats

The Dessert Truck is beginning its daytime operations today, and will attempt to find a spot on Park Ave. between 51+53rd streets from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Treats Truck is awesome, and Wafels & Dinges are nice, but the Dessert Truck is some serious shit.  We’re talking chocolate bread pudding, molten chocolate cake, vanilla creme brulee, goat cheese cheesecake and more.  Restaurant quality desserts, out of truck, and everything is $5. 

As you know, finding a permanent spot is difficult, so I’ll keep you up to date on their progress. Welcome  to the neighborhood boys! To read more about the Dessert Truck, check out this post on Serious Eats: New York.

UPDATE: As of 11:07 a.m. the truck has found a space on Park between 51+52nd.

A heavenly match has been created on 3rd Avenue btw. 34+35th Streets. What better way to counteract the effects of a Carl’s cheesesteak grease bomb than with Red Mango. Yes, I admit it- I like Red Mango. (Pinkberry can screw off, though.) You may say the secret ingredient is Cap’n Crunch. (Trust me, it’s freaking good.) And it has been proven in a study that yogurt cultures, mixed with peanut butter cereal, will help aid in the digestion of red meat and cheese. You can’t argue with science.*

* Not proven by any actual scientific study.

Photos by Blondie and Brownie

The Treats Truck July contest to name a new cookie has come to an end, and the winner is: The Nutty Co-worker (left), an oatmeal cookie with nuts.  Future versions may even contain toffee (don’t get too excited.) Congrats are also in order to Blondie and Brownie. Their cookie, “The Peanut Butter Jamwich” was the runner up (on the right).  Two peanut butter cookies with peanut butter and jelly sandwiched in the middle. Both cookies are now on sale at the truck, which will be at 38th and 5th Ave. today from 1 to 3:30pm.  Both winners got gift certificates, and the grand prize winner got a t-shirt. (Update: The Jamwich may be the only one of the two available at the truck today.)

“Imposter” Waffle Truck Spotted Near the West Side Highway

Been getting tons of waffle truck sightings in the inbox lately, and Blondie & Brownie confirm. The OG Waffels & Dinges truck has been parked on 46th btw. 5+6th the past two days, and plans on being there again today (and probably tomorrow) until 3:30-4 pm. The rain looks like it may keep them off the street today, but one thing is clear- W&D appears here to stay. You can check their twitter page for updates.

I also spotted the “Imposter” Waffle Truck parked in Midtown West the past two nights. Many carts and trucks have parking spaces near the West Side Highway, and it doesn’t necessarily mean they are setting up shop in Midtown, but it would seem like a convenient option. We may even end up with our own Truck War, like the one brewing in Union Square.

Waffle truck sightings are totally welcome in the comments…

We can add one more location to the list of bubble tea places in Midtown that got put in the comments of this Profile last month.  Galaxy 2.0 has opened up on 38th St. btw. 5+6th serving frozen yogurt, smoothies, and a slushy version of bubble tea out of of a takeout window.  At $3.50 for a small, it’s slightly more expensive than a few of the other Midtown options, but they blend it with ice, making it pretty refreshing for the summertime.  I had Taro, which was prety tasty, but on second look I think I may have to try the “cookies and cream.”  They also serve a version of Pinkberry’ish frozen yogurt, with the green tea option being replaced by blueberry (???).  They didn’t have cap’n crunch as a topping, so I’ll be sticking with Red Mango- thanks.

More photos, after the jump… Read more »

Le Pain Quotidien, the bread/sandwich/salad/bakery chain from Brussels, quietly opened its second Midtown location back in October on 40th St. btw. 5+6th, across from Bryant Park.  It probably wasn’t all that quiet to LPQ fans in the area, but for this hater of expensive Midtown bread/sandwich/salad/bakery chains it went virtually unnoticed.  After Profiled Midtown Lunch’er Janine mentioned it last Tuesday, I thought maybe it was time to go check it out.  While I normally detest paying over $7 for a sandwich, if it’s done right- with really nice ingredients, I will occasionally splurge for something really good. ‘wichcraft  has managed to rope me in despite having tiny sandwiches.  LPQ will have to a little better to lure me away from my goto Bryant Park lunch.

Two sandwiches attempt to be worth $9, and the biggest cookie in Midtown- after the jump…  Read more »