Midtown Lunch

I know it’s now a chain, but I can’t help my love for the ‘wichcraft. I like a few of their soups, I like some of their sandwiches, and I crave their grilled gruyere. It’s definitely on my “go-to” lists especially when I’m in a rush since it’s the closest to my office. Everything Zach reported about ‘wichcraft two years ago still remains true, it’s all slightly overpriced, but it’s the comfort of knowing exactly what I’m getting that keeps it in my rotation. No matter… I was cold and in need of lunch, plus I knew that they had just made their autumn switch to thick pumpkin soup, so off I went. But they threw me for a loop when I saw that mini pies came back during my California vacation!

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Forgot to mention this in my chicken shawarma sandwich post about Kolette’s (on Lex. btw. 55+56th)- which was actually just a pre-game! My intial Kolette’s Kitchen curiosity was piqued by this mention of their chocolate and cinnamon rugelach in the forums last week. As a person who would prefer taking a long lunch and heading up to Greenberg’s rather than eat most of Midtown’s rugelach offerings, this allegation had to be investigated.

One look tells you these rugelach are hand-made. Each is unique in form, and that form is packed with chocolate goodness. They’re not made fresh on site, but the soft doughy insides let me know that they weren’t sitting around all that long. I like the addition of cinnamon, it’s just enough to play off the chocolate and makes the rugelach seem a little exotic. I haven’t run across many with that flavor combination at all. At 75¢ a pop, these make a nice little mid-afternoon dessert snack.

Kolette’s Kitchen, 672 Lexington (btw. 55+56th), (212) 593-2222

Cupcakes can be a bit of a contentious subject here on ML. I happen to enjoy a good cupcake every now and then, but if I step back and look at it objectively, I can see where the haters are coming from. When cupcakes became trendy they became ubiquitous and as such there are a lot of mediocre (not to mention overpriced) ones out there. When Lunch’er Felicia recently asked for cupcake recommendations more than a few readers gave a shout out to Robicelli’s cupcakes available at Lily O’Brien’s off of Bryant Park. I’ve had Robicelli’s plenty of times back in ye olde Brooklyn*, but hadn’t yet had a chance to try them out in their midtown location. Meeting up with a cupcake loving friend for lunch last week, gave me the perfect reason to swing by and try several of their brand new flavors.
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Photo by Robyn Lee

Serious Eats: New York unveiled their massive croissant-a-palooza today, and the winner is… Ceci Cela on Spring Street.  Too far for us, but thankfully the 2nd place croissant is a bit closer to home: Petrossian (on 7th Ave. and 58th Street).  Financier, and Bouchon Bakery were also included.  Check out the complete list here>>

It’s like cupcake day on Midtown Lunch! (Between this and the comment section of today’s Profiled Luncher, we sincerely apologize to all the haters.)  Last week we got a tip from Lunch’er “Michael” that some generic breakfast cart on 53rd and 6th had started selling cupcakes- and seeing as I work in the area and have a certain weakness for cupcakes*, I couldn’t help but go check it out.
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Elvis Aaron Presley’s legacy lives on in all things flavored with peanut butter, bacon, and bananas and now that legacy extends to waffles. Wafels & Dinges is now offering an Elvis special waffle ($7)–their bacon Brussels waffle topped with peanut butter and bananas (someone needs to tell them that if they truly want to do an Elvis, they should be topping their concoction with honey.) A picture of the Elvis waffle in it’s glory after the jump.

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For those of you who are into having desserts for lunch, I felt the need to direct your attention to the ice cream cakes being sold at Quality Meats (on 58th btw. 5+6th). They first caught my attention when I walked by and saw their shiny new DOH grade. (Nothing screams out “try me!” more than an A!) The cakes here are (a shocking) $8.72 after tax, but I suppose it could be shared with somebody else as a dessert. (Although after one bite, you might be into sharing so much.)  They give you three options: Pie Fight (lemon meringue ice cream), Cherry Monkey (pistachio cherry ice cream), and Cookie Monster Ice cream. At almost $9 it certainly isn’t for everybody… but I was totally down.

The two Midtown locations of Junior’s have decided to shake up their quietly reliable existences by recently adding cupcakes to the menu (apparently getting you fat off their cheesecake was not enough!) The five different flavors-chocolate/chocolate, chocolate with cream center, red velvet, peanut butter cup, and vanilla/vanilla-in honor of their 60th Anniversary, are all just under $4, and available in the Grand Central Terminal and on 44th btw. B’way+8th. I hit up the Grand Central locale when four of the five were available, decided on the Reese’s Peanut Butter one ($3.95) and found the cake quite enjoyable.  It was fresh and moist, but a bit sweet on the frosting (then again, what brand-name bakery doesn’t add too much sugar?!) For the GCT cupcake loving commuters Junior’s might actually be more worthy of your money than the other cupcake places… although we still don’t quite understand why they’re not doing a cheesecake cupcake!

Earlier this year midtown lunchers celebrated International Waffle Day at Wafels & Dinges with the wearing o’ the yellow in honor of the Belgian flag. Well, today in honor of National Waffle Day the Wafels & Dinges Truck has more ways for you to enjoy free waffles… W & D is inviting any child – or anyone who draws like a child (that’d be me & you, dear reader)– to create pictures of wafels or the Wafels & Dinges truck, which will be then decorated with the artwork. Anyone submitting a picture will receive a free wafel, regardless of their artistic talent. For the non-artists, anyone who buys something from Wafels & Dinges on National Waffle Day will have their name entered into a raffle for wafel-themed prizes.

But wait… there’s more.

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