Midtown Lunch

My name is Brownie and I have…a cookie problem. I can trace this cookie issue back to childhood. You see, my mom wouldn’t let me have an EasyBake Oven (“it’s just a light bulb, Brownie“). So I turned to real ovens and a cookie baking/eating fiend was born. Remember, this is the same woman who wouldn’t let me eat cart food as a child, so clearly I have a problem with authority. When I read that New York Magazine called the Chocolate Chip Cookies at Má Pêche (aka Momofuku Midtown) the best in the city, I knew that I had to check it out. For science and the good of the ML community, of course.

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One of my very first Zaro’s memories is having Chocolate Hamantaschen for breakfast after training into the city from Connecticut to decide if I wanted to attend NYU.  I can’t say that the hamantaschen were so good that they tipped the scales, but they certainly didn’t hurt.  Sadly, for the past couple of years I’ve had a hard time finding Zaro’s chocolate hamantaschen, but this year they are back!

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After months of construction on the former Little Pie Company space, the Magnolia Bakery at Grand Central Terminal is open for business. They officially opened on Saturday but are still working out the kinks and figuring out hours. Tourists and fans of mediocre cupcakes rejoice! The rest of us should be prepared for hordes of gawkers ogling the cupcake frosting rituals.

Those of you who don’t do ice cream when it’s freezing outside may be pleased to hear that Spoon City’s “Custard Hot Chocolate” is not frozen custard at all. When I dropped by the other day after my 99 cent pizza run at K Food Corp, (yes I will go out in the freezing cold for frozen custard) the ladies behind the counter at Spoon City looked at me a little oddly when I asked for some Hot Chocolate Custard.  They said they didn’t have any Hot Chocolate Custard, but they did have new Custard Hot Chocolate (in shot form!)  Since I was already there, I decided to give it a try.

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Financier Patisserie. Photo courtesy of Blondie.

Still haven’t figured out what you’re buying your lady (or fat boyfriend who enjoys getting Valentine’s gifts even though it’s really supposed to be about guys buying stuff for girls)?  There’s plenty of options in Midtown for you…  just go to the Map and clear all except for the sweets category (or see all of our Sweets posts here.)  Too many options?  We’ll just say this… can’t imagine anybody getting a box of chocolates from Maison du Chocolat (in 30 Rock, on 49th btw. 5+6th) or one of those linzer heart cake things from Financier Patisserie and being mad about it.  Also, the Treats Truck and Street Sweets are both out today with Valentine’s Day goodies.  Good luck, and godspeed!

With Valentine’s Day just five days away, the internets is all about cookies and sweets this week! We just told you about the Treats Truck’s new specials, plus Dorie Greenspan’s new CookieBar opened yesterday on Park Ave. btw. 59+60th (you can get a good look at it on Serious Eats New York and Fork in the Road), and Bouchon Bakery has got their roster of treats ready to go.  And we’re guessing that’s not the last of it…

Monday mornings are always hellish affairs (especially when it’s rainy, windy, and sick passengered like mine was last Monday) but leave it to Joe and the Art of Coffee in Grand Central to give me a mood uplift from Tumbador Chocolates! Yes, it’s almost time for Valentine’s Day and I have fully gotten into the spirit (I already have a box of special Valentine’s Funfetti!) So when I saw the little red foil hearts in the usual Tumbador Lil’ Devils/Ring Dings jar, I was super excited to try one. Making a mental note for myself to come back during lunchtime turned out to be a near fatal move. I popped back in around 1, and more than half the jar was emptied of red hearts! But thankfully I did get one.

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A few weeks ago somebody mentioned in the forums that you can often find churros being sold in the subway station on 53rd and Lex. Well last week, I was passing through there during lunchtime and sure enough… churros! 2 for $1, and despite the freezing cold weather they were surprisingly fresh tasting. I got mine around 1:30pm, so they were not warm (obviously) but were surprisingly still soft on the inside. The pushcart usually doesn’t show up until Noon, and they’re are on the subway platform (so you have to pay the fare), but if you’re taking the E or V to or from that station and are lucky enough to spot some churros action, don’t make the mistake of walking by. It’s only $1!

Related:
Forums – Subway Churros Ladies

Where was I at 2pm today?  At Pret of course (along with god knows how many other Midtown Lunchers), trying the chocolate chunk cookie that Serious Eats: New York dubbed best in Midtown yesterday. Soooo good.  Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, good mix of chips and chunks.  (You may say the secret ingredient is the warming case.)  I went to the Pret on 7th Ave. and 36th and while I walked north, enjoying my cookie, I passed by a girl coming out of the Pret on 39th and 7th holding her cookie. (Coincidence?  Possibly… but whatever.  It’s more fun to think everybody is rushing out to eat cookies because of NYC food blogs.)

There are almost 20 Pret a Manger locations in Midtown, so you should have no trouble scoring one in our neck of the woods (if you haven’t already.)  With only two locations Downtown, our lunch friends to the south might have some problems.  This was twittered by @ahemler at 1:15pm today: “Pret on Maiden lane sold out of choc chunk cookies. You guys are savages.” Doh!

Related:
Pret Wins Best Midtown(ish) Cookie

Last week Serious Eats New York announced that they would be launching a city-wide search for the best chocolate chip cookie area by area, and today they declared Pret a Manger & Max Brenner the finalists who will represent Midtown. There’s a lot to question about this competition (quite a few missing contestants… and I don’t see how Union Square even qualifies as “Midtown’ish”), but one thing is certain… their post makes me really want to try the cookie at Petroissian (on 58th and 7th.)

Related:
Best Chocolate Chip Cookie in Midtown

Photo courtesy of Serious Eats: New York