Midtown Lunch

Huge Chinese food news in the old Inbox last night courtesy of Lunch’er “Robert” (who appears to have taken this photo from his office across the street.) Szechuan Gourmet, the only place ever written about on this site to receive 2 stars from the New York Times (and my personal favorite spot for beef tendon, and twice cooked pork belly with chili leeks), is opening a second location on 56th btw. B’way+8th. The menu will have all the old favorites from the location on 39th btw. 5+6th, plus some new stuff (according to the employee I spoke to.) They hope to open this Tuesday- but you know how those things go, so you’ll want to check back here before heading over.

This is fantastic news for Midtown north Chinese food fans, who right now have to go to… I don’t know… Yips (?) for their closest Chinese food fix. Where the hell do you go for good Chinese food in Midtown north? Starting next week, the answer to that question will be Szechuan Gourmet!

Related:
Szechuan Gourmet: Day 1 as a NYT 2 Starred Restaurant

Since today is Chinese New Year, and many (myself included) will be seeking out some Chinese food today to celebrate, I figured it would be a good day to post this interesting email I got the other day:

“So there are some new designers (women) for a new line that we are launching that are not afraid to eat good food (yesterday they had Lazzarra’s here delivering pizza). The other day they were eating delivery Chinese and it smelled great. So I asked the “from where” and they replied Dong Hai Grill. I then said I have a great place for you, and one said “what Szechuan Gourmet?” I sad “yes” and before I could even finish saying yes, she retorted “we like Dong Hai much better”. Now I often walk by Dong Hai (on 39th btw. 6th+B’way) but have always ignored it. I have never eaten there. Now my curiosity was peaked.”

More on the menu and food, is after the jump…

Read more »

Ferris Bueller Likes Me 

OMG!  Did you know that when celebrities listen to you, it validates your opinion? I wonder if Sarah Jessica Parker & Matthew Broderick read Midtown Lunch? (They don’t, but they should.)  Two weeks ago the NY Observer spotted the couple outside of what they thought might have been Szechuan Gourmet, a popular Midtown Lunch spot given two stars by Frank Bruni in the New York Times.  Yesterday it was confirmed by US Weekly (yes, I read my wife’s copy of US Weekly):

During dinner with friends at Szechuan Gourmet, a low-key Chinese restaurant, the Sex and the City star [Parker] and her hubby [Broderick] noshed on braised beef, fish fillets, sliced pork belly and crispy fried lamb. “They were very nice,” owner Cheng Zhong Huang tells US. “It was their first time here, and they were having a good time.”

What are you talking about low key?  Clearly US Weekly has never been there at 1pm on a Wednesday.  Surprisingly this isn’t the first time Sarah Jessica Parker and Midtown Lunch have collided.  She told Grub St. last year that she loves street meat, and her favorite cart is on 55th & 6th Avenue. (Btw, nice ordering.)

After Frank Bruni awarded Szechuan Gourmet 2 stars in yesterday’s New York Times, I panicked. Of course I was excited for the place, but a lot of that excitement merely served to hide an underlying fear. I will never be able to eat lunch in Szechuan Gourmet again. And even if I could get in, would it still be the same? Doesn’t Wu Liang Ye (on 48th btw. 5+6th) and all the rest of the Midtown Chinese dinosaurs have New York Times articles in their windows? And look at them now. Not terrible, but shells of their former selves. Granted, those articles were from 1984, but who’s counting.

With all this in mind we rushed over to Grand Szechuan for lunch yesterday, mere hours from the time that Bruni’s accolades were made public, super curious over what we would find. Pandemonium? Sub par food from a cocky overwhelmed kitchen? Mass hysteria? As I walked up 39th St. I noticed a few people with dejected looks on their faces carrying take out menus back to their office. Not a good sign. Read more »