Midtown Lunch

Do you wonder what the ML contributors do when they’re not eating lunch in Midtown? (We’re actually pretty easy to stalk!)

Making Moustache Cookies at Butter + Love. Photo by Donny.

For his upcoming beer video, Brian interviewed Garrett Oliver at the Brooklyn Brewery, Donny has a new installment in his Foodaisance series at Butter + Love, Rachel lunched at Urban Lobster Shack, Blondie recapped Choice Streets, Brownie enjoyed the sheep’s milk dumplings at Kefi and I got a preview of Bed-Stuy’s newest bar.

Elsewhere in the ML universe… Zach launched a Food is the New Rock podcast, Jamie checked out a truck that serves hamburgers and banh mi sandwiches in Philly and Andrea reported on a sustainable food truck event called International Meats Local downtown at New Amsterdam Market this weekend.

On the ML Twitter Tracker today… Bob & Jo are on Vanderbilt btw. 45+46th, the Treats Truck are in an “old favorite” spot, Fishing Shrimp is on 48th & Park, Crisp on Wheels are on 53rd & Park, Eddie’s Pizza is on 46th btw 5+6th, Kimchi Truck is on 55th btw. 6+7th, Domo Taco is on 46th & Park, Phil’s Steaks is on 45th & Mad, Korilla is on 45th & 5th, Cinnamon Snail is on 55th & Broadway and donating 20% of their profits to Earth Share NY, and the Our Heroes Truck- which you can read all about on our Downtown site- is in Midtown today parked on 51st btw. Park+Madison.

We haven’t check in with Pure Thai (the winner of ML’s Reader’s Poll last year for Best Thai) since they were forced to change their name from Pure Thai Shophouse to Pure Thai Cookhouse. It’s been a favorite of Chris H.’s for a while now and I decided it was finally time to make the pilgrimage to Ninth Avenue for myself.  I came with a few friends so we were able to order more food and stay within our budgets. We started with two appetizers – both on their own are within ML price limit, but neither are large enough for a full meal.

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We love Street Vendor Project here at Midtown Lunch. Not only do they throw one of the best food event of the year (the Vendys) they do noble work on behalf of our beloved street carts and food trucks. Amazingly enough they turn 10 years old this year and to celebrate they’ll be throwing a special party on March 27th! It will take place downtown at Judson Memorial Church, from 7pm to 10pm, with live music, drinks, and food from past Vendy Award winners. Early bird tickets are just $45, but are only available until tomorrow at 6pm, so grab one before the price goes up!

UPDATE: After this post initially went up we got word that Solber Pupusas and Paty’s Tacos will both be at the event… with more vendors to be announced soon.  Stay tuned!

Thanks to Lunch’er Mike for sending over this one…

“On my way to B&H I passed by this new looking establishment, Zoob Zib (on 9th Ave. btw. 36+37th), which made me think either it was Ewok cuisine or Bill Cosby might be the executive chef. No web presence yet, but it had tables and chairs on the inside and looks very close to launch. It’s literally right next door to Aura Thai, whose previous reviews speak very true about their noodle soups but mediocre to good for their Thai food.”

Just what 9th Ave. needs… another Thai restaurant! Although we guess the “noodle bar” part is intriguing? As soon as we know more, we’ll let you know- and if any early adopters manage to make it there before we do when it opens, feel free to let us know how it is in the comments.

We received sad news in the comments last week. Sam, the halal cart vendor on 35th Street, near 6th Avenue suffered a heart attack while setting up for business Thursday morning and died shortly afterward. Last year, his cart caught my attention due to his method of mixing the sauces in with the meat when on the griddle. The technique helped get him a respectable 7th place in last year’s street meat-palooza.

More importantly though, Sam was warm and friendly to all of his customers. During my visits to the cart, he flirted with the ladies, joked with the guys and put everyone at ease. Days after I wrote the post about his cart, he had it printed up and displayed it proudly for all to see.  His hospitality and pride in his work will be greatly missed.

In light of the recent difficulties plaguing food trucks in New York City, we thought it might be useful to take a look back at the history of vending in NYC. Our man Brian Hoffman gives street food tours for Urban Oyster both in Midtown and the Financial District, so we asked him to pull from his extensive research on past and present vendor regulations to give us some perspective on the current scene.

Photo Courtesy of Detroit Publishing, Library of Congress, Circa 1900

Yesterday we linked to a Crain’s report that has revenue from some food trucks down a whopping 70%, a fact that undoubtedly has to do with food truck owners struggling with unclear laws, a barrage of parking tickets, and other difficulties that make operating their small businesses much more difficult than it should be. Yet this is nothing new, just the latest batch of regulations and restrictions street vendors have had to overcome for centuries.

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It’s not all that uncommon that I run out the door without something to eat in the morning so I was pretty excited to see that Potbelly in Rock Center is now serving breakfast. And even more excited to see that they had steel cut oats. I’m a big steel cut oatmeal fan and I usually splurge for the oatmeal at Jamba Juice, so I had to see how Potbelly stacked up.

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Shorty’s pork and rabe sandwich. Photo courtesy of SENY

• This 30 Great Sandwiches list includes a few from Midtown [SENY]
• Tabata is the best of the latest NYC ramen newcomers [Village Voice]
• Five Guys’ grilled cheese sandwich is not bad [SENY]
• Margon puts potato sticks on their steak sandwich [SENY]
• Robert Sietsema doesn’t like MomoMilkBar’s Thanksgiving croissant [FITR]
• Hide Chan Ramen is almost just as good as Ippudo, without the wait and the noise [Gothamist]

Yesterday, more than 50 winning lunchers joined us for a free meal at Koreatown’s Food Gallery 32 provided by the fine folks at Google Places. Blondie, Brownie, Chris and I snacked on some great food and met more than a few of the winners.

If you didn’t make it, follow the jump for a few of the dishes that we ate there.

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