If you were sad when ‘wichcraft kicked their grilled Gruyère to the curb, today is your lucky day. Not only is it back starting today as part of their new winter menu, but it’s returning alongside two other old favorites and two new sandwiches. The old favorites are the meatloaf with tomato relish, bacon and aged Cheddar on ciabatta, and the roasted pork coppa with pickled pepper relish and fontina on grilled country bread. The Berkshire pork is being sourced from Iowa’s Berkridge Farms, which raises its animals without ‘roids, hormones, or growth promotants, sub-theraputic antibiotics, or animal by-products in their feed. Now, about those new sandwiches…

If you’re not stopping by to pick up the “French Onion Soup as a sandwich” Grilled Gruyère, then check out one of the new ones. The first is a remake of the frittata sandwich they had a while ago, except this one is a roasted mushroom frittata with spinach, shallots, and aged Cheddar on ciabatta. The other sandwich sounds especially delicious to us kale-lovers: roasted chicken topped with braised kale, pickled vegetables and spicy aioli on ciabatta. No word on the prices for any of these, but we’re sure their probably between $7 and $10 each.

‘wichcraft, multiple locations

I’ll admit that I enjoy a ‘wichcraft sandwich every now and then, even though they are on the spendier end of the ML spectrum. When I heard they were offering a this-week-only special sandwich featuring my favorite meat (lamb!) for $11.02, I had to go check it out to see if it was worth the extra $1 above and beyond the ML price limit.

Here’s the deal with the sandwich: roasted leg of lamb plus braised kale mixed with golden raisins and jalapenos, topped with lemon aioli made from their “signature lemon confit.”

I ordered my sandwich to-go and was pleasantly surprised when I picked up the takeout baggie and discovered that it was heavier than I was expecting. The lamb was tender and still slightly pink and the golden raisins mellowed out any bitterness from the braised kale. If you’re a heat-loving luncher, I don’t think that the jalepenos will wow you, but they were a tasty addition to the sandwich. However, if you are the slightest bit mayo-adverse, caveat emptor, there was a lot of the white stuff on the ‘wich.

The sandwich is available at all ‘wichcrafts in the city, but only until this Saturday, December 24th. If you work near the Rock Center branch, be sure to ask for the “Rock Center discount” (they’ve never asked me to actually show my Rock Center discount card, which is a good thing because it’s buried somewhere in my desk). With the discount that brings the sandwich total to $10.80 and for serious lamb lovers, 80 cents over the line for a limited-time sandwich seems like a worthy splurge. It’s the holidays!

‘wichcraft, multiple locations

This Saturday, Slow Food USA has challenged everybody around the country to get together with friends and family for a “slow food” meal that costs under $5 per person- because as they say “slow food shouldn’t have to cost more than fast food”.  Well, ‘wichcraft has decided to step up to the plate to help make it happen… and they’re doing it a day early! (So that Midtown lunchers can enjoy the spoils.)  On Friday, September 16th all 13 ‘wichcraft locations in Manhattan will be selling their signature roasted eggplant, zucchini, ricotta cheese and arugula sandwich, with a side of marinated chickpeas and a 12 oz unsweetened Mighty Leaf iced tea for just $4.82.  Hard to argue with that…

The long-standing ‘wichcraft kiosks in Bryant Park recently got a new outpost, an ice cream kiosk (40th btw 5+6th) close to the carousel. As far as I know, this is actually the first ‘wichcraft foray into ice cream, and they’ve decided to source their ice cream from Van Leeuwen! This actually makes a lot of sense knowing that ‘wichcraft likes to use organic and local products when available. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I headed over to the kiosk, but I ended up finding one of the cheapest ice cream treats around.

Single and double scoops are $4 and $7 respectively, with ice cream floats being $6.50. But the best part of the menu is at the bottom. They’ve recreated ‘wichcraft’s Cream’wich as an Ice Cream’wich. The flavors are tricky to understand–you can get vanilla or strawberry ice cream sandwiched between specific cookies in pre-made packages. I chose vanilla in between peanut butter cookies since that’s my favorite of the cream’wiches. At $4.25, it’s a perfectly priced lunchtime dessert. Despite coming from a freezer, the cookies were crumbly and had great flavor. I loved the added crunch from the salt on top. Once the ice cream warmed up a bit, it was creamy and delicious. The size is great too–once it starts melting, there are only a few bites left.

‘wichcraft Ice Cream Kiosk, 40th Street side of Bryant Park

Huge news for fans of bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches… today is the first day of the exciting but painfully short BLT season at ‘wichcraft.  Their BLTs are made with fresh greenmarket tomatoes (the reason the sandwiches are only available during the summer), heritage bacon, and house-made aioli, and are crazy delicious. They’ll only be available for a few weeks, so get them while you can.

Related:
Last Year’s Coverage: Time is Running Out for ‘wichcraft’s Delicious BLT

Yesterday ‘wichcraft added four seasonal summer sandwiches and a salad to their menu, and officially put us on notice for their BLT’s return to the rotating menu. The summer sandwiches include an asparagus frittata, roasted chicken with broccoli raab, marinated zucchini with mozzarella, and smoked ham & Cheddar. I stopped by to try out a few of the new items and found that at least one is a hangover cure-all.

I know that ‘wichcraft isn’t necessarily the best place in Midtown to find a complete satisfying lunch for under $10, they are known to come out with some good sandwiches (hello, grilled gruyere). I arrived slightly starved with eyes bigger than my stomach, and convinced myself that ordering two sandwiches wouldn’t be so weird. Since I’ve been on an egg kick lately, the asparagus frittata with English peas and melted Cheddar was very appealing. The crusty ciabatta roll it’s served on does a very good job of keeping all the contents inside the roll, plus it helps that cheese is melted on both sides of the frittata. The asparagus and peas added a healthier feel, along with a bit of crunch from the asparagus. But this is by no means a healthy sandwich, and I most certainly ate the entire thing. At $6.65, it’s an upscale version of an egg and cheese on a roll, and would be perfect for any hangover lunch, especially if you’re the type that can’t stomach anything until the afternoon.

I was less impressed by the Roasted Free-Range Chicken also on Ciabatta. The chicken was fantastic and juicy, with a few little crunchy skin bits. The pickled pepper relish brought some spice, while the aioli added some moisture since no chicken could be moist enough to hold up to doughy ciabatta. I was lost with grilled broccoli raab (not to mention the $9.87 price tag). Mine was overcooked and had turned bitter rendering the sandwich edible, but not enjoyable. Maybe when it’s cooked perfectly, it’s better. It is nice to see ‘wichcraft adding a spicy element, something you rarely see there.

‘wichcraft, multiple locations

I guess we’re not the only ones celebrating a birthday!  Get a full list of ‘wichcraft locations here.

Back in January FeastNY gave us all a look at the 7 brand new seasonal sandwiches introduced by ‘wichcraft.  We especially liked the pork loin and kale and the new potato and leek fritatta sandwiches, and today Serious Eats: New York finally got around to weighing in. For those of you who don’t feel like clicking through the whole slideshow, we’ll just tell you… their favorite was the shrimp salad.

This new sandwich was strikingly similar to the onion frittata that it replaced which consisted of onion, eggs, roasted tomato and cheddar on a ciabatta roll. Instead of regular onions this had leeks and the addition of thinly sliced potatoes. As tasty as the previous incarnation was, these new additions were winning in my book. The potatoes were tender and added an additional textural element to the sandwich that was very pleasant. And they didn’t skimp on the cheese–always a plus in my book (as I watched the man behind the counter prepare the sandwich I saw him add 3 deli style slices of cheddar).

While $6.65 might be more than I’d typically like to spend for a breakfast sandwich, when lunch time rolls around it moves more into the realm of reasonable. I still have much love for ‘wichcraft’s grilled gruyere, but for those who are looking at a grilled cheese lunch but want a little protein to tide them over, this sandwich should fit the bill.

‘wichcraft, multiple locations

When Feast NY told us about the new sandwiches at ‘Wichcraft last week, I immediately knew that’s where I was going to head for lunch. ‘Wichcraft is one of my standbys when in a lunch pickle, and any news of sandwich changes needs to be investigated immediately. Also, I have an equal amount of love for pork loin and kale (aka the best vegetable ever.) Apparently they did their pricing with us in mind because, after tax, the sandwich comes in at $9.99.

The sandwich has equal parts kale and pork. The kale is wilted and bittersweet; I found it very refreshing to taste a different green vegetable on a lunch sandwich, even if it’s from a chain. The pork loin was lean, yet moist with streaks of fatty goodness. Lastly, the provolone cheese was on the milder side, not overwhelming either of other fillings. All in all, this sandwich is a nice addition to their menu, and I’m excited to try some of the other new options. (I’m looking at you shrimp salad w/ chorizo.)

‘wichcraft, multiple locations