Midtown Lunch

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, we have culinary school grad Alexandra who works on the edge of ML Downtown territory and supplements her SoHo lunches with occasional trips to the Village.

Name: Alexandra

Occupation: Account exec at a digital agency

Where you work: Border of SoHo & Greenwich Village

Age: 25

Favorite Kinds of Food: If it’s tasty, interesting, and cooked with love, it has my vote (I graduated from culinary school in December, so needless to say, I really like good food). Though if I could survive on freshly-baked bread and butter alone, I’d die a happy girl.

Least Favorite Foods: Any food masquerading as another food.  Tofurkey?  I think I’ll pass.  And celery. I really, really despise celery.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Even though I usually just run out and bring lunch back to the office, I still try to make it an event.  Sort of a little culinary journey in the middle of a hectic day.  Highlights so far–Kelley & Ping on Greene St. (btw. Prince & W. Houston) for the duck noodle soup & mango sticky rice; Once Upon a Tart on Sullivan (nr. Prince) for the asparagus, pea, mint or pumpkin-black bean soups; ‘SNice on Sullivane (btw. Prince & W. Houston) for the curried cauliflower and chickpea wrap; Francois Payard Bakery on W. Houston (btw. Thompson & Sullivan) for the salade nicoise, Masala Times on Bleecker (btw. Sixth & MacDougal) for spicy brochettes & naan; Birdbath (Multiple Locations) for the occasional afternoon chocolate chip cookie. If I manage to leave work before Raffetto’s on W. Houston (nr. MacDougal) closes, I try to pick up some fresh pasta and make lunch for the next day.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Definitely, Olives on Prince (btw. Wooster & Greene)–I’m pretty sure the delivery guy has a key fob.  And good luck avoiding any coworkers on a trip to Once Upon A Tart–never gonna happen.

Places downtown you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: The Tuesday Taim Mobile Truck stop in SoHo.  One taste of that deliriously-good corn-jalapeno soup, and I’ve never been the same since.

Dream job location, purely for lunch purposes, and why: Hong Kong for the sheer variety of excellent, cheap street food (though I’m still hoping someone will pay me to eat and cook around the world — is Anthony Bourdain retiring any time soon?)

Anything you’d like to ask the downtown Midtown Lunch readers?: The one thing I miss about lunching uptown is Totto Ramen — any good ramen spots in my neck of the woods?

The ramen offerings downtown are pretty dismal at ML prices (unless there’s some super-secret source I don’t know about). All I know about is Ajisen on Mott St. (at Chatham Sq.) which isn’t exactly close to you. Do you lunch’ers have any ramen leads for Alexandra? And as always, if you would like to be next week’s Profiled Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d like to nominate), email us at downtownnyc@midtownlunch.com.