Midtown Lunch

Those of you who work near City Hall may already be familiar with Blue Spoon Coffee Co. which has had a location on Chambers St. (btw. Broadway & Church) for a few years serving good coffee and sandwiches, salad and soup come lunch time. The second location opened on William St. (at Platt) two weeks ago, and just started serving lunch with the same menu as the first shop. You might want to first go there for the fancy Intelligentsia coffee they’re brewing or for the various breakfast items like Balthazar pastries, bagels and oatmeal, but you also may be interested in the sandwiches which, instead of festering in a refrigerated case, are made to order.

I was feeling virtuous the day I stopped in and instead of getting a turkey and brie or roast beef and cheddar sandwich I opted for the vegetarian hummus pressed panini ($8). You can get all of the sandwiches for slightly cheaper by getting them unpressed or as part of a combo with soup for $8 or $8.25.

Despite the hippie vibe of this sandwich it was kind of a gut bomb due to the generous amount of hummus which was joined by field greens, cucumber, tomato and some marinated red pepper. The bread – ciabatta from Balthazar Bakery – was great and got super crusty from the sandwich press.

It took a few minutes to come out since they do make the sandwiches fresh so I chatted with the shop’s owner who was working the counter and said she’s hoping business will pick up by word of mouth which is what happened with the Tribeca location. I can say my sandwich was really good and so filling I wasn’t hungry again until dinner. Next time I might try one of the soups when it’s not a blazing inferno outside.

Blue Spoon Coffee Co., 90 William St. (at Platt), (212) 809-8880; 76 Chambers St. (btw. B’way & Church), (212) 619-7230