PROFILE: Downtown Lunch’er “Alyse”

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 Alyse who’s still finding her way around the lunch landscape of Soho, but is off to a good start!

Name: Alyse

Occupation: Assistant editor at Wetpaint Entertainment

Where you work: Lafayette & Prince St.

Age: Twentysomething

Favorite kinds of food: Any type of Asian (mostly in part to being Korean, but adopted); lots o’ pasta; contemporary American; most anything with cheese and/or avocado — or anything between two pieces of bread.

Least favorite foods: Pickled and brined dishes; awful offal; anything that still has eyes intact; mouth-burning, eye-watering spicy food.

Favorite lunches downtown: I’ve only worked in SoHo for a few weeks, but when I eat out, I love grabbing basically any sandwich at Dean & Deluca at Prince & Broadway, or SoHo Park on Prince at Lafayette; lunch combos galore at Arbor Bistro; dosas topped with cilantro chutney at Hampton Chutney Co. on Prince (btw. Crosby & Lafayette); and a myriad of salads at Spring Street Natural on Spring (at Lafayette). Oh, and I can’t forget the sweet and savory yogurt dishes at the new Chobani store on Prince (at W. Broadway) or Rice to Riches on Spring (btw. Mott & Mulberry). Everyone needs an afternoon pick-me-up!

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Sadly, we all wander around Dean & Deluca. It’s overpriced, but it’s right across the street. We’re trying to break our bad habit.

Places downtown you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: Downtown? I didn’t discover Torrisi (now Parm) on Mulberry (btw. Spring & Prince) because of Midtown Lunch, but now that I work close by, I have no excuse not to finally go. A quick glance at the map showed me a handful of new places I will try to hit up, including Broadway Gourmet Food Market on Broadway (btw. Prince & W. Houston), La Nueva Conquista on Lafayette (at Spring), Rubirosa on Mulberry (btw. Spring & Prince), and Lahore Deli on Crosby (btw. Prince & Houston).

Dream job location, purely for lunch purposes, and why: Somewhere between the East Village and Union Square, if only so I have ready access to some of my favorite food trucks, Vanessa’s Dumplings, and Momofuku Ssam Bar. Actually, maybe closer to Chinatown — right now, I can’t spare the time to head down there, even though I’m only in SoHo! First world problems.

Anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch: Downtown readers? My company orders in lunch every Monday before our meeting, and we stick to ML price limits. Any suggestions for places that deliver or have great lunch combos? Also, most of us eat at our desks while we write, so it’s hard to spare time or eat something that requires both hands. Would love to know some of your favorites within a 5-10 block radius.

Tons of places deliver to you including Pinche Taqueria on Lafayette; Cafe Habana on Prince for great Cuban sandwiches and rice dishes; Mooncake Foods on Watts is good for sandwiches and rice/noodles; if you like pasta I’d also recommend Pepe Rosso To Go on Sullivan St. 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 downtown@midtownlunch.com.

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