Midtown Lunch

The large retail space at the bottom of the distinctive yellow William Beaver House condo building at William & Beaver revealed itself to be Open Kitchen a few weeks back. A fellow Lunch’er who works nearby reporter late Friday that the place was open for business. A commenter on the original post, who no doubt is in on the project, says it will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The “gourmet marketplace” will have prepared foods, said the commenter, along with a hot/cold buffet and an “international selection of foods prepared to order.” From the look of the place, it will be a step above a generic deli, but be prepared for a review soon.

Arepas: Venezuala’s tacos. Via SENY.

• A plea for someone to open a good eatery in an old deli space. [Tribeca Citizen]
• Shakshuka in sandwich form for the win! [Eating in Translation]
• A peek at coming Aussie coffee spot Bluestone Lane. [DNAinfo]
• Cronut mania has reached a new low. [Gothamist]
• There’s a new source of arepas downtown. [SENY]

Way back in the day – more than three years ago – my predecessor Kevin attempted to try Underground Pizza‘s jalapeno bacon slice, but got denied. While he did sample a worthy vodka slice, I had made a mental note to try this slice if I had a chance. That opportunity happened late last week, and I was sad I waited this long to try it.  Read more »

The collection of carts along the water outside the World Financial Center has been a mixed bag since they launched a couple of years ago with burgers, lobster rolls and tacos among the foods on offer. The choices have changed, as the food scene at the WFC has.

Now that the indoor food court is closed for renovations, the carts and food trucks that park outside daily have picked up the slack. I was surprised to see a crop of mostly new vendors among the carts alongside mainstay Quality Burger, among them hot dogs, tacos and rotisserie chicken. Check out my experiment with mixing a Moroccan sausage with Vietnamese sandwich toppings straight ahead!  Read more »

The giant Century 21 department store on Broadway btw. Cortlandt and John streets added a spot to get a caffeine fix during their ongoing renovation. A lighted sign for Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf materialized at entrances on Broadway and also on John St. I’m guessing they only offer liquid refreshment and not much in the way of food, but if you are curious about the chain spot, it may be worth battling all of the tourists within Century 21.

We’ve had many sandwich chains open shops in Downtown Lunch territory, including the much-hyped Potbelly, but Jersey Mike’s Subs rolled into Maiden Lane (at Gold) with little fanfare. The first sign they were coming wasn’t a press blitz, but a red awning going up a few paces from many other chain spots on the same block. A look at the menu online showed hot and cold subs, cheesesteaks and wraps – nothing to get too excited about. But some of you vouched for the fact that Jersey Mike’s was better than the Subways and Blimpies of this city.

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