Midtown Lunch

One day late last week I was absolutely starving come noon and that coincided with spying a new food truck making an appearance at the World Financial Center lot. Palenque, a truck serving arepas and other Colombian food, was going to be there, the weather was gorgeous and all of the stars seemed to be aligning for me to get meat-and-cheese-topped ground corn in my belly. That happened eventually, but during the hour-plus in between I realized that it really is important for food trucks to get their bearings before attempting to feed the hungry masses.

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The good new is that the Blue Smoke on Vesey St. in Battery Park City is now offering actual food for takeout and not just cupcakes and other baked goods. The bad news is that you can’t really get lunch there for $10 or less unless you want a salad. Still, this area is pretty barren of and BBQ options and there are a couple of sandwiches that aren’t too expensive. Sneak a peek at some of the menu straight ahead.

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If you aren’t one of the people standing in line this very minute for (or eating food from) Kimchi Taco, Taim Mobile or Gorilla Cheese at the new WFC Food Truck Lot, you may be in the minority. When I stopped by a while ago the lines were huge for those three trucks, and non-existent for Van Leeuwen Ice Cream if you need something cold and sweet right now. A note on the location, too, you have to take a left at N. End Ave. off of Vesey and you’ll see the trucks parked at the far end, complete with ridiculous lines of people.

I’ve got to say I’m a little jealous of some of the new food options in Battery Park City, and now we all have more reason since the World Financial Center’s getting a food truck court. As we’ve all noticed, food trucks have been getting hassled in Midtown, and also in Soho and the Financial District so this will give them a place to park without fear of getting ticketed or asked to leave in the middle of lunch service. Brookfield Office Properties teamed up with the NYC Food Truck Association to make this happen, along with the Battery Park City Authority. And the best part? Trucks will be there from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays through 2013. See a list of those participating after the jump. UPDATE: The schedule for next week’s up!   Read more »

I never made it to Battery Park City to check out Samantha’s which was apparently a bastion of good, authentic Italian food. They shuttered, and in its place Benvenuti opened. Pictures of all their fresh pasta and other various Italian goods caught my attention, as did the fact that they were really proud of their Sicilian pizza. So I resolved to trek across the West Side Highway (and through a bunch of construction sites) for my lunch and I wasn’t disappointed.

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If you’re a fan of barbequed meats and have been eyeing the new Blue Smoke in Battery Park City, but don’t have time to go sit down and eat lunch there, that problem should be solved next month. I stopped by yesterday and asked when they would be starting takeout and was told “sometime in February.” There’s not an exact date set, apparently, but at least it’s happening in the next few weeks. There’s also a bake shop counter up front with cupcakes and various things like cookie pie for sale, if you’re so inclined to a mid-afternoon sugar hit. Unfortunately the Blue Smoke website is down, so I can’t show you the lunch menu but there are pulled pork sandwiches along with a burger  for about $12 which is about as cheap for quality BBQ as we can ask for. I’ll keep you posted if word comes that the takeout operation is up and running.

The lunch options in Battery Park City have gotten remarkably better since I took over Downtown Lunch’ing duties for this site and it looks like more options are on the way. A friend who works in the neighborhood sent along an updated list of places coming soon and they include the already-announced Blue Smoke barbeque that will also awesomely have a bake shop, a place called Beans and Greens that will sell salads and sandwiches, Harry’s Italian and Wei West Restaurant , an Asian-fusion restaurant to the extreme that will have Japanese, Thai, Chinese and Korean. I’m not sure how many of these will be within DL price guidelines, but I don’t think anyone will complain about more lunch options without having to cross the West Side Highway. Photo courtesy of Serious Eats.