Midtown Lunch

Word was that new chainy-looking Greek restaurant GRK on Fulton St. (btw. William & Dutch) would open on Sept. 6 (or so said the NY Times), but they announced on Twitter that the date was delayed as so often happens with new eateries. Yesterday we got word that they’re actually opening for lunch on Monday UPDATE: We just heard that the opening has been delayed to Wednesday at 11 a.m. A look at the menu shows a few similarities to nearby Pita Press, but less in the way of vegetarian options unless you want a salad. This is a place for carnivores and lovers of Greek yogurt.

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Judging by the massive line greeting me at the Cinnamon Snail truck’s weekly stop in the Financial District on Tuesday, a lot of you are fans. Thus, it’s no surprise that they’ve been nominated for this year’s Vendy Cup to be given out at the Vendy Awards on September 15 on Governor’s Island. I’ve only eaten at the truck once but really enjoyed my five spice seitan sandwich. As you may or may not know, the truck serves nothing but vegan lunches and baked goods, but unless you have some irrational fear of fake meats, you shouldn’t let that scare you away. My second trip to the truck netted an open-faced sandwich of sorts and a doughnut. Would my second vegan lunch be as good as the first one?

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Yesterday was the opening of the rebranded Genji counter inside of Whole Foods Tribeca on Greenwich St. (at Warren) as a Dosateria and Lassi Bar in a first-ever collaboration with Cafe Spice. It turns out the restaurant is more of a split-space now with Japanese food still being made on one side and the rest of the space being used to make Indian dosas, uttapams and Bombay Frankies. You can also get a variety of lassis, or yogurt drinks, some sauces and salads and desserts like gulab jamun from a grab and go case. There were some people standing around to answer questions on ordering (and the ever popular “What’s a dosa?) and I got in the short line to procure some food. My take on what I was served, and why you may want to go vegetarian for lunch here, straight ahead.

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As we told you last week, Whole Foods Tribeca has replaced its sushi bar with a Dosateria that will also serve lassi shakes. The collaboration with Cafe Spice opens today serving both vegetarian and meat versions of dosas, uttapams and Bombay Frankies and the menu will range in price from $4 to $11.95 and be open from breakfast until 8 p.m.  The menu includes a breakfast dosa, and one involving butter chicken, brie cheese and mango chutney so there’s some fusion happening here. If you happen to check it out today, let us know how the food and prices are in the comments.

Anyone who’s worked in the central part of Soho long enough probably knows about Cafe Duke on Broadway (btw. Spring & Prince). I’d never been inside before but braved the hordes of shoppers to check it out and found it to be a massive space stretching from the front of the building to the back, with another entrance on Mercer St. Up front you’ll find sandwiches, some hot items, then a by-the-pound buffet that had such delights as fried chicken and some Chinese food, but you may want to head to the back to a counter merely marked “grill.” That’s where you’ll find bibimbap, a by-the-pound noodle saute station, ramen and what I was after – donburi.  Read more »

Yesterday the new Wafels & Dinges cart made its first appearance in City Hall Park, and ML contributor Brian spotted it at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, taking advantage of all those tourists and hungry employees from 1 Centre St. The cart will be there wafting its delicious smells from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, so now you can get a taco across the street at Nixtamalito and supplement it with a waffle with spekuloos. Or put the taco meat on top of a waffle? The possibilities are endless.

The other day I headed out in the sudden lunchtime downpour to check out the Toum Truck which serves Lebanese sandwiches and rice platters along with some items like fried kibbeh, pizza and homemade lemonade (which gets a thumbs up from ML contributor Sarah). The truck first stopped in the Financial District last week after mostly parking in the Flatiron, but ran out of food and decided to give us a bonus day to make up for that. After ordering my meaty sandwich, another lunch’er and I stood in the rain, watching it be assembled and were in awe of the sheer size of my lunch that made a Chipotle burrito look like a finger sandwich.

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