Archive for 'PROFILE: Downtown Lunch’er'

Every Tuesday we'll profile a Downtown Lunch'er and get his or her recommendations for the best lunches Downtown has to offer. Want to be profiled and give your recs? Just email us at downtown@midtownlunch.com

PROFILE: Downtown Lunch’er “Jeff”

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 Jeff who’s a relative newcomer to the Downtown Lunch scene but has already managed to find most of the quality places for Vietnamese sandwiches.

Name: Jeff Baum

Occupation: Litigation paralegal

Where you work: Broadway and Liberty St.

Age: 30

Favorite kinds of food: Spicy, authentic Thai food, or a really good steak.

Least favorite foods: Generally not the biggest seafood fan, especially for lunch.

Favorite lunches downtown: If I can spare the time to walk up, Xi’an Famous Foods on Bayard St.  (btw. Mott & Elizabeth) in Chinatown for liang-pi noodles is untouchable. More locally, I really enjoy the sloppy bao at Baoguette on Nassau (btw. John & Fulton) and the Taiwanese dumplings at the A-Pou’s Taste Cart (Multiple Locations). My grandfather and I try to get together for lunch every few weeks, and for a nice, sit-down place that’s pretty reasonable, Les Halles on John St. (btw. Nassau & Broadway) was excellent.

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PROFILE: Downtown Lunch’er “Cynthia”

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 Cynthia who will eat spicy food, but shuns broccoli.

Name: Cynthia

Occupation: Lawyer & blogger at www.addicted2etsy.com

Where you work: John & Water

Age: 30

Favorite kinds of food: Love it all, but I do lean towards spicy.

Least favorite foods: Anything bland or dry and anything with broccoli. Still hate broccoli.

Favorite lunches downtown: Love food trucks like the Souvlaki GR truck that parks at Old Slip & Front. Pork souvlaki wrap all the way. Bian Dang (for the dumplings), No. 1 Banh Mi cart at Hanover Sq. & Pearl, what used to be the Jamaican Dutchy truck (aka, R. Retha’s cart) at William & Beaver, even the, in my opinion, slightly overpriced Frying Dutchmen truck. Also,  Bennie’s Thai Cafe on Fulton (at Gold) for pad kee mao/spicy noodles, and BonChon Chicken on John (btw. Cliff & Pearl).  Lately, I’ve been surprisingly enjoying the soups and sandwiches from Earl’s Court on John (at Gold). When I’m not starving, I treat myself to sweet potato fries from Goodburger on Maiden Lane (at Pearl).

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Zeytuna on Maiden Lane (at William). Why do we go there? I always spend more than I should, and I very rarely enjoy my meal.

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PROFILE: Downtown Lunch’er “Matt”

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 Matthew who works about as far down in Manhattan as you can without being in the water, and is looking for more good Indian food options.

Name: Matthew

Occupation: Electronic discovery

Where you work: Battery Place

Age: 28

Favorite kinds of food: I always crave pizza, good deli sandwiches, sushi, Indian, and Mexican.

Least favorite foods: I probably eat Chinese food least.

Favorite lunches downtown: When my inner discipline is strong, I don’t go to Pizza Italia on Stone St. (btw. Whitehall & Broad) and order one buffalo chicken slice and one grandma round slice. After surviving three years of mediocre pizza in California, I gave up great Mexican for great pizza and it was worth it. I also get a lot of Italian heros at Champs Gourmet Deli (Multiple Locations) and roast pork at Sophie’s Cuban (Multiple Locations). FIKA on Pearl (nr. Coenties Slip) has great coffee and even better scones.

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PROFILE: Downtown Lunch’er “Cathy”

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 Cathy who is a recent transplant to the Financial District and has an unpopular opinion on street meat.

Name: Cathy

Occupation: Account executive

Where you work: Wall St. and William St.

Age: 30

Favorite kinds of food: Sushi, bistro fare, salads

Least favorite foods: Halal carts.  Can’t get past the smell.

Favorite lunches downtown: I go to Pita Press on Cedar (btw. William & Pearl) and my favorite thing to get is one of their salads with the warm pita on the side. You can also get a side of tzatziki for 50 cents to dip your pita in.  It is one of my favorite lunches.  That is my go-to lunch spot not only due to its proximity but the tasty fresh ingredients. I also like Hot Clay Oven – the Indian take out place that is setup like Chipotle.  That is pretty tasty.  On the higher end, Crepes du Nord is great.  The buckwheat crepes are made to order and the fillings are very healthy and yummy.  I like a lighter lunch so both of these places fit the bill for me.

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PROFILE: Downtown Lunch’er “Jillian”

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 Jillian who is a food blogger but works in the Financial District scrounging up lunch during the day.

Name: Jillian Nadell

Occupation: Graphic designer and food blogger at Eat Like a Lady (http://eatlikealadynyc.tumblr.com/)

Where you work: Wall & William

Age: 24

Favorite kinds of food: Mexican, Indian, Malaysian, Thai, Greek and good BBQ

Least favorite foods: Olives and oysters

Favorite lunches downtown: The Financial District is great for lunch. Most days I tend to be boring and stick to Pret A Manger, Chop’t or Hale and Hearty (Multiple Locations for all) both for financial reasons and my waistline. However, I’ve been spicing it up – no pun intended – with tandoori chicken salads from Hot Clay Oven (Maiden Lane & Gold), the “Indian Chipotle.” As for Zeytuna (Maiden Lane at William), they have the best variety and quality in terms of their hot bar and salad bar. And I think Koyzina (William at Cedar) makes the best sandwiches around. I usually have them make one with grilled chicken, pepper jack cheese, spinach and grilled onions with chipotle mayo toasted on their pumpernickel roll. Since I’ve been introduced to Sophie’s Cuban Cuisine (Multiple Locations) I find myself there more often than not. My favorite is the baked chicken with salad and rice and I cover the whole thing in their amazing green aji sauce (this stuff is “crack”). Toloache Taqueria (Maiden Lane btw. William & Gold) has the best quick Mexican food I’ve had in the city.  They have $3 taco Tuesdays and $7 burritos on Fridays, and I always go for the puerco. When I am looking to splurge or sit outside during the warm weather, I hit Stone St. btw. Broad & Hanover Sq., which really does have great food. Mad Dog and Beans has awesome Mexican food and the margaritas are strong. My favorite here is the quesadilla and their spicy guacamole. Adrienne’s Pizza Bar has some of the best pizza in the city. I like to get spinach and garlic or their pepperoni. Harry’s Café and Steak has the best steak sandwich I’ve ever had, Ulysses has the best cheddar and bacon burger and Smorgas Chef, a Scandinavian restaurant, has killer Swedish meatballs if you’re looking to do something different.

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PROFILE: Downtown Lunch’er “Noah”

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 Noah who is a fellow food blogger and is lucky enough to work both in the FiDi and near the lunch bounty that is Chinatown.

Name: Noah Arenstein

Occupation: Criminal defense lawyer. Blogger at Law & Food and editor-at-large at Real Cheap Eats.

Where you work: Pine & Pearl, but often at the courthouse.

Age: 27

Favorite kinds of food: Sichuan Chinese, cheeseburgers. Anything patently unhealthy.

Least favorite foods: I’ll try anything once. I loathe Subway, and most other chain sandwich places (with a few notable exceptions like Pret). Seriously, go to a bodega and get a sandwich. I’m not really into sweets or chocolate (with the strong exception of any Haribo product), so my meals tend to be front heavy. I had a hard time with kidneys the last time I tried them, but otherwise I’m pretty good with offal.

Favorite lunches downtown: I’ve only started working in FiDi full time in the past month or so, but I’ve worked down here on and off for awhile now. I used to get lamb over rice at the carts at Broadway and Liberty St. a lot, but I’m looking for a new go-to spot. Rubirosa on Mulberry (btw. Spring & Prince) and Torrisi (now Parm) on Mulberry (at Prince) are always good standbys. If I’m in court or visiting clients in prison, Chinatown lunches are key (especially since I work with someone who speaks fluent Chinese). In that case, it’s hand-pulled noodle and dumpling/wonton spots on Eldridge, Shanghai 456 on Mott (btw. Canal & Bayard), Shanghai Cafe on Mott (btw. Canal & Hester) and Noodle Village on Mott (btw. Bowery & Bayard), among others.

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PROFILE: Downtown Lunch’er “Jeremy”

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 Jeremy who genuinely loves eating in the Financial District (no, really).

Name: Jeremy Wiland

Occupation: Corporate gift sales

Where you work: Wall St. between William and Pearl

Age: 36

Favorite kinds of food: I used to only eat hamburgers, pizza and chicken until I moved to New York City. I tried Thai food and fell in love and now I will eat anything. There isn’t a kind of food that I will not eat including Thai, Indian, Afghani, sushi, Italian, bar food, Mexican, seafood, French and tapas.

Least favorite foods: Ethiopian…I had a very bad experience at an Ethiopian place and will never try it again.

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