Midtown Lunch

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 John who is asking for your help in locating a long lost friend. And he has probably the most interesting answer to “favorite kinds of food” I’ve ever seen.

Name: John Frost

Occupation: City government

Where you work: 55 Water St.

Age: 37

Favorite Kinds of Food: I’ll eat pretty much anything in moderation. There was a guy on NPR a few weeks back lamenting the fact that there are no restaurants in New York that serve sparrows. I concur. There needs to be a place in town where I can order up a big plate of delicious roasted sparrows. Preferably near my office so I can eat sparrows for lunch. I like the idea of eating birds so small you can chew up the bones as if they were soft-shell crabs.

Least Favorite Foods: Things that are overly viscous or have a gummy texture. Most anything that would be served at a fancy Chinese banquet falls into this category: shark fin soup, geoduck, sea cucumber, bird’s nest soup, and on and on. Course after course of obscenely expensive, inedible bowls of snot with rubbery bits. Thankfully, they usually throw a couple of whole ducks or chickens on the table at some point… load up on those and the steamed bok choy. Read more »

In what may have been the quickest turnaround of making a sandwich shop into a taco one, Toloache Taqueria opened last week on Maiden Lane (btw. Gold & William). This was a big deal for lunch’ers in the Financial District because we are barren down here for good tacos and tortas.  I was there during their first real day of service, because someone had to eat fancified Mexican food for research purposes. Read more »

Downtown we have to pay $15 for schnitzel. Courtesy of Serious Eats

• This schnitzel makes me want to pay more than $10 for lunch. [Serious Eats]
• The Calexico Cart on Broome makes a triumphant return. [Lunch with Front Studio]
• At long last someone likes Fonda Nolita. [NY Mag]
• You can now get mac and cheese at Tribeca’s Birdbath Bakery. [Tribeca Citizen]
• There is a 90-year-old Chinese tea parlor with a Facebook page. [Fork In The Road]