PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Maressa”

Every Tuesday I turn over Midtown Lunch to a random worker, for their favorite places to eat lunch in Midtown. Today, it’s Maressa- a Magazine Editor who hates fried food (?!?!).  Must… allow… differing… opinions… and yet… it’s… very… difficult… to… post this… profile. 

Name: Maressa

Age:
23

Occupation:
Magazine Editor

Where in Midtown do you Work?:
The epicenter of this culinary wasteland, Times Square (But no, I don’t work in the same building as the reputed “Devil” who wears Prada.)

Favorite Kind of Food:
Generally healthy twists on chicken, seafood, veggies, huge fan of the Tex-Mex (and by default, Chipotle) as well as Greek, Middle Eastern, Indian, & sushi. Fresh fillings wrapped up with some form of carb, be it a pita, tortilla, lavash, etc… I’m usually interested. Or, chocolate, but that’s a whole different story. ;)

Least Favorite Kind of Food:
Anything fried, unnecessarily greasy, dark or red meat.

Favorite Place to Eat Lunch in Midtown:
Sorry to say, Zach, but given my lack of nearby choices, I gotta go with Chipotle. I get the burrito bol (glorified salad, yeah yeah) with black beans, no rice, fajita veggies, chicken, all the salsas (sans the hottest one), lots of lettuce and sour cream OR guac on the side. But I gotta shout out to La Paloma on 45th btwn 8+9th. Muy bueno Mexican delivery!

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Can’t speak for my co-workers; they’re all about Europa and I’m havin’ none-a-dat $11 salad BS. But my personal choice for default deli is Star Lite on 44th btwn 7th & 8th, where I usually get a chicken caesar wrap or salad. (They have a good low-fat caesar dressing, but make sure you say “low-fat”, cuz if you say “light”, then they just put a smaller amount of the regular kind. Drrgh.)

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: Kwik Meal & Pick-a-Pita! Yum and yummier! Unfortch, Chef Rahman makes fun of me when I want pita instead of rice on my chicken platter, and sometimes the street-meat-ness of it all skeeves me. And Pick-a-Pita is sorta a schlep, and on the pricier side. I know—I’m such a kvetch.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? West Village/SoHo. Because then a) I would be near my apartment and save $ by eating my non-existant groceries, b) I could get amazing cart Mex from Calexico, or c) there are just a helluva lot better places that deliver downtown. Like you didn’t already know that. (Ed Note:  Still no word on when the Midtown Calexico cart will be arriving)

Anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? Where can I get decent on-the-cheap(er) Greek, namely a chicken gyro and tzatziki sauce?

 

Well… finally some common ground.  I don’t know about Chicken Gyros… but a real honest to goodness Greek gyro is something I have yet to find in Midtown- and I’m not talking about the gyro they serve on the halal carts.  The meat may look the same on that spit, but once you chop it up into bits, and saute it on a griddle, it becomes something else.  Real greek gyro is left alone, rotated and cooked on the actual spit; cut off in slices *only* when it has become dark on the outside.  And a real gyro has to be topped with tzatziki (greek yogurt sauce).

Forget about shawarma, and halal… I’m talking real honest to goodness Greek gyro.  Anybody had one?  I’ve heard rumors of two carts (one on 44th & 6th Ave., and one on 7th Ave. btw. 33+34th), but I haven’t been to either.  If you have got a suggestion, post it as a comment below…

And, as always, if you have news, suggestions, or you want to be next week’s Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er- email me at zach@midtownlunch.com

59 Comments

  • She looks like the little guy from Fantasy Island.

  • stan! and i thought i was plain mean.

  • De plane! De plane!

  • wow, i feel like I’m watching Laguna Beach or something.
    the men of ML sure are catty. meow!

  • No surprise she didn’t send in a full frontal picture… look at that long list of favorite foods.

  • Whoa belly! It’s midtown lunch. Keep it together. Maressa looks perfectly lovely, but that is beside the point. And be real, has anyone here NOT gained 10 or 20 pounds since they discovered a new favorite spot thanks to ML? God bless Cafe Zaiya. In conclusion, be nice. Eat rice.

  • As far as I’m concerned – you can’t get a GOOD gyro in Manhattan, especially midtown. I live in Astoria, I should know – the best gyros are at Romano’s on 33rd & Broadway, name sounds Italian, but they are 100% Greek. Now, that being said, there are a few places on the outskirts of midtown, just outside the realm of our office chaos that do serve up some tasty gyros…

    Greek Corner – 7th Ave & 28th St.
    Greek Kitchen – 10th Ave & 58th St.

    Good donar kebap @ Taksim on 2nd Ave & 54th – although Turkish, this is their version of the Greek gyro.

  • it is out side of teh midtown lunch realm, but for a good gyro take the C or E to 23rd and 8th to Pita Pan. Best gyro I have had in NYC and they have these really great pita chips for free. Make sure you grad a handfull nad ask for the tadziki on the side. I work at 37th and 7th and is worth the trek.

  • Strickly speaking Gyro is solely a grouned lamb dish, carved from an upright spit.It’s known as Doner in Turkey, ask for a Gyro in Istanbul it’d be a diplomatic incident

    Chicken Cooked in the same way is ‘ Shaslick’
    and oringinates from Turkey/Arabia/Mongols.

    She did look like Liv ya’know.

  • I second the mention for Greek Corner……excellent food, prices are good…….what could be better?

  • It’s a feeding frenzy, again. Burn the witch! WTF midtown lunch commenters? Who peed in your corn flakes?

  • You know, if ever I wanted to be a ML profile, I definitely do not anymore. You guys are really freaking critical, why don’t *you* be profiled then? Jerks.

    But I am a bit disappointed that she doesn’t like fried foods, dark meat OR red meat! I respect her choices (more for me!) but sheesh people. Rude comments on looks and weight… grow up or show us a pic of YOU.

  • Lesbian

  • I agree that many comments are over the line. Mock someone’s food choices with a witty remark if you like, or even the fact that some douchebag is PM’ing his girl on a public comment thread, but don’t disparage looks, jobs, grammar, etc.
    It’s summertime. Chillax!

  • Very clever, Rudy; just like every woman who rejects you is a lesbian, right? Riiight.

  • Yvo, don’t let Rudy get to you, remember he might be a woman, and he allegedly lives in London.

  • I used to think that Gawker commenters were the scum of the earth. Now that I’ve read some of these comments, I now know better.

  • Wow! Be nice. This is a food blog. This profiled lady is beautiful. No, I am not a lesbian, Rudy, just stating the obvious. Stopping hiding behind the anonymity of a posting on a web blog and cut out the stupid, really stupid remarks. So childish.

    And now I pose this challenge for you:
    mareesa
    Rudy McBagel
    DDR
    Stacy

    YOUR TURN!!! It is your turn to be profiled. If I do not see these 4 profiles in the next few months, you will be know to all on midtownlunch.com as wuss. I can’t wait!!!!n Bring it on!

  • Yvo, you wouldn’t get to the rejection stage.

  • To bring the comments back to food for a moment, I just want to say I made a mistake and it’s not gyros but souvlaki at Atrium. It’s still very good though.

    (Insert Liv Tyler mention here)

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