Midtown Lunch

The new Street Sweets Truck, which launched last week saying they planned on permanently being on 55th btw. 5+6th, already seems to be having trouble with their parking space.  Yesterday they tried moving to 56th Street, before returning to 55th because of “the politics”.  Today they’re trying a new location on the NE corner of 51st and Park. This is nothing new, of course.  It took the Treats Truck awhile before they settled into their regular spots (38th and 5th on Tues/Thurs, 45th & 6th on Weds/Fri), and after months of building up their business the Dessert Truck was forced to move from Park & 52nd to their current location on 55th btw. Lex+3rd.  It may take awhile for these guys to find their footing, but hopefully they’ll stick it out.

If you want to keep track of where the Street Sweet truck is, the best way is to follow their Twitter account.

Last night was the Citymeals-on-Wheels “Global Street Food” benefit at Rock Center that we gave away tickets to last week.  Midtown Lunch favorites like the Dessert Truck and the Treats Truck parked themselves alongside famous chefs from all over the country who were all serving “street food” inspired fare.  With a ticket price of $450+ it’s too expensive for most of us, but all the money went to benefit Citymeals-on-Wheels and I have to say- if I had money, this is what I would spend it on.  It’s easily one of the best food events of the year (although admittedly this years street food theme catered more to my personal tastes than previous years.)

It was also funny to see all these rich folks sidling up to one of the Red Hook Ballfield Vendor trucks for pupusas and fried plantains, and the Kogi BBQ table for kimchi quesadillas (most of them completely unaware of the madness that took place yesterday.)  I overheard one lady ask her son what kimchi was, and listened to him confidently explain that it meant “to cook something in the proper way.”  (It’s actually fermented Korean veggies, most commonly cabbage, but close enough guy.)

Of course none of this really has anything to do with finding lunch in Midtown, so for humoring me reading this useless post I’m going to give away my favorite new cookbook! (Which also has nothing to do with eating lunch in Midtown, but whatever.)

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Chef Lee Anne Wong & Chef Roy Choi

The best thing to come out of our live coverage of the Kogi BBQ truck’s invasion of Midtown today was finding out that Chef Lee Anne Wong, from Top Chef Season 1, was just named the Executive Chef of Kogi BBQ’s east coast operations.  What does that mean exactly?  Well, she is going to be spearheading their operations here on the East coast.   First order of business?  Opening a Kogi BBQ Truck here in New York City.

Once the kimchi quesadillas ran out, she told the disappointed crowd that Kogi would hopefully be opening in NYC by the end of the summer.  Then she told me, they’d be open tomorrow if they could.

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Today is the annual Taste of Times square event put on by the Times Square Alliance.  From 5 to 8:30pm today 46th Street between Broadway and 9th Ave. will be shut down, and filled with neighborhood restaurants serving tastes of food for under $5.  It’s mostly the Applebee’s/Bubba Gump/Hard Rock crowd (plus all the touristy restarant row places.)  But there are a few gems in there, if you look hard enough.  Here’s our coverage from last year, and the year before.  I suppose if you’ve got nothing better to do after work…

In what should be no surprise to anybody, the line at 11:40am is already stretching down the block for the Kogi BBQ truck’s first forray into NYC. For $4 you get a kimchi quesadilla from Kogi, along with the Dessert Truck’s famous chocolate mousse with peanut butter center. All proceeds benefit Citymeals-on-wheels, and there are only 200 servings. Line count right now… 65 and growing- and the truck doesn’t open until noon!

Keep checking back right here for live updates from the scene!

11:47 AM BLOCKBUSTER: Lee Anne Wong from season one of Top Chef is on hand to help dish out the food. Why you might ask? Because she is now the executive chef of east coast operations of Kogi BBQ and will be in charge of the first Kogi BBQ truck in New York.

Live updates after the jump!

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Got a little bit of sad news from the Papa Perrone Pizza Truck (on 55th btw. Mad+Park) this morning.  He’s retiring their official entry into the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge.  The mozzarella stick/french fry/chicken finger homage to the Rutgers’ Grease Trucks may come back in September, for now you’ll have to make due with his regular menu of offerings. Though to make it up for it, starting today Papa Perrone will be serving the famous Louie G’s Italian Ices from Brooklyn.  The flavors will rotate, and $2 will get you two scoops.  Today he’s got Vanilla/Oreo, Spumoni, Rainbow and Lemon.  Might be a good option if the Kogi BBQ line at the Dessert Truck is too long…

Related:
An Inside Look at the Papa Perrone’s Grease Truck Special

I walked by the Homefront Deli for the first time the other day (on 41st btw. Mad+Park), only to discover that the owners finally sold the place a few months ago (they had been trying for awhile.) Sadly though, the new owners have given it a complete face lift. The food looked to be mostly the same, but gone were all the great hand written signs in the window, and behind the counter. (All the things I would refer to as “charm”.) Now it kind of looks like every other generic Midtown deli. I suppose the most important thing is the food though. Any big Homefront Deli fans out there who can give us the scoop? Did the owner change more than just the decor? How’s the food tasting these days? Let us know in the comments…

Related:
Homefront Deli is Up for Sale
Homefront is Not Your Average Midtown Deli

Just an FYI from Bionicbites’ twitter feed: the $5 “May” lunch special being offered by Shilla (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th) is over… because it’s June.