Midtown Lunch

With all the fuss made over the opening of Hello Pasta, we were surprised that the other empire-building chain, Nooï (on Lex btw 40+41st), opened this week, entering the pasta-to-go fray pretty quietly. Unlike Hello Pasta, which is completely new, Nooï is a French import with branches across France and Belgium. Obviously, the US was a natural next step to taking over the world… Read more »

Just a friendly reminder regarding our favorite food event of the year… you have until Saturday to nominate your favorite vendor for the 2010 Vendy Awards. Plus, everybody who submits a nomination will be entered to win a pair of tickets… but truthfully, if you haven’t bought your tix for the September 25th event on Governor’s Island you probably shouldn’t leave it to chance. We heard that they are on track to sell out even earlier than last year. Tickets are $85, but it’s all you can eat (and drink) and all the money goes to benefit the Street Vendor Project– so it’s tax deductible. Need more motivation to buy your tickets now? Check out our coverage from last year, and the year before. (And when they sell out, don’t say we didn’t warn you.)

• How to eat your fries at the Tri Tip Grill [Midtown Eating]
• Has anybody tried Rev’d Up Pizza? [Midtown Eating]
• Is Tiger Woods working at Blue Flower Cafe? [Midtown Eating]
• A question that will NEVER be answered definitively… [Midtown Eating]

If you’ve been living under a rock you might be interested to know that the Shake Shack Theater District is open at last. Early reports are very promising and it seems that they have the line management situation down pretty well. Now all the Shake Shacks in the city have the same basic menu. Shack Burgers. Shack Dogs. Shroom Burgers. Cheese Fries. And they all abide by the same monthly custard calendar. But where the Shacks stand apart is with their concretes–that’s Danny Meyer speak for blended frozen custard treats for the uninitiated. Yesterday three brand new concretes took at bow at the Shake Shack Theater District. Naturally I had to try them all, for the good of Midtown Lunchers everywhere, of course.

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Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Chris, an Editor who loves comfort food and hates fake bacon.

Name: Chris

Age: 29

Occupation: Editor

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Park in the high 40s.

Favorite Kind of Food: The food I eat most often is cereal. But my favorite is “comfort food.” I love fried chicken and bbq even though I don’t eat either that often. I’ve entered a few chili cookoffs and have been known to put out a mean Thanksgiving spread in months other than November. As far as lunch goes, I’m very content with a good sandwich.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Hmmm…. When eating in Midtown, my biggest pet peeve is really just lack of value. If I’m not going to eat the canned soup or leftovers that I brought from home then my overpriced meal better be nap inducing. Overall, my least favorite foods are tofu and fake meat. I’m all for vegetarian options and mixing in a salad now and again, but it drives me up the slaughterhouse wall when people who have opted not to eat meat, especially if it’s for moral reasons, try to make their food look and taste like meat. “Thou shalt make no false bacon” is a food commandment of mine.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: The roast beef and mozzarella sandwich that is available on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Previti Pizza (on 41st btw. Lex+Park) is probably my favorite at the moment. Something that I usually only get in Midtown and absolutely love is a good Indian buffet. It’s something that I don’t usually treat myself to unless there is some sort of occasion but I’m always happy when I do.

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Cer Te (on 55th btw. 5th+6th) debuted their special July sandwich, the Uncle Sammie, but it came with a twist: you could get it as a pizza over at Pizza by Cer Te (on 56th btw. Park+Lex). The Uncle Sammie consists of pulled BBQ chicken, grilled corn, green beans, and a bacon-potato puree and since this is the first time you can get a special as a sandwich or a slice, of course we had to see which is better.

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Pizza trucks aren’t new to midtown and neither are dollar slice joints, but $1 pizza from a truck? Now that’s something! Last week while running some errands in the Flatiron area I noticed a pizza truck I’d never seen before parked outside of Maffei’s Pizza (on 22nd and 6th Ave)  with a big old $1 slice sign. I have much love for the $1 slice, so I had to get the scoop. Turns out the truck is affiliated with Maffei’s Pizza and they are going to be selling grandma slices for $1. Those who love grandma pizza know that the grandma don’t come cheap- these slices routinely cost more than a regular cheese slice and can go for upwards of $3 in midtown.

According to the guys on the truck they are planning on making regular midtown appearances, potentially “midtown Mondays” and hope to be fully up and running in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, you can follow them on twitter. By the time I spotted the truck they weren’t serving any more pie, so I’m looking forward to trying out their pizza when they hit midtown proper. They were in the Flatiron yesterday (on B’way and 28th) and the early word on their slices sounds promising. Plus if the grandma slices off the truck are like the ones that Maffei’s sells at their shop, we should be in good shape (provided their fresh out of the oven!) Anyone tried out this new truck yet?