Midtown Lunch

Right next to the newly opened SoomSoom near Fifth Avenue, is a big sign advertising a new location of Filicori Zecchini, an Italian coffee shop. This will be the second location in New York and it’s literally just a few blocks west of the first location on 46th Street. These two locations will bookend Gregory’s Coffee, which means between Sixth and Park Avenue on 46th Street, you’ll never have to worry about falling asleep from lack of caffeine.

At first glance, the allure of Maoz Vegetarian is the top notch salad bar with which you can construct a pretty substantial falafel sandwich. Although I wouldn’t count their falafel as best in Midtown (in my opinion, that accolade belongs to Taim, even though it came in second in the 2011 reader’s poll), the endless toppings are a big (and messy!) draw. But, the reason I go to Maoz? The Belgian fries.

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Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

My personal Thai food history is a bit of a pad Thai haze. I’m not proud. But I have been working to expand my horizons and really search out the best in town, which brought me to Jaiya.

I first started hearing about Jaiya Oriental-Thai years ago from a friend who would regularly make pilgrimages to the original outpost in Hicksville, Long Island, which, sadly, seems to have closed. But lucky for us, the New York City location is thriving. I had previously gone for dinner a handful of times with much success, so I was thrilled to find out they have a lunch special.

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DNAinfo published a story yesterday about the ongoing tension between brick and mortar business owners and food vendors. The 34th Street Partnership is now attempting to launch a campaign that would reduce the number of vendors allowed in Midtown. They quoted the head of the Partnership who called the vendors “the ugliest collection of vehicles,” and “terrible citizens.” They also want the carts to “beautify” themselves to look more like attractive carts like Wafels & Dinges. And they claim this campaign would make Midtown much more pleasant for residents.

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It’s official, the new place that took over the old Pinnacle Deli is not !Sarah’s Kitchen (with an exclamation in the front) but just plain Sarah’s Kitchen. It’s still a mystery as to what they will be serving but from the looks of things, we’ll find out pretty soon. Get a sneak peek of the interior after the jump.

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I don’t know why fancy grilled cheese is the new pie cupcake, but three grilled cheese trucks officially makes a trend. I’ve had my eye out for Morris Grilled Cheese since word on the street was they’re doing some fantastic things, and on the cheaper side. Also, they have duck fat! When they got a good review from Brian, I doubled my efforts to meet them at their usual Thursday spot on Park and 52nd. I was pleasantly surprised to find quite the crowd in front of the truck during lunch (gotta support!), and after a quick look at the menu, I chose to go with their Raclette sandwich.

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SoomSoom brought pretty tasty falafel to Lexington Avenue last year. We had mentioned that they were planning on opening a second Midtown location near Fifth Avenue and the time has come. In fact, the new location (which is sort of hidden on 46th Street between Fifth and Sixth) opened yesterday. There’s no sign on the building (yet?), but some glass windows and a board outside featuring their falafel and salad bar pitas. Looks like they’re attempting to give the nearby Kosher Deluxe a run for their menu.

The wings at Pok Pok Wing. Photo by Blondie.

Blondie says Pok Pok Wing may have the best (if very pricey) fried chicken in New York right now, Brownie made a five-layered sweetheart cake for her boys at home, Brian explores Paulie Gee’s legacy by trying all the pizzas at Barboncino, Donny rode the 7 train at rush hour to check out Thai food at SriPraPhai in Queens, Rachel thinks that Maoz’ belgian fries are a better than their falafel and I photographed the final edition of Something I Ate in New York.

Elsewhere in the ML universe… Andrea went to Chinatown for lunch at Banh Mi Saigon, Jamie had dim sum for lunch at Ocean City in Philly and Zach has gone native and endorsed the veggie burger at Shaka Shack in Los Angeles.