Midtown Lunch

I’ve been a huge fan of Michael Voltaggio’s Ink.Sack ever since it opened a year and a half ago. See, MVolt could have opened a typical sandwich annex next to his popular restaurant Ink, charging upwards of $12-15 for sandwiches that people who eat lunch on Melrose would be more than happy to shell out the cash for. But he went the other way, offering a mostly take out menu of smallish sandwiches for $5-8 with great ingredients and interesting flavors that cheap fatsos like me would like. A pork filled, chicharron topped banh mi. House made corned beef and pastrami. A Cuban sandwich. Sadly, the chicken skin and liver mousse sandwich is gone, but there is still the cold fried chicken sandwich and the Spanish godfather.

And this week they added 6 new sandwiches to their menu, four of which contain an ingredient that pretty much improves anything it touches: fried eggs. And the best part is, they’re available All. Day. Long.

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Photo courtesy of Blondie & Brownie

You may or may not have heard that one of New York’s more famous food trucks is paying a visit to L.A. next week, and you’d be forgiven for shrugging your shoulders and wondering whether or not you should care. After all the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck admits to serving just “plain old soft serve” that happens to be topped with fancy pants toppings (like olive oil and sriracha.) When they first launched in NYC, I didn’t initially buy into the hype… that is, until I tried their “Salty Pimp”, a chocolate dipped sea salt sprinkled cone with dulce de leche piped into the vanilla soft serve. One bite and I realized why these guys are a favorite of Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern and pretty much all of New York. And next week we get a chance to check it out, presumably as they test the waters for a possible west coast branch of Big Gay Ice Cream. Should you go check out the BGICT? Definitely.

Want to hit them up during your lunch break?  We’ve posted their schedule after the jump, along with some lunch suggestions within walking distance of each spot…

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When the first photos of Ink.Sack, Michael Voltaggio’s new sandwich shop on Melrose, hit the twittersphere I jumped into cautious hysteria mode-  furiously clicking for any indication of whether or not this place would be cheap enough to qualify as a Midtown Lunch.  The best look I got was this blurry photo, where I could kind of make out a 5 next to each sandwich.  Shit.  Of course the sandwiches are $15 each. This guy is not just a freakin Top Chef, but probably the most famous Top Chef there is.  Oh well.  Fuck it.

And then the greatest, most shocking, news of all time hit the blogosphere.  I was imagining the 1.  The sandwiches were only $4-6.  Is this guy nuts?  What happened to cashing in on your success?  Rent on Melrose ain’t cheap buddy. Buuuuuuuut there was a catch (there always is).  The sandwiches are small.  And the debate, which will likely rage on for years to come, officially began.  Do you need 2 or 3 sandwiches to make a filling lunch?  2 would be fine to keep me under $10, but 3 would be too expensive.  So… how small are they really?  Most of the photos out there have been inconclusive. But let’s put it this way: if the guys-who-have-small-penises-drive-big-cars adage applies to sandwiches, Michael Voltaggio must have a gigantic penis.

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