Midtown Lunch

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.

When a friend suggested Spreads for a breakfast meeting, I didn’t hesitate. Spreads has amazing lunch options, so I figured the breakfast would be pretty good too. Related-note: Spreads has randomly come up in conversation multiple times recently, and I have yet to talk to someone who doesn’t love it. Anyone out there had a bad experience?

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Photo courtesy of Tasting Table

During our first look at Ippudo Westside last July, we mentioned that Ippudo would be offering vegetarian options in the future, and the day has finally come! In the main dining room (not the secret upstairs, we had mentioned back in July), Ippudo Westside is now offering hot and cold special “Shojin” ramen ($18) made with koshihikari rice noodles. According to the Tasting Table, the shojin ramen, which is also gluten-free, contains gentler flavors including a base-broth composed of soybean and seaweed, and toppings such as Japanese sweet potato, chestnuts, Chinese wolfberry seeds, and a rotating cast of seasonal specials.

Most of us are obviously going to stick with the Akamaru Modern, but for vegetarians or people with celiac this is huge news. If you’ve had a chance to try it, let us know what you think in the comments.

Ippudo Westside, 321 West 51st Street (btw. 8th and 9th Ave)

In our first look at the downtown Clarke’s Standard, Andrea wondered whether burger + fries + drink for over $10 was becoming the norm for respectable quick services restaurants. Blondie had similar concerns about price in her initial look at the first Midtown location of the burger joint. Good news, burger fans: they heard you!
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Let’s be honest, Kale was never destined to be a Midtown Lunch favorite. It’s named Kale, for pete’s sake. Had it been named Pork, it might stand a better chance. But it’s not named Pork, it’s named Kale. So when I looked at their menu and saw that their lunch plates cost $10.99, just north of the ML limit, I thought that was the final nail in the coffin. But, I actually try to eat healthy most of the time and I know some of you do too, even thought you don’t want to admit it.  So I still went to check out Kale, which just opened last week.

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Last week, Satya Eastern Kitchen closed its Times Square location. Here’s a picture of the scene on 46th and 8th — the Satya lights are off and the signs on the door say they have closed. Although they could be hit or miss, Satya did have decent sandwiches and great crispy seaweed. They confirmed the closure in a Facebook message on Friday that thanked their patrons.

Cer Te (on 55th btw. 5+6th) is getting into the Thanksgiving spirit starting today by introducing their latest sandwich of the month, the “Getting Thanks”. That’s turkey meatloaf, string bean casserole, turkey cracklins, and cranberry ketchup on an onion brioche, served with giblet gravy… you know… for dipping. Prefer pizza to sandwiches? Pizza by Cer Te (on 56th btw. Park+Lex) is bringing back their Thanksgiving pizza, also starting today.

I swore I was done reviewing Treehaus, the upscale deli that has become a go-to place for many in my office. But on my last trip there, I noticed that they were selling crepes in their cafe area. Crepes are hard to find in Midtown and I’m a big fan of thin French pancakes, so I had to check them out.

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This past Friday was the first day of the Bryant Park Holiday Market and with it comes some some more lunch options in Midtown West. Old favorites like Mmm… Enfes, Wafels & Dinges, Daisy’s Grits, and TopArepa are back and they’re joined by some exciting new kiosks. Hong Kong Street Cart (which has been at Madison Square Eats for years), Pao de Queijo (which are Brazilian cheese balls), and Sesame Bar (from the owners of SoomSoom) are among the new businesses serving at the market. The stalls will be open through January 5 and I recommend stopping by sooner rather than later because we all know how crowded this gets as the holidays approach.

What do you do if you’re a pasta company whose Italian namesake makes anti-gay remarks that the company is later forced to apologize for?  Open a chain of restaurants in Midtown, apparently!  In a campaign to raise brand awareness, the Italian pasta company, is launching a line of fast and casual Italian restaurants to make Americans eat more pasta, starting with the opening of Academia Barilla Restaurant at 1290 Avenue of the Americas. I think we’ll throw this one to the comments…

Academia Barilla (set to open by the end of 2013), 1290 Avenue of the Americas

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.

Zach Brooks has taught me to keep my eyes open for hidden restaurants (El Sabroso, I’m looking at you.) So I noticed the Taste of Persia counter hanging out in a non-descript pizza place on West 18th Street. But Zach Brooks has also taught me to be very alert to prices. With only a soup (and a vegetarian soup at that!) below $10, I had decided that Taste of Persia wasn’t for ML. And then a friend who lives in the area and who has good taste in food told me she loves the soup. She encouraged me to go back. And she, and her fiancé, assured me it was very filling. It is also hard to argue with a glowing NYTimes write up (which is proudly mounted on posters all over the space.)

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