Midtown Lunch

The free ice skating rink in Bryant Park opened for the season on Friday, and while that might be exciting news in and of itself for some of you, I’m more interested in the food available in the also open Holiday Market.  In past years the food kiosks have been limited to mostly sweets, and nothing to get too excited about. But according to Lunch’er MychaelS, there are more savory options than ever before (including dumpling soup!?)  So I headed over late yesterday afternoon to check it out.

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My go to spot for pizza in Koreatown is the Little Italy Pizza on 33rd btw. Mad+5th, but Ultraclay has got another option.  He hit up Pizza Rustico 2 recently (on 35th btw. 5+6th) and stands behind their buffalo chicken pizza. “The bleu cheese is a thinner dressing that I’d like, but is just strong enough to balance out the tang and spice of the buffalo sauce.” Not as good as the slices he remembers fondly from college in Massachusetts (where dipping pizza in blue cheese dressing is considered de rigueur) but close enough.

Pizza Rustico 2, 25 W 35th St (btw. 5+6th), 212-736-1114

• If I was going to die in an hour, this is what I’d want to eat [Miscellaneous]
• People who spend under $10 on lunch, arguing about what to tip on a $1000 bottle of wine [Miscellaneous]
• What do you do when you drip street meat grease on your shirt and tie [Miscellaneous]
• Waffles & Dinges apologizes to fan for almost running them over with truck [Miscellaneous]

Is the Schnitzel & Things Truck the next Michael’s?  According to their twitter account, not only did Comedian Jeff Garlin (from Curb Your Enthusiasm) stop by the Schnitzel & Things Truck for a little photo op, but apparently Bobby Flay also walked by earlier today and was shouted at challenged to a throwdown by the guys in the truck. I guess this is what happens when you win a Vendy Award, and appear in a T-Mobile Commercial.

Just got word that the Cupcake Stop Truck will be converted into a cookie truck tomorrow (Tuesday, 11/10), with all proceeds going to benefit Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. And for all you “What About Joan?” fans (!?) Joan Cusack will be on the truck from 11am to 12:30pm on 50th btw. 5+6th, and from 1-2pm next to Bryant Park (on 6th Ave btw 41+42nd). Get more info, and see the truck’s complete Midtown schedule here.

I was in San Francisco this past weekend, and discovered three more things that Midtown really needs to add to our lunching repertoire (to go along with the five Bay Area lunches I posted about back in March.)

We’ll start with the thing I was most excited to discover: a freakin porchetta/rotisserie chicken truck!  Holy mackerel.  Parked at a Street Food Fair thrown by Foodbuzz (as part of their First Annual Blogger Festival),  the Roli Roti Truck has been around in San Francisco for almost ten years, serving up rotisserie chickens and porchetta sandwiches made from sustainably farmed meats that are roasted on spits right on the side of the truck.  This thing was a pure feat of engineering genius, and we need one in Midtown… like… yesterday.  It can fit a couple of hundred rotisserie chickens, but the real star (for me) was their porchetta, which gets sliced hot and sold in sandwiches (crispy skin and all!).

Check one of these bad boys out, after the jump…

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