Midtown Lunch

A quick update on Eliana, the hot dog lady who had her cart seized by police last month when they kicked all the vendors off the NW corner of 43rd St. and 6th Ave. With the help of the Street Vendor Project, she got her cart back and returned to her regular spot last Monday. Sadly, on Tuesday a building manager from the Bank of American Tower (on 6th Ave. btw. 42+43rd) called and complained to the cops- who forced Eliana to move. She is now parked across 6th Ave., on the NE Corner of 43rd St., along with the other vendors who were forced to move (El Rey del Sabor and the halal cart), but is hoping at some point to return to the regular spot that she vended from with no issues for 15 years.

Related:
Street Vendor Project Going to Court Today to Fight For The 43rd St. Hot Dog Lady
BREAKING: Cops Seize Two Carts on 43rd… El Rey Del Sabor is Next

I don’t know if the closing of Gourmet Magazine will have the same effect on the surrounding street lunch spots as the closing of Lehman Brothers did just over a year ago. But one cart that might notice is the Trini Paki Boys on 43rd and 6th, the go to chicken and rice spot for much of the Gourmet staff. In fact, both Editor in Chief Ruth Reichl, and Exec. Editor Doc Willoughby mentioned the cart in their respective profiles.

It was business as usual at the cart yesterday, where they actually added a brand new item to their already packed menu:  “Soya Chunks”, a tofu like substance that they’ve stewed in a really flavorful curry sauce. A lot of the smaller items available at the Trini Paki cart are vegetarian, but if you don’t eat meat and have always wanted to try their chicken over rice, this is the closest you’re going to get.

Related:
The Hidden Delicious Mysteries of the Trini-Paki Boys Cart
Midtown Already Feeling Lehman Withdrawl

Where have I seen this before?

Fahima Halal, the cart run by Muhammad “Kwik Meal” Rahman’s brother, decided not to return to 45th and 6th today (after spending the weekend parked right next to his brother’s cart.)  Instead he went back to 42nd and 9th, and was greeted by two hot dog carts ready to give him the business.  Lunch’er “Joel” gives us the report:

After reading about Fahima this morning, I thought I’d give it a try, as I had to go to the bank on the corner of 42nd street and 9th anyway. Well, the Halal mafia seemed to have it out for the Fahima cart, as there were 2 hot dog carts blocking the Fahima cart, that was parked where it usually is(as well as another hot dog cart to the west, actually vending) I squeezed around behind the two carts and ordered lamb over rice platter, despite warning from a hot dog guy that Fahima was closed.

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Our thoughts go out to all the Midtown Lunch’ers who work at Gourmet Magazine (on 43rd and 7th.) It was announced this morning that Conde Nast would be shutting down the 68 year old food magazine, and according to Fork in the Road everybody has been given just 48 hours to clean out their desks! It’s a sad sad day. (Read more reaction to the news here and here.)

Clearly nobody seems to mind paying an extra $1 for delicious high quality shnitzel. Reports have been pouring in from 52nd and 6th since just before noon, where the Schnitzel and Things Truck has been holding court. According to reports the lines have been out of control since they opened (anywhere from 30-40 people at a time) but as of 1pm nothing had sold out yet.

Don’t want to wait in line? The red “Hot Soup” carts are back (the first sign of fall.) Thanks to Lunch’er Matt for sending in the photo.

Maoz Vegetarian, the European build your own falafel chain with branches in Union Square, NYU, and the UWS, opened their very first Midtown location a few weeks ago (on 7th Ave. and 40th Street). There is no shortage of falafel options in Midtown, but I have always been intrigued by Maoz- especially since Serious Eats: New York named it the best falafel in Union Square. So last week I headed over to give this new addition to the Midtown Lunch scene a try.

If you’ve already been to Maoz, I’m guessing this is no different than any of the other locations. Like any chain, the operation seems pretty streamlined and I’m guessing it’s the same from place to place. I had no basis for comparison, so on this visit was just a fat guy wondering if this was going to replace any of my other go to falafel places in Midtown. I like the idea of building my own sandwich, because layering is incredibly important to me- and so many places just don’t do it right. I was kind of excited to get to give the sandwich building a go.

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