Midtown Lunch

Wichcraft, co-founded by Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary with a limited edition sandwich (available through July) and a contest in which entrants submit original ideas for new sandwich combinations. Winners are offered the opportunity to meet Wichcraft’s co-founders, take a “sandwich making crash course,” eat some free meals, and do a bunch of other neat things. They’re accepting entries through June 7, 2013 and all relevant info can be found here.

Now, a look at the sandwich after the jump…

Read more »

Kobeyaki, which Sarah was a big fan of in Flatiron a year ago, is coming to Midtown. Signs for the new Japanese storefront have popped up right by Crisp on 40th between 6th and 7th avenues. Personally, I’m looking forward to trying that Kobe-style burger Sarah liked so much, as well as some of the noodle options she didn’t get to. No word yet on the grand opening date yet, but hopefully it’ll be soon!

Here’s a good one… tomorrow (5/29) from 1 to 5pm Coolhaus will be driving around Midtown handing out free ice cream sandwiches to promote Bon Appetit’s Grub Crawl.  To find out exactly where, follow them all afternoon on twitter @coolhausny or @bonappetit.

Crisp, which is no longer on wheels, announced new menu items recently, adding a “v-grill” menu to their regular swath of falafel offerings. In addition to five kinds of v-grill burgers, they’re offering three varieties of v-grill wraps all priced at $7.95: shwarma (v-grilled strips, hummus. Israeli salad, grilled onions and tahini), kati (v-grilled masala kebobs, greens, grape tomatoes and curry mango coconut sauce), and carne asada (v-grilled steak, greens, corn salsa, grilled peppers, onions, cheddar cheese and chipotle aioli). I suppose this is an attempt to differentiate themselves from Pocketful, but I’m not yet sold that “v-grilled strips” will get me in the door. Anyone been to Crisp lately and try these yet? Let us know how it is in the comments.

Crisp (Two Locations)

• 684 3rd Ave. btw. 43+44th, (212) 661-0000
• 110 West 40th btw. B’way+6th, (212) 278-8978

I should have known something was up when I went to Peter’s Midtown East for lunch last week and their normally creamy meatloaf platter (guilty pleasure of everyone in my office) instead had a runnier, “au jus-type” gravy over it. Peter, why’d you have to go and change the meatloaf I know and LOVE?

Today, on my way to investigate another lunch, I noticed that the windows at Peter’s were all covered up. After calling the location to no answer and then checking Seamless, which said the location was currently not open, I decided to call Williamsburg’s location to see what was up. The person who picked up on the other end said that the Midtown East location had closed for “rebranding” and will be opening again in late June. Rebranding, huh?

All I have to say about this is: HEY, MOM! THE MEATLOAF! WE WANT IT NOW! THE MEATLOAF!

Peter’s Since 1969, 667 Lexington Avenue (btw. 55th and 56th Street)

Photo courtesy of Food in Mouth

• Danji is a small splurge but totally worth it [Food in Mouth]
• Dave Cook seems to like Totto Ramen [EIT]
• Grubhub and Seamless are merging [Chicago Tribune]
• How did this fusion falafel article leave out Crisp!?! [NYM]
• The NYC Food Truck Assoc is up for the Helping Hands Award for their post Sandy work [SENY]

Thanks to Donny T.’s review, we already know that the Amish Market in Midtown East (45th btw. 2nd+3rd) has killer sandwiches. But did you know that some of the best, most unique sandwiches they offer take inspiration from the classic charcuterie of Europe, that of Italy, France, and Spain to be exact?

Donny covered one of those in his review: the Roma, which sports sliced porchetta, fire-roasted peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, lettuce, and tomato. Despite the fact that the “porchetta” isn’t the juicy pork you might expect, it’s a good sandwich that relies on some of the simple food that comes from Italian culture. You could count the Di Parma as a classic Italian sandwich as well, but it’s mix of prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, basil, and balsamic vinaigrette it’s fairly ubiquitous as sandwich shops around the city.

Read more »

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.

I was recently asked if I worry about running out of places to cover in the Flatiron Lunch area, and I had to answer honestly, “Yes!” But when I come across places like Salumeria Biellese, and I am reminded that I shouldn’t stress about it. There are always more hidden gems.

Read more »

Last Monday morning, while brainstorming potential lunchtime meals, I was hit with a sudden, intense craving for a calzone (pizza’s oft-forgotten, heavier sibling). This was no ordinary craving, either – it was the kind of craving that can haunt a person for days on end. For whatever reason, I knew that absolutely nothing would satisfy my lunchtime desires except for a calzone. The problem, of course, was that I had never ordered a calzone in midtown. It’s hard enough to find decent pizza in the neighborhood, so how the hell am I supposed to find a respectable calzone?

Naturally, I turned to our archives for help and stumbled upon this gem of a post from 2010. “Perfect,” I thought. Now I had five delectable options to choose from, each with a detailed description and photographic summary. Something was wrong, though… this was too easy. What kind of Midtown Lunch’er am I if I just stick to what’s already been explored? So, I made the difficult decision to forge ahead on a different path and test some new waters. Why should Midtown Lunch readers have to settle for just five calzones? We should familiarize ourselves with all of the calzones! And so began my weeklong quest to find the most worthwhile calzone in midtown.

Read more »

Springtime meant another menu update for the Bob & Jo truck starting a few weeks ago. Winter’s ramen and dumplings are out, and sandwiches are back. They’ve been touting their new tofu offerings nonstop on twitter, but when I went to check out the tofu sandwich ($8) the other day, I wasn’t that impressed. Has anyone tried anything worthwhile from the new menu? Let us know in the comments.