Midtown Lunch

At the beginning of the week, I put the question out there:  Where should I take New Orleans Restaraunteur Ralph Brennan for the best sandwich in Midtown.  The owner of Bacco, Red Fish Grille and Ralph’s on the Park, and member of the famous Brennan family- who collectively own some of the best New Orleans food institutions (Commander’s Palace, Brennan’s), was in town promoting his new cookbook, and challenged me to take him out for the best sandwich in Midtown.

I love and revere New Orleans (and the Brennan’s restaurants), and didn’t want to look like an ass, so I took your suggestions and gave Ralph a choice of 5 places that in theory, could serve the best sandwich in Midtown (this way I could blame it on you guys, or even him- since in the end, he chose.)

• Best Quintessential New York Sandwich – When in New Orleans, you eat a Po’boy.  When in New York, you gotta have a gigantic pastrami or corned beef sandwich.  For that, we would go to the newly re-opened 2nd Ave. Deli on 33rd btw. Lex+3rd.
• Best Bread in New York City – For the best sandwich, you’ve got to have the best bread- and although it’s out of bounds to the west (47th btw. 10+11th), Sullivan St. Bakery is arguably the best in town.  And even though their sandwiches are small, they are perfectly crafted.
• Best Burger – Ralph is a burger man, so I had to include the Burger Joint at the Parker Merdien.  He had a car service, so I even suggested we could make the trip down to the Shake Shack if he wanted to see that craziness.
• Best Street Meat – What’s more Midtown than the carts?  And the best street meat sandwich has got to be Kwik Meal’s lamb on pita (45th & 6th), right?
• Best Midtown Lunch – And finally, the place that started it all.  I told him if he wanted the quintessential Midtown Lunch, the place that sums up everything this site stands for (cheap, delicious, unique- and usually ethnic), then we could go to Kati Roll (39th btw. 5+6th).  That counts as a sandwich, right?

Ralph admitted he could definitely go for a big corned beef sandwich- but felt like being taken to the 2nd Ave. Deli was like eating at the Central Grocery.  I assured him that Carnegie Deli was more like the Central Grocery of NYC, but he wanted something a little more unique.  With his Executive Chef Haley Bitterman on hand to consult, they both seemed really interested in seeing what Jim Lahey was doing over at the Sullivan St. Bakery.  So we headed west, for what I billed as “the best bread in New York”.

But in true Midtown Lunch’ing fashion, the eating did not end there… Read more »

• Following the lead of many pizza parlors, all you can eat Indian Buffets, and food purveyors all around the country- Del Frisco’s has raised the price of the bar menu steak tips to $11.95. According to one lunch’er, they’ve also reduced the portion size. It was good while it lasted… although something tells me this had less to do with rising food prices, and more to do with crushing our souls. (Lord knows they don’t need the money.)

• A week after being seized by the I.R.S. for non-payment of taxes, the Old Bridge Deli on 41st & Lex has re-opened. One lunch’er overheard “many of the customers joking with the sandwich makers over which one of them forgot to pay the tax bill”. Those crazy generic Midtown delis! You can close them down, but you can’t take away their sense of humor…

• After what seems like an eternity, the Treats Truck is back this week. Today they’re at 45th & 6th, tomorrow 38th & 5th. For a complete schedule go to www.treatstruck.com

No more Mr. Popeye’s- where we should go to commemorate his life, after the jump… Read more »

I just wanted to quickly post and apologize for all the downtime on the site the past few days.  I think my hosting service is in full meltdown mode, and it has pretty much caused Midtown Lunch to be down or super slow for most of the past two days.  Luckily we were up long enough to get over 40 recommendations for my lunch with Ralph Brennan– which, God willing you will get to read about at some point on Wednesday.

I’ve never used this blog to vent against anybody who has personally wronged me (not counting Yolato of course), but if this keeps up, I might be forced into revealing the horrible hosting company I am currently dealing with.  (If you use them, then you know who I’m talking about, because chances are your website/email/ftp is not working either.)  Hopefully it won’t come to that.  In the meantime, I will continue to sob uncontrollably to myself, and hopefully the issue will be resolved soon…

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Lunch’er for his or her “Best Lunch in Midtown” recommendations. As promised, since last week we beefed it up with the Shameless Carnivore, this week I’m profiling someone for the veggies. Meet Leah, a writer and blogger, who not only eats vegetarian, but works for an organization that is trying to help the Jewish community become more healthy and sustainable.

 Name: Leah

Age: 25

Occupation: I work for Hazon, a Jewish environmental organization and run The Jew & The Carrot, our blog on Jews, food, and contemporary life.

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Hazon’s offices are on 35th between 5th and 6th Avenue — within blocks of not one, but TWO H&M stores

Favorite Kind of Food: I hate to self-define as a food snob, but stinky, artisanal cheeses and hearty farmers’ market greens like kale and mustard greens generally top my list. I also love Dagoba chocolate and most homemade baked goods — brownies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, my mom’s amazing chocolate cake…

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I stay away from anything that tastes like the sea, with the occasional exception of vegetarian sushi. And honestly, I only eat sushi so that I can snack on the pickled ginger.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Anything vegetarian or veggie friendly. Hazon often orders in for lunch meetings from Madras Mahal (on Lex btw. 27+28th) — a tasty kosher, Indian place. I really like their Pea Paratha (bread stuffed with seasoned green peas) and Palak Paneer (cheese cubes in a pure of spinach, cream, and herbs — mmmm….heart attack)

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Being the environmental organization that we are, my green-minded coworkers actually bring food from home on a fairly regular basis. But most days someone was too tired or rushed to get around to packing a lunch. So the three “goto” places are:

1. Hale & Hearty Soups— You can order your lunch online without talking to anyone! Extra points for convenience, even if your soup is lukewarm and your salad looks like it went through a washing machine.
2. Zenith (pan-Asian vegetarian on 48th & 8th) — Their food is generally decent, but some of their fake meat dishes scare me – like the “mango temptation” which features vegetarian chicken drowning in an electric-magenta sweet & sour sauce. How does it get so red?! I probably don’t want to know…
3. Circa (kosher, sandwiches/salads on 33rd btw. Bway+5th) — It’s easy, mostly healthy, and satisfies everyone’s dietary needs on staff, regardless of how strictly they do (or don’t) follow the kosher laws. Still, it’s a bit too “corporate lunch trough” for my taste.

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: Zen Burger — thanks!

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Hazon used to be located one block from the Chelsea Market. Amazing cupcakes, Thai food, an Italian wholesale shop, Amy’s Bread, and a fruit and veg market all in one location — I dream of it still.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers?: If you know of any other kosher or vegetarian gems in the nabe, I’m all ears. Also — where (if anywhere) can I pick up a good bottle of wine to bring to friends’ apartments after work?

Considering you are on 35th btw. 5+6th, there is one Kosher place I know about that you should be eating at every single day!  Fresh baked Kosher bread goodness, after the jump… Read more »

If you have been reading this blog from the beginning than you know that I am a big fan of New Orleans.  It may seem like a natural connection (fat guy like fried seafood sandwiches, dressed with tons of mayo), but there is a little more to it than that.  My wife went to law school in New Orleans, we were married there, and I’ve gained many pounds eating my way across the city (um… ok, I guess it is a case of “fat guy likes fried seafood sandwiches”).  I live blogged the food at last year’s Jazzfest, wrote about how disappointing the New York City Jacques Imo’s was (not surprisingly, it’s closed now), and we’ve had more than one profiled Midtown Lunch’er from the Crescent City.

So, you can imagine how blown away I was when I got this email last week from Blake Killian, author of the great New Orleans food blog Blake Makes, (and part time PR dude):

I’ve been a fan and a reader for a long time. I have a random request, and wanted to know if you’d be interested. One of my clients is a big fan of yours, and he is going to be in NYC March 25-27. He’s wondering if you would be available to go to lunch on one of those days to talk about his new cookbook.

You’d be meeting with Ralph Brennan about his first cookbook.  The Brennans are a very old…

Uh- you can stop right there.  Are you kidding?  The Brennans?  As in Brennan’s, the restaurant in the French Quarter- Brennans?  As in, Commander’s Palace, home of the greatest dessert ever made in the history of the universe, the Brennan’s? (It’s the bread pudding souffle, by the way).  Yeah, I think I’ve heard of them.  The weird thing is, how the hell did this guy hear about Midtown Lunch?  And a “big fan”?  It’s a mystery, and I was afraid to ask “Why?” or “Really?”, too many times, for fear he would realize he had the wrong guy!  And while I’d much prefer having lunch with the dude in his city (NYC is great, but it can’t really hold a candle to lunch in New Orleans), I guess I can play host.

But here’s where I need your help…  Ralph has challenged me to take him out for the best sandwich in Midtown- a task made all the more difficult by the fact that he is visiting from arguably the greatest sandwich city in the country.  So I’m turning the decision over to you guys.  Post in the comments where you think I should take him, and whatever you guys decide- that’s where we’ll go.  Plus- everyone who posts a comment will be entered to win a copy of his new cookbook, “Ralph Brennan’s New Orleans Seafood Cookbook”.

My initial ideas, after the jump… Read more »

Had an errand to run at Macy’s, so where better to eat lunch than on
32nd btw. Bway & 5th. With lines out the door at Mandoo Bar and Pho 32,
we fell back on goo old standby Woorijip, which never disappoints.
People complain that prices have gone up, but all that food for $16 is
still a relative bargain…

I’ve gotten it from numerous sources that the Old Bridge Deli on Lexington & 41st has been seized by the IRS for non-payment of taxes.  Mentioned by many of our Profiled Midtown Lunch’ers as their go-to lunch, the deli was loved by few, but used by many.  She will be missed…

(Anybody have a photo of the sadness?  Email it to me at zach@midtownlunch.com or post it to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Group)

Some ideas just refuse to die. The Bulgogi Sandwich has returned to the cart on 49th btw. 5+6th, this time on a Croissant?!?

• This is what happens when you drink a ton for St. Paddy’s Day, and end up in Herald Square [Salty/Savory/Sweet]
• “Superman” disses Tehuitzingo, praises Pampano Taqueria and gets in argument a valid discussion with regular Midtown Lunch commenter DDR (in the comments) [NYC Food Guy]
• San Domenico Will Be Moving From Central Park South to Midtown [Eater]
• Buttercup Bakeshop was giving away free cupcakes on Monday, after the crane accident on the East Side [Umamimart]
• Top Chef contestant Manuel is out at Dos Caminos in Midtown East [Eater]

Cheap steam table chinese food is what I normally treat myself to when
I’m having a tough day at work, but today felt more like a street meat
kind of day. Currently consoling myself with a platter of chicken and
lamb over rice from the cart on the SE corner of 53rd & 6th. For $5 is
there a more soothingly masochistic lunch in all of midtown?

An interesting article was printed in the New York Times yesterday discussing the trend of proudly fat food writers and bloggers, some of whom have come to realize that their lifestyle is becoming dangerous to their health.  On one side, there are the “adults”, trying to balance their profession with unbridled love of food- heroes and good friends of Midtown Lunch like Ed Levine from Serious Eats, and Jason Perlow from Off the Broiler.  On the other side, you had your unrepentant fat guys like Josh “Cutlets” Ozersky from Grub St. & Seven Shaw from eGullet, unwilling to sacrifice one bit of their daily intake of burgers and pork fat.

As you can imagine, this article hit pretty close to home.  Can you guess which side of the argument I fall on?  The piece probably should have been a wake up call for me, a realization that there are others in the same predicament, who are working to balance being healthy with their love of chicharrones, for example.  Instead, I found myself thinking, “Why aren’t I in the fat pack?”  Like Ralph Wiggum wanting to attend “Bovine University” after watching the Beef Council video, I was left to wonder why nobody called me for this article.  I mean, what am I doing here people???  If eating disgusting lunches in Midtown can’t get you mentioned in an article about fat people who write blogs, I must be doing something wrong.  Am I not fat enough?  Do I need to start eating more?  Because, I can…

I admit that I’m not a tall man, and nobody would accuse me of having a “ex-football player” body (it’s more like an “ex-debate team member who ate too many doughnuts sold by the football players to pay for their jerseys” kind of body).  But I humbly ask that you allow me to join your club anyway.  I promise, I can do better.