Midtown Lunch

This week I sent our bagel hungry Profiled Luncher Lauren to check out the veggie packed lunches at Picnic, mentioned briefly by Luncher Wayles

After almost four years at Penn, I had somehow managed to miss Picnic, a casual restaurant at the edge of University City.  Finally, two friends and I braved the cold and walked the daunting eight blocks (a serious endeavor for a weekday!) for a late lunch.  Picnic offers a selection of daily specials that include soups, sandwiches, salads, and dishes from their refrigerated case.  For those who don’t have time to sit, they also offer “ready-to-go” items that can be quickly wrapped.  We decided to order one soup, one sandwich, and one salad to best cover the menu.

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Today, we are getting another report from profiled luncher Stephanie, this time on the superior sandwiches available in the Fairmont area.

A hop, skip, and short bus ride away from Center City lies the charming neighborhood of Fairmount. Wandering around this charming city-suburb, you can find baby strollers, tree-lined streets, and one of the best sandwich shops in town.

Plain and simple, Rybread makes good sandwiches. Deviating from the recent trend of delicious frou-frou sandwiches a la exotic banh mi or the ultimate roast pork sammich, Rybread’s repertoire of sandwiches hail from classic recipes. That is not to say, however, that Rybread is not gourmet; they are. Yet, there is undoubtedly a focus on putting together simple ingredients that result in simple goodness.

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After a particular harsh weekend of holiday partying in NYC a friend of mine was suffering. After 3 days of complaining and not eating I proclaimed the immortal phrase that as children, we were all a victim to: “would you like some cheese with that wine?” As it turns out, said friend DID want some cheese (and bread,) so we decided to have lunch at Di Bruno Bros. (1730 Chestnut St.) Being a man who believes all things can be made better with cheese, and also knowing that Di Bruno Bros has a small market inside where I could buy goodies to go, I was looking forward to it.

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Last summer Manayunk saw the opening of Agiato Bread Company, and last month the paninoteca- wine bar opened a few doors down. Besides an extensive wine list, the menu features things that go well with wine; meat and cheese selections, soup, salads, and paninis. Sitting inside the small space, with its tiled accents and imported South American wooden tables, you might forget the debauchery that goes down on that very street any given weekend night. There has been some recent chef quitting drama, but it not appear to effect the food on my visit.

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Only a week after the projected date, Marabella Meatball Co opened last Thursday on Walnut St, giving another option for anyone heading into nearby Cosi or Potbelly’s. Inside is a semi-open kitchen, big windows for people watching, and a simple minimalist design.  Here you pick your meatball type, the size of your sandwich, and a combo of sauce, cheese, and toppings (extra $). You can go for one of Marabella’s preapproved combos too. There really is something to the concept of sticking with one dish and having swappable toppings to go with it, you can do it right and you can get the product to the customer fast. It is actually kind of inhuman how fast they get your sandwiches to you. I easily spent more time deciding on what combo I wanted to go with. I think the fact that every cheese and sauce appealed to me that made the decision so hard.

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