LUNCH STUDIO

Bibimbap Backpackers

2013-05-22T19:35:00.002-04:00

In a total space cadet move, I canceled a lunch with some friends because I had a 1:00pm call but this morning Tia wrote to remind us about the Bibimbap Backpackers event we had agreed to go to. Well I guess it's lucky I canceled lunch with my other friends since apparently I already had lunch plans that I had completely forgotten about. Bibimbap Backpackers is a group of young people traveling around the world to introduce and demystify Korean food, particularly bibimbap. Well I'm down with that mission. We had pajeon (pancake), japchae (glass noodles), fried mandu (dumplings) and the piece de resistance - make your own bibimbap! Super fun because they put out a table's worth of ingredients and you could put whatever you wanted on the rise, which for Gordon and I, was pretty much everything there. A tasty lunch.
Bibimbap Backpackers, hosted at Take31, 15 E. 31st St, NY, NY 10016

4:30pm brownies

2013-05-22T11:35:00.004-04:00

Bless her heart Heidi, who sent along two pieces of a batch of brownies for my birthday last week. I had one yesterday, after my moldy morning, and I'm pretty sure the dark chocolate with bits of saltiness helped clean out my system. I saved one for today because they are pretty exceptional brownies. (Hear that Heidi? Exceptional!).

Chipotle

2013-05-21T16:01:00.000-04:00

I am causing all sorts of lunch travesties today - having a salad from a chain, at my desk while talking to Pittsburgh via skype. I think my brain was addled from the hour or more I just spent in a moldy doctor's office that we're going to renovate into a religious sanctuary. Great challenge I know! The space has been abandoned since October and is a warren of rooms, layers of ceiling peeling off, debris and leftover equipment scattered throughout. I needed all that salad and tart tomato to clear out the stale air clogging my lungs.
Chipotle, 680 Sixth Ave, NY, NY 10010 (btwn 21st and 22nd)

7:45pm eclairs

2013-05-20T18:48:00.001-04:00

This is technically from yesterday, but you'll forgive me right? I can't seem to keep up with the dessert posts with M. still away. But I had to share these delicious eclairs from the bakery at newly opened French eatery, Lafayette. Andrew Carmellini seems to have no shortage of funds for new restaurants, the old Chinatown Brasserie has been so thoroughly eradicated, the space completely revamped to his style of upscale interior. John got me the birthday eclairs, whose chocolate interior was pleasantly bitter.
Lafayette, 380 Lafayette St, NY, NY 10003 (at Great Jones)

Hill Country, with Suj and Heimi

2013-05-20T18:39:00.000-04:00

I took my old and dear friends visiting from Switzerland to Hill Country because I knew they would want to eat only non-Swiss things and what could be more fun than down and dirty Texan barbeque. We shared a mess of things, finishing off every last little bite. Yum delicious.
Hill Country, 30 W. 26th St, NY, NY 10010 (btwn Broadway and 6th Ave)

The Stage, with Anne

2013-05-17T17:33:00.003-04:00

While M. is off gallivanting about Japan, I am meeting book club friends at beloved places like The Stage. When I woke up this morning I debated very briefly between pierogies or meatloaf but meatloaf won hands down. Usually the deep fried meatloaf comes covered in gravy but it wasn't today and I think it was even better that way. Each bite had a pleasing combination of crunchy breadcrumbs and crumbly bits of meat. I also like each forkful laden with vegetables and mashed potatoes. At the end of a very long and tiring week, I am holding on to that delicious memory for awhile.
Stage Restaurant, 128 Second Ave, NY, NY 10003 (btwn 7th and 8th Sts)

Markt

2013-05-16T14:53:00.003-04:00

A lot of talking about meat before lunch time, combined with the wafting scent of street meat made me really crave a steak. So I went and got one.
Markt, 676 6th Ave, NY, NY 10010 (at 21st St)

Wei Mah Fast Food

2013-05-15T17:13:00.001-04:00

You can probably tell from the photos that M. is away for a bit. This one is unabashedly blurry, despite trying to hold my hand really still in the low lighting. While at a job site meeting that ran over into lunchtime, I realized the rest of the site had gone silent as all the workers were busy eating what I instantly identified as the fried chicken leg over rice from Wei Mah. After that, no matter what thoughts I might have anticipated for lunch, I couldn't do anything else but go get myself a fried chicken leg over rice.

Wah Mei Fast Food, 190 Hester St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Baxter & Mulberry)

4:27pm chocolate cranberry cookie

2013-05-14T17:29:00.003-04:00

In its prime, this would have been a truly delicious chocolate cranberry cookie.

Once Upon a Tart, with Thu

2013-05-14T17:20:00.001-04:00

After a crushingly disappointing meeting with a plan examiner at the DOB not really interested in helping forward a project along, I walked up to west Soho to meet a sister for lunch at Once Upon a Tart. We wholly satisfied ourselves with a shared lunch of potato garlic soup, cucumber salad and our ever favorite roast loin pork sandwich, happily restored to its original sandwich bread.
Once Upon a Tart, 135 Sullivan St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Prince and Houston)

Lenny's

2013-05-13T18:50:00.002-04:00

There is very little in terms of ambiance at Lenny's that makes it worth staying for awhile, except when you're eating alone and thoroughly engrossed in a good read. I got waylaid by the Italian combo and was more than pleasantly surprised to discover a more than above average hero. It was big to be sure, but the light touch of Italian dressing, the shredded lettuce, and the bits of spiciness made for a rather tasty solo lunch. I guess there is little incentive for them to change the space, but man I wish it were a more pleasant dining environment, one reflective of the rather good eating experience.
Lenny's, 16 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010 (between 5th and 6th Avenues)

Pret a Manger

2013-05-09T17:10:00.004-04:00

I overbooked today and only just managed to remember to grab myself a sandwich as I was picking up morning coffee. It's cool though, if I'm going to eat and run, then the Pret a Manger roast beef parmesean is a solid companion of choice.
Pret a Manger, 350 Hudson St, NY, NY 10014 (at Charlton St)

5:24pm quinoa muffin

2013-05-08T19:49:00.002-04:00

I wonder if we could make a career out of picking desserts that have a good shelf life. This quinoa muffin I picked up Monday morning from Smile-to-Go surprised me today Wednesday. It's probably not as devastatingly good as the counter girl told me it would be, only because it doesn't have the crunchy outer shell of a freshly baked muffin, but it's still damn good.
Smile to Go, 22 Howard St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Crosby and Lafayette)

Shanghai Cafe Deluxe

2013-05-08T16:22:00.001-04:00

Necessary errands bring us back to our old beloved neighborhood which we miss dearly. It was hard to pick the one place we wanted to eat at. Well, not really perhaps. Shanghai Cafe Deluxe brings instant and guaranteed happiness into our day, so it was kind of a no-brainer. Without a third lunch companion, we only ordered 2 of our 3 favorite dishes, but we also noted that it was utterly satisfying to get soup dumplings each, where we usually trade off who gets 3 and other gets 2.
Shanghai Cafe Deluxe, 100 Mott St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Hester & Canal)

4:04pm apple galette

2013-05-07T23:55:00.000-04:00

It's not that we're not eating afternoon dessert, it's more that we're overwhelmed with choice. Weekends find both of us sourcing desserts to eat at the office on Monday so we both come in with choices. So of course we chose nothing. Today we had the apple galette from O Cafe before it was a total disaster, having been sitting on the desk for two days. Surprise! It was still really good. Happy us.
O Cafe, 482 6th Ave, NY, NY 10011 (at 12th St)

Barn Joo

2013-05-07T18:16:00.002-04:00

We both ordered versions of the spicy chicken at Barn Joo, the new Korean gastropub, but clearly it was the french fries and sliders of the guy eating next to me that we should have tried. The dup bap (rice bowl) and ssambap jungsik (farmer's meal platter) were totally fine, not anything worth writing home about though. Next time, sliders. Or K-town.
Barn Joo, 893 Broadway, NY, NY 10003 (btwn 21st and 22nd St)

Tres Carnes

2013-05-06T18:22:00.003-04:00

Every day since it opened, the lunch line at Tres Carnes sneaks out the front door, a handful of people patiently waiting outside. We took a turn today, taking two rice bowls to go. They are all the rage up here in the Flatiron, rice bowls that is. Pick your meat, your rice, your beans, your add-ons and you're all set to go. The meat is nice and smokey, just as advertised, and the meal pretty filling if you don't decide to save the other half for lunch later this week.
Tres Carnes, 688 Sixth Ave, NY, NY 10010 (at 22nd St)

4:20pm macarons

2013-05-03T17:59:00.002-04:00

Nothing beats coming home from a long work day to an unexpected box of pretty macarons.

Eataly

2013-05-03T17:55:00.001-04:00

Eataly is not exactly associated with speed of service or space, but we didn't have a ton of time today and wanted something reasonably easy. Lucky we went over when we did (12:30pm in case you're curious), I looked up halfway through our delicious prime rib sandwich and saw the line stretching way out beyond reasonable.
Eataly, 200 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY 10010 (at 23rd St)

Zero Otto Nove

2013-05-02T18:53:00.003-04:00

Seriously, I don't know what it is about the interior of Zero Otto Nove, but it always feels like we are in a generic European restaurant. We could be anywhere in Europe! Maybe the type found on the ground floor of a perfectly respectable hotel. Still loving the tuna salad, which we shared accompanied by a pizza. A pretty nice lunch I have to say.
Zero Otto Nove, 15 W. 21st St, NY, NY 10010 (btwn 5th and 6th Aves)

4:20pm chocolate chip cookie

2013-05-01T18:12:00.004-04:00

M. accidentally dropped this cookie from Haven's Kitchen after taking a photo so maybe a sprinkling more of sea salt would have made the difference but the heftiness alone of the cookie seemed enough to offset what would normally be too sweet of a taste. In short, a little too sweet, but we liked it anyway.
Haven's Kitchen, 109 W. 17th St, NY, NY 10001 (near 6th Ave)

Dogmatic

2013-05-01T18:09:00.000-04:00

Is it so telling that the line to Chopt was out the door while next door at Dogmatic, we ordered and had our food in milliseconds? I guess people really like their mixed salads. Well we really like our lamb hot dogs, especially with a mint yogurt sauce, an order of fries and fresh lemon-lime juice.
Dogmatic, 26 East 17th St, NY, NY 10003 (btwn Broadway and Fifth Ave)

Shake Shack

2013-04-30T16:06:00.000-04:00

Walking past Madison Square Park at 11:35am on this gloriously beautiful day, we noticed one of the shortest lines (maybe 8 people) ever witnessed at Shake Shack. It was a little early but who could pass up such an opportunity! With seats a plenty, the sun warming up the park, the fresh juicy burgers were devoured under prime settings. We savor this rare occasion.
Shake Shack, Madison Square Park, NY, NY 10010 (closer to 23rd St)

4:30pm brown butter rhubarb tart

2013-04-29T19:54:00.000-04:00

Every day we are waiting for Maison Kayser to open and every day the windows remain papered up. It's ok, LA Burdick suffices pretty well with the always interesting selection of dessert specials. Today is a brown butter rhubarb tart. I'm unable to resist anything rhubarb and it is the season! I hope to eat more rhubarb in the next weeks.
L.A. Burdick, 5 East 20th St, NY, NY 10003 (btwn 5th Ave and Broadway)

Wildwood Barbeque

2013-04-29T19:49:00.002-04:00

The presentation is super plain, but the brisket platter at Wildwood Barbeque is a cacophony of deliciousness in your mouth. Everything was divine, whether a simple bite of the mashed potatoes or a taste of everything at once. The pickled jalapenos were an especially nice counterpoint to the lushy fattiness of the brisket. We flirted briefly with ordering a salad or vegetable side but could not give up the Carribean jerk wings. Next time we need more friends so we can try more things, if what we had today was any indication, there is an entire menu left to try.
Wildwood Barbeque, 225 Park Ave S, NY, NY 10003 (btwn 18th and 19th St)