Marie Fromage

Midtown Dine & Dash

I live and work in the Midtown East area of Manhattan. Worker bee Central. This is also the land of culinary extremes: the expense account lunch extravaganzas, on down to the lowly corner street vendor and everything in between, most of it highly mediocre. Every day right about lunchtime I have a mini-dilemma. Where does a gourmet gal go get good grub? (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) Midtown is lousy with anonymous “deli” lunch spots that supply soggy pre-made sandwiches, rubbery pizza, and tossed, tasteless salads made too quickly and with resentment. To add insult to injury, lunch will run you about $10 bucks or more. Who needs it!

I do -- and because time is of the essence, I usually focus on places where I can run in and take out, or run in, eat quickly and run out. And maybe run an errand too. That’s lunchtime in Midtown, my friends.

But heaven has heard my prayers and it is no longer a total culinary disaster in these parts. There are a few glimmers of hope, and some are actually pretty fabulous. Here is my highly biased list of favorites:

Dishes
Located at 6 E 45TH St, 399 Park Ave. at 54th Street, and two locations in Grand Central.
This place would be fantastic no matter where it is. The food here is truly first-rate fresh, prepared with the kind of care and quality one doesn’t expect in a quick-service type of operation smack in the middle of the
canyons of steel. The centerpiece of Dishes is the International “market” table buffet, featuring a seasonal menu offering satisfying treats such as seared salmon filets, marinated grilled chicken breast, clever side salads with unexpected grains, fresh fruits, and for dessert, generous cups of panna cotta, flan, rice pudding, cookies, brownies and pastries.

There are also salads made to order, interesting sandwiches, and amazing soups such as the luscious, brain-exploding-good pumpkin corn chowder, and a coffee bar. The atmosphere is sleek, modern, and chic. And bustling -- that’s the only problem I have with it. It’s so good and therefore the number one go-to lunch spot for THE WORLD. If you’re in this part of town and not in a rush, get there before noon or after 2. Otherwise, good luck!

‘wichcraft
555 Fifth Avenue at 46th Street, with about 7 other locations throughout Manhattan.

I am in love with this mini-chain created by Top Chef’s Tom Collicio (who is also chef-owner of restaurant Craft). The sandwiches here are outstanding and feature fresh seasonal ingredients. They are inventive and a few are downright addictive. Take a gander at some of these offerings: grilled fontina, black trumpet mushrooms & white truffle fondue on chewy pullman white bread; slow roasted pork, red cabbage, jalapeños & mustard on a crusty ciabatta roll; along with superior versions of the sandwich classics featuring ham, turkey, chicken & tuna salads and even PB&J because, sometimes, you just gotta have it.

But the best sandwich in my mind is with marinated white anchovies, a poached egg, roasted onions & frisée on country white bread. It’s so good my pal Gastro Chic wrote a little poem in its honor called “Ode to Sandwich”. I also admire the way the place is operated, very much like a professional restaurant, complete with line cooks and someone who is in charge of making sure the food looks good and is packaged correctly before it goes out. Efficient production, rock & roll soundtrack and a commitment to quality. Fabulous.

Yushi Bento Bar
47th between Park & Lex, with another location at the World Financial Center.

This is a Japanese quick-service restaurant that goes a step beyond just supplying generic lunch sushi prepared God-knows-where to the masses. Here the emphasis is on fresh, made in-house “low guilt indulgence” served up in a civilized, chic & sleek setting. Part of the fun is in the packaging, where you can get a small Maki roll of Peking Duck, a little California Crab, a cup of edamame, and their snappy Firecracker lime-ginger Miso soup. Want something a bit more filling? Try the “Yushi Classic Checkerboard” bento box with tuna and salmon sushi, Yushi noodle salad and Thai chili dressing. Not in a sushi mood? Check out the “Baja Free-Range Chicken” made with sliced chicken breast over mixed greens, carrots, roasted soy pumpkin seeds, avocado, sesame ponzu dressing. Or try my favorite, the “Prime Tataki and Soba” with seared beef tenderloin, wasabi and chive soba noodles, Yushi noodle salad, and a shallot pepper dressing (the beauty part is this one is only 319 calories and 95% fat free!). What’s for
dessert? Choices include tiny “shots” of pomegranate seeds, chocolate mousse, or Japanese Pannacotta in flavors such as green tea or black & white sesame, or vanilla with toasted coconut. Fresh, healthy and delicious.

Prime Burger
5 E 51st Street between Madison and 5th Avenue, right across the street from St. Patrick¹s Cathedral.

When you walk into this place, you are walking into the year 1965. It’s an old-school coffee shop from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” era New York, complete with jacketed gentleman servers, a proper counter, and in the dining area, funny cushy seats with tray tables, much like a high chair but for adults. The food here is solid, high quality coffee shop fare (they’re even the recipient of a James Beard award for “America’s Classic Restaurants”.) with their burger being the big draw. Frankly, it’s on the small side but it’s pretty good. If you’re not careful and forget to ask for it “deluxe”, they will just give it to you naked on a plate. So get it with a side of onion rings and a soda and you’re set for the rest of the day.

Grand Central Market & Grand Central Dining Concourse
Grand Central Terminal, 42nd Street between Lexington and Vanderbilt.

Sometimes I’m in the mood to graze, so I head over to Grand Central Terminal and stroll the market and dining concourse. The lower level dining concourse features a variety of offerings from vendors such as Two Boots Pizza, Café Spice, Juniors, Little Pie Company, Dishes and Hale & Hearty Soups, just to name a few.

Or I head over to the European-style food market on the Lexington Avenue side of the main hall and get some cheese from Murray’s, some crusty bread and a piece of fruit. I can also shop for a dinner party here because not only does Dishes have a space here for fine prepared foods, the renown Wild Edibles fish purveyor has a stall, along with a good butcher and Penzy’s Spice Market.

Jiannetto’s Pizza Truck
47th Street between Madison and Vanderbilt

I’m generally not one for street food. It’s all just too sketchy in it’s preparation. Did you ever walk by one of those carts with the flat top grill piled high with raw chicken on a 90-degree day? But there are a few
exceptions and here’s a major one. For just $2.25 I can get a satisfying square of crunchy & tangy grandma-style pizza on the fly. It’s really just a simple piece of crust with sauce and some Parmesan cheese, so don’t expect much. But what you get is deeply delicious.

Coming Soon: Eataly
Opening at 18 W. 48th Street between 5th & 6th Avenues in the Spring.
I thought you should be aware of this. It's called Eataly and it sounds pretty fabulous. According to the article in the New York Times last Wednesday, “it will combine elements of a bustling European open market, a Whole-Foods-style supermarket and a high-end food court”. Sounds like my kind of place, and if it’s as good as they say, it will give everyone else a run for their money. Time to step up the Midtown food game folks. Very exciting. My prayers have been answered!

Bites: Adam Levy, Royale with Cheese, Resto

*** Shameless Plug Alert! *** Shameless Plug Alert! *** Adam Levy

Welcome to “Shameless Plug Alert”, the section of my blog where I serve up a great big sloppy slice of love to my creative friends. This week’s artist: Adam Levy

Singer-songwriter Adam Levy has settled in to a month-long residency at East Village music bar Banjo Jim’s to celebrate the release of his new CD “Washing Day”. Levy is a well-known sideman, supplying tasty guitar licks in support of jazz and pop music notables such as Norah Jones, Tracy Chapman, Amos Lee and Leni Stern. In recent years he has emerged as a solid singer-songwriter in his own right, crafting tunes that range in theme from laid-back, melodic and hypnotic, to pop-rock that’s sometimes edgy, moody and delightfully soulful. His previous CD, “Loose Rhymes: Live On Ludlow Street” is in heavy rotation on my iPod, so I couldn’t wait to dig into his new material. Standout songs include the sudsy and bittersweet title track “Washing Day”; soulful pop with “I Can Promise You That” and “Never Been Alone Like This”; and two languid yet catchy duets including “Longest Day of the Year” with local singer-songwriter Jen Clapp, and “Party is Over” with UK-based singer-songwriter & keyboard player Geoff Martyn.

The best thing about Adam & his tunes? He gets out of his own way and just lets the music flow. “Washing Day” is available at live shows, on his web site www.adamlevy.com or on iTunes.

Recent Eats

Royale

Right across the street from Banjo Jim’s is a joint that is slinging out some of the tastiest burgers in town. It’s a non-descript kind of place: the game is on over the bar, Bruce is on the jukebox, tables and chairs line the wall...your basic neighborhood shot-and-a-beer kind of place. There’s also a nice patio in the back for a balmy evening. But the whole point of this place is the burger -- a hefty hunk of quality meat broiled to perfection, slapped on a buttery sesame seed roll and served up no-frills in a basket with pickles, lettuce and tomato. Of course I got the Royale with cheese, medium-rare. Heaven on a bun.
157 Avenue C between 9th & 10th in the East Village.

Resto

My pal Gastro Chic & I finally got our calendars coordinated and had a dinner at the buzzy new Belgian place in the Gramercy neighborhood called “Resto”. It has an unpretentiously cool and boisterous atmosphere with dim lighting, dark wood and a nice bar. They are warm and welcoming, which is always refreshing and sadly not always the case with a scene-y new restaurant.

It’s all about the beer here, and the food has been created to stand up to it and soak it all in. We ordered a round of ale and began our feast with an assortment of small plates: a nicely charred cuttlefish with a lively grapefruit sauce, and sinful deviled eggs served on a crispy pork toast point ¬made of fried pork jowl! Best of all were the succulent and peppery lamb ribs with a side of cooling yogurt sauce that made me want to gnaw through the bone (but because I was in polite company, I did not). Sadly though, I thought it all went a little downhill from there. Gastro Chic ordered the moules frites with witte ale, garlic, orange zest. The broth was good but not extraordinary. The frites were thick and crispy, but not life-changing in the way I always want my frites to be. I am a burger fanatic and heard that theirs was exceptional, so I had to investigate. It arrived huddled in the corner of the plate heaping with more of those frites. Gastro Chic took one look, arched an eyebrow and said “it’s petite”. She was right. It’s not slider-size small, but it was small for the price and seemed to be playing second fiddle to the darn frites, and the meat was dwarfed by too much bun. It was tasty though, if brief: a mix of beef cheek, hanger steak, and fatback topped off with pickles, lettuce and tomato. Dessert was the next letdown. We decided to share the Market Berry Parfait with crumbled waffle and lemon curd, which arrived with plump and juicy raspberries and blueberries, cold and soggy crumbled waffle and very little lemon cream. Maybe fry the waffle for crispness and keep it out of the fridge during dinner service? And gimme more of that cream! Listen folks, you served me a deviled egg on a fried pork jowl. Why are we holding back with dessert?

Overall, I found the exuberant small plates as perfect beer food and about the only thing worth coming back for. And wonderful beer food is reason enough!
111 East 29th Street between Park & Lex.

Cheese You

“Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese” - Billie Burke

It’s been a very cheesy week in the land of Marie Fromage.

"Joy of Cheese" Does Spain

I attended another stellar "Joy of Cheese" tasting last Thursday (9/27), hosted by Martin Johnson. The focus was on the cheese-making traditions of Spain, Portugal and Colorado. Some of my favorites included:

* Pau: a Catalonian washed-rind goat’s milk cheese.

* Idiazabal: a Basque sheep’s milk cheese that reminds me of a smokey Manchego. I had this when I was in Barcelona in the spring, grated over a bowl of gazpacho. Ooo, that’s good stuff.

* Queso De Mano: a raw goat’s milk interpretation of the Spanish Garotxa, made in Colorado.

* Torta La Serena: Runny! Stinky! A raw sheep’s milk cheese that’s one of my favorites.

For some reason it seems to be the season of Spain in the cheese markets right now, so you should have no problem finding these cheeses at serious cheese purveyors. See my article called “Cheese Me” for a list of where to buy.

Next up at Joy is Cheese..."Cheeses to Pair with Autumn Wines" taking place on October 16, 18 or 23. Classes fill up fast & reservations are a must!

Local Cheese Heaven at the Union Square Farmer’s Market

I try to make a stop at the Union Square Farmer's Market one of my Saturday things-to-do, and I always make a point of picking up some cheese from the Cato Corner & LynnHaven stands.

* Connecticut-based Cato Corner Farmstead Cheeses are made from the raw milk of free range, pasture-fed Jersey cows, and the types of cheese on offer vary from very runny and stinky to firm and nutty.

*LynnHaven, based in Upstate New York, features a variety of cheeses made from their purebred Nubian dairy goats. I recently picked up a tub of their ricotta that I’ve been enjoying for breakfast with fresh figs, almonds and drizzled with honey.

The Cheese Mistress

I recently made the acquaintance of The Cheese Mistress. Also known as “Dr.” Elizabeth Cheese Mistress (she holds a Ph.D. in Romance Linguistics), she hails from Austin, Texas, is now based in the NY-Metro area and works for a major specialty food importer. The Cheese Mistress will show you the way of the cheese through her classes, cheese blog and frequent outings she organizes through her NYC Cheese Lovers Club on Meetup.com. You will eat your cheese and like it!

A Marie Fromage Reader Shares Some Cheese Love

“My favorite cheese at the moment is Pont l'Eveque...a bit of baguette and a glass of wine...super!”

Got a food question? Cheese question? Music or travel question? Or just questioning my sanity? Send me an email! Just click on the "email me" link to the right and type away.