4:00pm apricot danish

Friday mornings are doughnut and assorted breakfast pastries mornings in the office. Which is really convenient around dessert time when we're too lazy to decide where to go or what to have. Happy weekend!
Balthazar Bakery, 80 Spring St, NY, NY 10012 (near Crosby)

Epistrophy, with everyone

We were not the only ones who thought the open windows at Epistrophy would be perfect for this (finally) not so hot summer day. Halfway through lunch the Harvest crew walked in the door and we all squeezed in to make for a more congenial lunch. And although M. is really quite fond of their baked eggs I was secretly wishing I was having free kalbi and kimchi tacos at the official "Korea Day in Central Park".
Epistrophy Cafe, 100 Mott St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Kenmare & Spring)

4:00pm oatmeal raisin cookies

I like when places throw in an extra cookie for free because it's broken and they wouldn't be able to sell it anyway. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Eileen's Special Cheesecake, 17 Cleveland Pl, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Spring and Kenmare)

Motorino, with Dennis

Almost a year to the day when we last went out to Motorino in East Williamsburg to have lunch with Dennis. Seems like a bit too long of a wait for good pizza and better company, eh? The lunch deal special has increased by a dollar to $11 but it still remains a stunningly good deal.
Motorino, 319 Graham Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211 (at Devoe)

4:00pm apple and raisin muffin

I think we're really going to like having our very own marketplace downstairs, especially since they're open for breakfast at nine, serve sandwiches at lunchtime and make fresh juice all day long. And for last minute afternoon dessert purchases, like a leftover (but still good!) muffin from this morning.
Lafayette Espresso Bar & Marketplace, 189 Lafayette St, NY, NY 10013 (below Broome)

Halal Cart on Houston

We were going to have a street meat taste-off but then I realized I needed help carrying some dining room chairs up to Great Jones for repair. So we grabbed some lamb gyros from the exceedingly slow halal cart on the north side of Houston between Lafayette and Crosby, walked until we found a nice shady brick wall, plopped the chairs and ourselves down and enjoyed a nice people watching lunch. We highly recommend traveling with upholstered dining room chairs, it makes for comfortable seat wherever you might be. And is great for lunch on the go.
Halal Food Cart on the north side of Houston btwn Lafayette and Crosby

4:00pm doughnut

I was tempted to ask at Balthazar this morning if they got the doughnut batter straight from the Dreesen's factory and fried them fresh in-house but couldn't get up enough energy to formulate the mental thought into vocal cohesion.
Balthazar Bakery, 80 Spring St, NY, NY 10012 (near Crosby)

Village Tart, with Fred and family

It hasn't been that long since we ate at Village Tart but we needed a spot nearby where 2 toddlers and one active girl of 6 could have some room to move while we enjoyed lunch. Not to mention the additional intrigue of a new menu. We might have to go back as the new menu covers two pages, from and back, offers enough tarts and pizettas that I was paralyzed with choice - and best of all, the prices are much friendlier for this local lunch crowd. If you haven't been in awhile, try it now.
Village Tart, 86 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Mulberry)

4:00pm blueberry turnover

We tossed this little sucker in the toaster oven and promptly created huge and heavy longings in the hearts of our office mates as the sweet scent of a blueberry puff pastry turnover being baked wafted into the main room.
Grandaisy Bakery, 73 Sullivan St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Broome and Spring)

Grandaisy

We took a long walk today and ended up at Grandaisy when the line at Alidoro was too long to wait in. It's nice that we did because mysteriously neither of us had ever tried the Grandaisy sandwiches. And aside from a minor complaint about the slight dryness of the bresaola, both that and the panino greco were just perfect for a cooler summer day. They're a tad on the pricey side for the size, but the taste (and spectacular bread of course) made up for it.
Grandaisy Bakery, 73 Sullivan St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Broome and Spring)

4:00pm triple ginger cookies again

The thing about the triple ginger cookies from downstairs is that they're really intensely gingery. And they come in a bag with many. So we could be slowly eating these over the course of many days.
Lafayette Espresso Bar & Marketplace, 189 Lafayette St, NY, NY 10013 (below Broome)

Hiroko's Place, with John and Thu

Thu's been craving the omurice at Hiroko's Place since she got into town and John claims he's never had Japanese food other than sushi so we hit two birds one stone for lunch today. Strangely the service was almost efficient today, although it could have been because we were only one of two tables in the place.
Hiroko's Place, 75 Thompson St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Broome & Spring)

4:00pm triple ginger cookie

A little bit of everything is happening downstairs at the Lafayette Espresso Bar, including sandwiches, salads, bags of cookies and goodies, freshly made juices and even yes, espresso. An initial taste of the triple ginger cookie (yum! gingery!) indicates only good things. I think they should invest in a toaster and offer up toasted peanut butter and condensed milk sandwiches for an afternoon snack.
Lafayette Espresso Bar & Marketplace, 189 Lafayette St, NY, NY 10013 (below Broome)

Brinkley's, with Thu and Josh

Even though we knew there's a new chef and a new look, for no good reason we haven't made it over to the former Bar Martignetti reincarnated as Brinkley's. Too bad for us because the food is actually pretty decent and reasonably priced for a sit down bar/lounge sort of place. At first the chilly interior seemed a welcome relief from the incessant heat but it quickly turned too cold to enjoy the chicken salad. Not too chilly, however, to thoroughly enjoy the the pork sliders brimming with cole slaw (yet strangely light on the french fries).
Brinkley's Pub & Kitchen, 408 Broome St, NY, NY 10013 (at Centre St)

4:00pm cupcakes

We have to agree with Nancy Olson of Gramercy Tavern, we like our cupcakes not too sweet. After reading this year old review, we made a point of stopping by ChikaLicious today after lunch to pick up a mocha and strawberry. Now, they're not cheap, but they sure are good. Actually I would say perfect in the many ways we prefer our cupcakes - light airy buttercream frosting, not too huge and a moist cake center.
Dessert Club, ChikaLicious 203 East 10th St, NY, NY 10003 (btwn 1st and 2nd Aves)

Soba-ya, with Thu

Hot summer days, cold soba noodles. Maybe stay away from the lunch sets with the word don in the title. A bowl of rice and a plate of soba noodles is a bit of a carb overload that meal is.
Soba-ya, 229 East 9th St, NY, NY 10003 (btwn 2nd and 3rd Aves)

4:00pm raspberry-yogurt sundae

Not surprisingly, the raspberry-yogurt sundae at DBGB pleased our hearts, a more grown-up and refined version of a classic diner sundae.
DBGB, 299 Bowery, NY, NY 10003 (at Houston)

On a completely unrelated note, Lafayette Espresso Bar & Marketplace opened this morning! A joint effort between a group of like minded souls, most notable (for our purposes) is the ever friendly and talented Durina of nearby Oro. We are so looking forward to their presence in the little shop below our office.
Lafayette Espresso Bar & Marketplace, 189 Lafayette St, NY, NY 10013 (just south of Broome)

DBGB, with Liz and Peter

June slipped by in a blur and so it was already mid-July before we realized our bi-annual lunch with Liz and Peter had almost slipped by. We wanted to try Maialino but I guess so did everyone else as it was completely booked for lunch this week. Instead we went more local to DBGB for their Restaurant Week menu. Everyone agreed the entire meal was consistent, and while not out of this world spectacular, pretty damn good. The salads were interesting and well dressed, the new to the menu, loukanika lamb and pork sausage was a hit with us all. The roughly ground meat came in 4 oblong meatballs and was just spicy enough to give the dish a small bit of kick. Not a bad choice for a bi-annual lunch.
DBGB, 299 Bowery, NY, NY 10003 (at Houston)

4:00pm orange Gatorade pop

As it turns out, orange Gatorade, which tastes plenty sweet enough in liquid form, is not quite sugary enough to make a delicious Zoku pop. At least the iciness of the popsicle went a long way to cooling us down in this heavy heat.

Lucky Strike, with Thu

I was a bit distressed to discover the fryer at Lucky Strike was on the fritz today because what is a bar steak without french fries, but thankfully the steak so hit the spot that the heaping mound of spinach managed to carry its own weight against the absence of french fries. That and I nicked one of the bright red Lucky Strike clicky pens on the way out.
Lucky Strike, 59 Grand St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Wooster and West Broadway)

4:00pm shaved ice

Unprecedented occurrence today. I had dessert before lunch, granted dessert was after 5pm. Working to finish up a deadline before my 3pm meeting, there wasn't much time for more than a snack. Though after walking around in this heat with a heavy box, with thought of having to walk up 6 flights of stairs back to the office - even though I had picked up a sandwich to eat, I ended up at Nyonya asking for a bowl of ABC shaved ice. After accumulating enough goosebumps from the ice and AC, I was ready to make the 3 block trek back to the office where I could eat my sandwich in peace.
Nyonya, 199 Grand St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Mulberry and Mott)

4:00pm chocolate chip cookies

Slowly, steadily the pile diminishes. A bit after breakfast, another bite or two before lunch. A half a cookie with afternoon coffee. A nibble while thinking about dinner.

Pinche Taqueria

Pretty impossible, after reading Nicky's report on street eating in Mexico City, not to crave a taco al pastor for lunch. And not just any taco al pastor, but one that would give us a close simulacrum of Nicky's experience. We tried the Pinche Taqueria above Houston but the line was out the door so we went to the smaller, less crowded Mott Street location. In the process we concluded that the taco de pescado may be superior at Mott. Today it was particularly good, really really good, and it seemed that the last several times we had the fish tacos, the good ones were always at Mott. It's a rather inconclusive conclusion but we'll be keeping tabs on this particular theory.
Pinche Taqueria, 227 Mott St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Spring and Prince)

4:00pm lemon cupcake

So weird to walk into Balthazar, that bastion of French pastisseries, and find cupcakes. But then it was even stranger to discover the lemon cupcakes tasted exactly like the lemon souffle tart, only repackaged in the form of a cupcake.
Balthazar Bakery, 80 Spring St, NY, NY 10012 (at Crosby)

Fanelli's Cafe

We love Fanelli's even if the food is not the most spectacular. It's the rare place that remains true to itself and can proudly boast, on any day, a mixed crowd of regulars, local office peeps and tourists. We keep going back despite the lackluster lunching. Until today. Today we are happy, delighted and excited to tell you there is hope. It's taken a long time to find the right dishes, the internet has proved unhelpful in this search. But finally we can wholeheartedly recommend the BLT for its thick crispy bacon, the onion rings for a great crunchy shell and the french toast for an absolutely perfect yeasty texture with a moist but never soggy finish.
Fanelli's Cafe, 94 Prince St, NY, NY 10012 (at Mercer)

4:00pm chocolate chip cookies

According to the not altogether reliable search window on our blog, the last time we had Tate's cookies was October of 2009. Which just seems completely impossible since we could munch on a bag all week long and never be tired of the homemade taste and crunch of the cookie or the lovely ratio of chocolate chip to batter.
Whole Foods, 95 East Houston St, NY, NY 10003 (at Bowery)

Saha Thai

We didn't time our departure exactly right so the downpour caught us a bit on the way over, and we were wishing we had gone straight to Parigot instead of the extra turn around the corner to Saha Thai but in the end the comfort and reliability of the lunch rice dishes at Saha Thai proved to be the perfect thing for a wet day.
Saha Thai, 227 Centre St, NY, NY 10013 (above Grand)

4:00pm apricot and blueberry trifle

I eked out barely a cup of flour from my kitchen, mixed it up with an egg, some milk and a handful of sugar to make the best use of tart apricots and rapidly ripening blueberries from our basis foods delivery of two weeks ago. I think it was a judicious use of the last of my flour, fresh summer fruits and a dollop of greek yogurt.

Office Potluck

Office potlucks are back and in the raging heat of our summer so far, we sat down to a laden table of salads and dishes served cold. I found myself with a teeming plate of kale and ricotta salata salad, potato salad, mozzarella, basil and tomato on bread, potato salad, guacamole made that morning and a bit of orechhiette and broccoli.

4:00pm griddle hot cakes

As we eagerly ran up to the hotcakes cart for our usual two orders, we noticed two women standing nearby, dubiously eying the cart. I could hear them muttering to one another, wondering what the hotcakes were and whether they should get them. Now normally I don't get involved in other people's conversations but HELLO. It's HOTCAKES. They're delicious. And it's only $1 for a bag of 15. That's a super low risk factor. I told them they would love them (who doesn't??), but we left them still trying to decide if they should or not.
Hot cake street cart, south side of Canal Street btwn Mulberry and Baxter

Xe Lua, with Thu

Xe Lua is our regular Vietnamese go-to spot because we haven't found better. It's slightly lighter and fresher than all the other ones and the decor is, although kitschy, warmer too. Today, however, they far surpassed our normal culinary expectations with a rather delicious grilled pork chop (thit heo nuong). A bit sweet, charred in places and cut into small pieces, it didn't matter whether it was over broken rice (com) or rice noodles (bun), our lunch choices left Thu mad with envy.
Xe Lữa, 86 Mulberry St, NY, NY 10013 (below Canal)

4:00pm bomboloni

Hmm, this chocolate bomboloni was not as satisfying as the memory of the plain one we had months and months ago. I guess everyone else thinks so too. I mean that the plain one is so good it's never there.
Tarallucci E Vino, 163 First Ave, NY, NY 10003 (at 10th St)

Dogmatic

It's good to see a crowd at Dogmatic. The whole chose-your-own-ingredients concept too often treads the fine line between great and annoying. But in this case Dogmatic's seriousness about quality ingredients, combined with an attractively designed space and clean website leads to good and tasty results - no matter what you pick.
Dogmatic, 26 East 17th St, NY, NY 10003 (btwn Broadway and Fifth Ave)

4:00pm strawberry cheesecake

We're pretty big fans of Eileen's Cheesecake but man, today this strawberry cheesecake far surpassed our normal expectations. It was the perfect mid-afternoon summer treat - a light and airy dessert of fruit and tartness.
Eileen's Special Cheesecake, 17 Cleveland Pl, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Spring and Kenmare)

Balboosta, with Thu

We've been waiting and waiting since spring for Balaboosta to start lunch service and finally they did. Surprisingly the lunch menu is a complete departure from the dinner offerings so without the expert advice of previous diners we will have to make our way through the lunch menu sans assistance. Today we tried the Tunisian sandwich and the crispy cabbage salad with chicken. The Tunisian sandwich was decent but not quite as spectacular as Taim's falafel sandwiches. The chicken on the salad was good but both the cabbage salad and the side salad on the sandwich were over-dressed. Still, we feel that there is more to try here and will likely go back to do so.
Balaboosta, 214 Mulberry St, NY, NY 10012 (above Spring)

4:00pm danish

If we had one tiny little wee itty bitty criticism about Oro it would be not enough fruit based desserts, although that was assuaged by the strawberry and blueberry danish I picked up earlier this afternoon. This sweltering not-to-be-believed summer day puts us in the mood for light airy desserts of fruits and tartness.
Oro Bakery, 375 Broome St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Mulberry & Mott)

Salume

As if architecture and food blogging weren't enough, we're doing a little lunch consultation on the side. After last week's post, the charming owner of Salume invited us over today for lunch and a lengthy discussion on the perception of value as related to "size impression". There is no question in anyone's mind that the panini crafted at Salume are of the best quality and most well balanced proportions. Most of the critiques lie in the perceived value of cost to size and for someone as detailed oriented as Michele, it's a matter of tweaking his initial concepts in consideration of the practical reality. Perhaps more admirably is that he intends to do it without sacrificing an iota of the integrity lovingly apparent in every panino we've had there. We're looking forward to the results.
Salume, 330 West Broadway, NY, NY 10013 (south of Grand St)

4:00pm carrot cake cupcake

This carrot cake cupcake from Billy's packs a walloping punch of intense flavors, nuts and raisins topped by a sweet cream cheese frosting. Not for the faint-hearted.  Recommended with coffee.
Billy's Bakery, 184 Ninth Ave, NY, NY 10011 (btwn 21st & 22nd)

Co Pane, with John and Thu

Taking advantage of a friend's piece at the nearby Marlborough Gallery, I dragged John and my sister Thu up to Chelsea so we could see the show before it closed and so I could finally try the much touted Co Pane pizza. Man does Jim Lahey make great bread. Fantastic bread even - tasty, yielding and crunchy all in one bite. The toppings were fine, not his forte but certainly not poor or distracting. And what a perfect summer day to have lunch in the breezy shade of their outdoor tables.
Co Pane, 230 Ninth Ave, NY, NY 10001 (at 24th St)

4:00pm apples

Sorry folks but I was too lazy to leave the office this afternoon for a real dessert so you will have to content yourself with some freshly cut apples from our weekly basis delivery. Not a delectable sweet, but equally as delightful.

07-01 Bon Chon, with Thomas

It's impossible to take a good photo of Korean fried chicken, almost as if the uniqueness of the food itself defies conventional photography. We have yet to try the midtown Bon Chon location for lunch although according to the NY Times, that's the way to go. We have even yet to try the newly opened Kyochon. But until we do, the downtown Bon Chon is pretty satisfying.
Bon Chon, 104 John St, NY, NY 10038 (at Cliff St)