4:00pm jellied candies

One of us (not M.) had the great fortune to dine at Eleven Madison Park last night where amongst the many complimentary treats was a take home box of jellied candies. How considerate of them to realize I needed something I could share with my other lunching half.
Eleven Madison Park, 11 Madison Ave, NY, NY 10010 (at 24th St)

Pret a Manger

2 years and some months later Pret a Manger finally comes closer to a 'hood we can call our own! It's still not walking distance for us but unlike midtown and downtown, Union Square makes for a mighty convenient stop after shopping at nearby tile showrooms. Our usual favorite, the egg salad, felt a bit off today. Either the bread was not super fresh or the egg salad recipe has changed. Or we're a bit off. The ham and swiss on a baguette, on the other hand, was spot on.
Pret a Manger, 857 Broadway, NY, NY 10003 (at 17th St, Union Square)

4:00pm vanilla cupcake

We really enjoy the vanilla cupcakes from Oro; they are not too cupakey. More like a proper cake with butter cream frosting, and less like the painfully sweet ones which are probably what they are supposed to taste like. Speaking of the all American cupcake, the bakers behind Sage American Kitchen make the only too sweet cupcakes that we love. And we got notice that they are going through tough times which has made it hard for them to maintain their quality and standards. If anyone out there has any ideas of how to help out, let us know.
Oro Bakery, 375 Broome St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Mulberry & Mott)
Sage American Kitchen

Ramen Setagaya

On our way back from a showroom, though we were in a hurry, we wanted to take advantage of our east village location. What couldn't be more quick and satisfying as ramen? We decided to try out this not so new any more but newer location of Ramen Setagaya. Their ramen happens to be my favorite in the city (which doesn't say much but...). Though today, the shoyu-ramen wasn't quite there either. But still good enough for a happy belly. The onsen-tamago is what does it for us.
Ramen Setagaya, 34-A St. Marks Place, NY, NY 10003 (btwn 2nd & 3rd Aves)

4:00pm animal crackers

I was just craving animal crackers, so it was a pleasant surprise when Y brought back chocolate covered animal crackers on her way back from a meeting. However, these are not the Nabisco Barnum's animal crackers which are far superior to any other I've had. Hence, my craving has yet to be satisfied - I know what I'm going to be picking up on my way home tonight..
Roasting Plant, 75 Greenwich Ave, NY, NY 10014 (near 11th St)

Loreley with John

With distant moans of coitus in the background, we enjoy our lunch in the shaded back patio of Loreley. John so kindly has been bugging us to treat us to a joint birthday lunch (all three of us). It's now proven that Wiener Schnitzel, Currywurst, Weisswurst and good company equate to a lovely summer lunch. It's nice to grow older with your friends.
Loreley, 7 Rivington St, NY, NY 10002 (btwn Bowery & Chrystie)

4:00pm strawberry shortcake

Dear MJ, may you rest in peace. Your death is a tragedy, but I always thought your life was too. Seeing you sing and dance with the Jackson 5, always made me want to cry. But I won't cry for you no more. Here, please have some strawberry shortcake.
Cafe Zaiya, 18 E. 41st St, NY, NY 10017 (btwn 5th & Madison)

mortadella baguette sandwich

There is nothing so typically French as a jambon-beurre sandwich, found on almost every street corner and in any cafe. We're substituting some mortadella, which isn't really the same thing at all (not even the same nationality!) but with a healthy slab of butter and a fresh baguette, it still makes for a fabulously basic lunch. Especially when eating outdoors on the back terrace.

And speaking of sandwiches, come to the Hay Quá/That's Neaat! event this Saturday at the Bitter End to hear some of us Vietnamese food lovers weigh in on the oh-so-trendy subject of bánh mì. There will be a bánh mì taste testing and food panel headed by the lovely Tâm Ngo around noon.

4:00pm white chocolate macadamia nut cookie

These are delish! Love the tiny bite of coconut.
Hampton Chutney, 68 Prince St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Crosby & Lafayette)

Txikito, with Liz and Peter

Yay! It's already time for our bi-annual lunch with Liz and Peter. And ugh, it's already time for our bi-annual lunch with Liz and Peter - time flies way too fast. Today we meet up in Peter's neck of the woods at the well regarded Txikito. We ordered a bunch of stuff to share, and everything was pretty good, including the "El Doble" burger. Pictured is the Rusa potato salad.
Txikito, 240 Ninth Ave, NY, NY 10001 (btwn 24th & 25th)

4:00pm chocolate chip cookie

We picked up a giant cookie to share on our way back from lunch. It tastes homemade. Nice. Tomorrow lunch, we'll be going to either Co. or Txikito - so stay tuned!
McNally Jackson Teahouse, 52 Prince St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Lafayette & Mulberry)

Bar Bossa

As nice a place Bar Bossa is, the food has never been that good for us to frequent. But today's lunch moved it up on our list. The food took a while considering the lack of patrons, but a very nice egg salad-y pressed sandwich. This place makes us miss Palacinka (same owners).
Bar Bossa, 232 Elizabeth St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Prince & Houston)

4:00pm madeleines

Considering how good everything else has been from Petrossian, these are just okay. A bit greasy.
Petrossian, 911 7th Ave, NY, NY 10019 (btwn 57th & 58th)

Prince Street Cafe

We enjoyed how this omelet was folded a la une crepe! And apparently it was pretty decent. On my part, I thought my soup and half sandwich was rather insipid. It's a strange place though. Strange service too.
Prince Street Cafe, 26 Prince St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Elizabeth & Mott)

mini-cheesecakes with John thanks to Iridesco

It seems like we will be milking this birthday thing for a while. I realize I have lots of different "sets" of friends, who seem to want to acknowledge the day I was born many years ago. Curious, but how fortunate a lady I am. Going on day 3, the Iridesco boys had brought over cheesecakes the other day, while I was away at meetings. John, whose birthday was not too long ago (and Y's - a month ago) wanted to take us out for a group b-day coffee and dessert today. Instead, we got him to bring us the coffee to consume the unconsumed goods; butterscotch and mocha cheese cakes. Thank you boys!
Eileen's Special Cheesecake, 17 Cleveland Place, NY, NY 10012 (at Kenmare)

Lombardi's Pizza, with Thu

My sister Thu just came home from a semester in Delhi and has thus accumulated quite a list of must-eats including sushi, steak, shoe string french fries, Korean BBQ, Cuban sandwiches, mom's cooking, pulled pork sandwiches, guacamole and everything else she's been missing living in the land of garam masala. Joining her today we check pizza off the list. Lombardi's is quite the tourist attraction, especially since their recent expansion but the pizzas remain solidly right on.
Lombardi's Pizza, 32 Spring St, NY, NY 10012 (at Mott)

4:00pm chocolate cake

Thanks to Sandra who picked up a saccharine sweet chocolate cake for M's birthday yesterday, because we now have enough left for dessert for the next month.
Something Sweet, 177 1st Ave, NY, NY 10003 (at 11th St)

Cafe Zaiya

I wish I could get more creative when I have my meetings up near Grand Central. The problem is, I tend to be in a hurry, and my mind focused on things that don't necessarily have to do with what I want to eat. So, it's really quite a blessing that Cafe Zaiya is easy to swing by on my way back to the office.
Cafe Zaiya, 18 East 41st Street btwn 5th and Madison

4:00pm madeleines

A bit late today with the posting although not the eating, which occurred pretty much promptly at 4pm earlier this afternoon.
Oro Bakery, 375 Broome Street btwn Mulberry and Mott

Bar Artisanal with MB

With all the stuff going on these days, we needed MB's creative mind to help us focus. So we bartered - we buy lunch, and in exchange we get to pick her brain. Perfect. At this new downtown location of the original Artisanal, we ended up ordering 5 Petit Plats to share. Pictured is the Giant White Beans with Merguez sausage; the best plate we agreed was the Arctic Char.
Bar Artisanal, 268 West Broadway at 6th Avenue

4:00pm strawberry tart

Dark and moody photo indicative of our slightly overwhelmed state. Strawberries symbolize optimism and youth. The ray of light behind is where we will end up after eating this tart. Now that's some FS BS for you.
Ceci-Cela Patisserie, 55 Spring Street near Lafayette

Li Hua takeout with Tasha

We were just thinking it was about time Tasha would be back in the States to pay us a visit. And correct we were! And so she came to have lunch with us this afternoon baring gifts and updates. As nice as it would have been to have a leisurely lunch outside, we were all pressed for time and figured ordering in would be the most conducive to catching up.
Li Hua, 171 Grand Street at Baxter

4:00pm raspberry crumb cake

Nothing crumb cake like, and a tad sweet, but a nice afternoon treat nonetheless. I pass by Paradis To Go on my way to work but had never ventured in. They've got buttermilk biscuit w/ egg and cheese for breakfast! Something to look forward to.
Paradis To Go, 114 Fourth Avenue between 11th and 12th

218 Restaurant & Bar

We were so surprisingly pleased with the fish and chips last time, we'd been meaning to go back for some time. They were just as good today (and the fries better), and we also tried the super grilled chicken sandwich with bacon. Better stick to the fish and chips.
218 Restaurant & Bar, 218 Lafayette Street at Kenmare

Oro Bakery

Things have been a bit crazy around here. A lot going on to say the least. We decided to try out the sandwiches from our 4pm favorite Oro Bakery. Roastbeef (a bit too heavy on the grainy mustard) and a nice ham and cheese.
Oro Bakery, 375 Broome Street btwn Mulberry and Mott

4:00pm blueberry strudel

A Polish strudel from our lunch time adventure.
Northside Bakery, 149-151 North 8th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Northside Bakery

Oh my delicious! Walking back to the Bedford stop on North 8th I spotted two words lovely together - Bakery and Polish. I went in looking for donuts and instead found lunch. Worthy of Stage Deli love, the Northside Bakery has a small selection of entrees available to go. I picked up some mashed potatoes, roasted pork loin and mushroom gravy for us to share back at the office. So perfect and good we're already wondering when we'll be back.
Northside Bakery, 149-151 North 8th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

4:00pm vanilla roll sponge cake

Feeling plain jane today, but tasting delightful.
Fay Da Bakery, 191 Centre Street at Hester

XO Kitchen

We don't come here often. In fact today we just ended up here. We meant to go to Bar Bossa, then it was too cold outside, so we wanted the steamed fish at Dragon Gate, but it was closed for renovation. XO Kitchen is the kind of place that whatever everyone around us is getting, looks better. Any recommendations anyone? We got the porkchop with egg over rice - we could have shared the $5 plate. It was that much food.
148 Hester Street, between Bowery & Elizabeth St

4:00pm donuts

9 times out of 10, we prefer yeast donuts over their cake counterparts. These donuts are the 1 out of 10.
Balthazar Bakery, 80 Spring Street near Crosby

Xe Lua

We had a bit of excitement this morning when a message left on our voice mail from BBC Radio saying that they wanted to interview us for one of their segments. Apparently, a poll showed that only 20% of British workers take a lunch break. We sadly found out that the woman who was trying to get us on left sick and they didn't have time to squeeze in the story today. Sigh. Meanwhile, we discovered that our go-to Vietnamese restaurant, Xe Lua, has a very cool and techy online menu.
Xe Lữa, 86 Mulberry Street below Canal

4:00pm oatmeal raisin cookie

Ever since we had the strawberry tart from Petrossian we have been big fans. And so this past sunny Saturday morning when we found ourselves conveniently walking by... and promptly stopped for a bag of treats including 2 striped cookies, a chocolate chip pecan and the oatmeal raisin you see above.
Petrossian, 911 Seventh Avenue btwn 57th and 58th

Made It Myself Deli, with Eva

Coming to you from New Canaan today as we stopped for lunch with Eva before going on an extended tour of Philip Johnson's Glass House complex. A rather perfect day for a deli sandwich, super creamy velveeta-like mac and cheese and modern architecture set in the bucolic hills of Connecticut. Made even better when our local lunch-mates, Iridesco and Judy joined us for the tour with little Joshua in tow.
Made it Myself Deli, 151 Elm Street in New Canaan CT

4:00pm lemon thingie

Getting dizzy... and sleepy... looking... at.. this.....de...sser.....t.
Corrado Bread & Bakery, Grand Central Market, NYC

Red Egg w/ Maggie

Today's lunch photo is courtesy of Maggie. Apparently she's having a slow day. Sigh, that must be nice. What is nice though, is to have lunch with photographers so that part of our work is taken care of. And Red Egg, packed as always; fresh dim sum as always.
Red Egg, 202 Centre Street above Hester

4:00pm lemon bars

Amidst our crazy schedule today, John stopped by to bring us coffee and dessert. John, you rock!
McNally Jackson Teahouse, 52 Prince Street btwn Lafayette and Mulberry

Murray's and Corrado via Grand Central Market

Ohhh, so busy today. Ugh. Thankfully, we were able to pick up ingredients for a delicious sandwich at the Grand Central Market.
Grand Central Terminal, 42nd Street and Park Avenue

4:00pm financier

At La Colombe Torrefaction, they serve financiers from Ceci-Cela. At Ceci-Cela, they serve coffee from La Colombe. I guess they are friends.
La Colombe Torrefaction, 270 Lafayette between Houston and Prince

Emporio

It hasn't been all that long since we came here on our first visit, but after spotting this review this morning, we had to go back. Unfortunately they aren't serving pizzas for lunch, yet.
But the paninis were on soft, warm ciabattas, and really quite nice.
Emporio, 231 Mott Street between Prince and Spring

banana

The only spot to grab something sweet between the subway and the office failed me, so figured it wasn't in our stars to eat dessert today. Came back to the office and found this on the kitchen counter. A banana will do. It will have to do.

Baluchi's takeout w/ Amy

We love surprise guests! Got a text message from Amy this morning saying she was working a block away from us for the day. Sweet! We got her to join our attempt of having a quick-ish lunch ordering in from Baluchi's. Two lunch specials split between the three of us was more than enough, and before we knew it, more time than anticipated had passed, and I found myself scrambling to get to my next task.
Baluchi's, 193 Spring Street near Sullivan

4:00pm strawberry rhubarb crumble

This thing is a crumbling mess as the name suggests. We've got a weakness for rhubarb, so once we spotted this on the display shelf, we saw no other options for today's dessert.
Balthazar Bakery, 80 Spring Street near Crosby

Rubys

The burgers at Rubys are quite tasty, though they have a mysterious sweetness to them. As though they put sugar in their patties. Can't quite figure it out. We once tried asking our waitress, and she got kind of offended. Curious...
Rubys Cafe, 219 Mulberry Street btwn Spring and Prince