Posted by The Serious Eats Team, April 14, 2011 at 7:00 PM
[Photographs: Robyn Lee]
Pret a Manger
UK-based chain with nearly 30 locations in New York City (map); additional locations in Chicago and D.C.; pret.com/us
Service: Largely self-service with friendly, efficient counterfolk
Setting: Clean, modern-looking storefronts with huge refrigerated cases
Compare It To: Cosi, Panera, 'wichcraft, Hale and Hearty
Must-Haves: Ham sandwich, roast beef arugula baguette, chocolate chip cookie
Cost: Lunches, $5 to 10
Curious about the drinks? Read all about 'em »
Grade: As pre-made foods go: B+
Pret A Manger is the sort of chain-but-better, like Chipotle or Starbucks, beloved by urbanities who would never confess to loving McDonald's or KFC. That it started out in London might have something to do with it; so too might the perception of Pret as a benevolent enterprise, one that has spread over major metropolitan areas but isn't really fast food. Privately owned and committed to (in their words) "avoiding the obscure chemicals, additives and preservatives common to so much of the 'prepared' and 'fast' food on the market today," they're easier to think of as a health-minded, "real food"-minded sandwich shop that just happens to have hundreds of locations.
And then there's the convenience factor. What distinguishes Pret from other lunch spots are their huge refrigerated grab-and-go cases. Sandwiches, salads, and the like are attractively wrapped and displayed, made throughout the day, waiting for you to pick up and purchase. Their focus on higher-quality pre-made food makes them perfect for anyone on a 10-minute lunch break; it's no accident that Pret's New York locations are concentrated entirely in office-heavy areas like Midtown and the Financial District.
So they're popular, they're convenient, and for the most part, they're a lot healthier than standard fast-food offerings. But we wanted to know: what's really worth ordering at Pret a Manger? We tasted the entire menu* to find out.
*Well, just about. Pret's menu rotates seasonally, and varies by location. But we visited a half-dozen Prets, a number of times, to bring you the broadest possible look we could.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, January 4, 2011 at 11:15 AM
[Photo: Robyn Lee]
Our love for Salumeria Biellese is no secret on Serious Eats, but beyond their cured meats, we're suckers for their daily sandwich specials—a different meat for each day of the week. Which is the best? We'll let you decide. Click through to check out the 5 Days of Biellese.
Salumeria Biellese
376 8th Avenue, New York NY 10001 (map)
212-736-7376
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Posted by Kathy YL Chan, November 23, 2010 at 12:00 PM
In this great city of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's A Sandwich a Day, our daily look at sandwiches around New York. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know. —The Mgmt.
[Photo: Kathy YL Chan]
Now, judging from the mad scientist sandwiches which No. 7 Sub is best known for, you didn't think this would be just an Arctic Char Sandwich ($9), did you? Of course not. Here, the arctic char is poached in olive oil until it's silky and tender—an effortless bite. It's stuffed tight into their soft, wheaty (and slightly sweet) custom-made loaf, with hummus on the bottom where one would ordinarily expect mayo. A smatter of crisp fried shallots offer a fragrant and needed crunch factor, and sweet shishito peppers are piled right in for a truly kooky combination that's still somehow tasty. The only complaint one could have is the lack of texture—except for the fried shallots, it's a soft, soft sandwich. But with all those flavors in simultaneous action, that's a complaint that can be easily forgiven.
Related: Mad Scientist Sandwiches at No. 7 Sub
No. 7 Sub
1188 Broadway, New York NY 10001 (map)
212-532-1680
no7sub.com
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Posted by Krista Garcia, September 21, 2010 at 3:00 PM
Editor's note: In "Fast Food International," Krista Garcia will take us around New York to the many international fast food chains that have landed in the five boroughs. She blogs at goodiesfirst.com.
Country of origin: South Korea
Locations worldwide: China, South Korea, US
NYC locations: One in midtown and two in Flushing
One of my favorite things about malls in Asia are the ubiquitous self-serve, tray-and-tongs bakeries with carby names like BreadTalk, Bread History and My Bread. Pastries range from European almond croissants to locally-popular buns big on mayonnaise, hot dogs, and pork floss. When I was in Singapore following the 2008 elections, I even spied an "Obunma," a hilarious nod to our president, topped with egg, cheese, tomato and ham.
Here in the States, these businesses tend to exist where Asian expats congregate. Earlier this month, South Korean chain Paris Baguette expanded from Flushing to Manhattan's 32nd Street. Cleanly decorated in navy and white with manicured topiaries and large silver-framed mirrors, the bustling café feels upscale even though the striped-sailor-shirt-and-beret-clad staff embody kitsch.
Not that I captured any of this digitally. Paris Baguette, like many of the other foreign chains I've covered here, is extremely touchy about photography. Bloggers may as well be corporate spies in their view.
Some of the best treats at Paris Baguette are variations on croissants like the classic, flaky pain au chocolat. Green pea—no, not tea—couldn't be less French, but it is part of the Asian tradition of sweetening up legumes until they taste like dessert. Italian meatballs in a light tomato sauce also find their way into a pastry shell.
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Posted by Carey Jones, May 14, 2010 at 12:00 PM
In this great city of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's A Sandwich a Day, our daily look at sandwiches around New York. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know. —The Mgmt.
[Photo: Robyn Lee]
There are some mornings—fine, noons, but noons that feel like mornings—when all you want is something like the Curious George ($6.50) from Johny's Luncheonette on West 25th: three eggs, bacon and ham, French fries, and cheese on a hero roll. Salty, melty, substantial, and guaranteed to make any bad day better.
Johny's Luncheonette
124 West 25th Street, New York NY 10001 (map)
212-243-6230
johnysluncheonette.com
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Posted by Carey Jones, April 23, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Who doesn't love french fries? We've long been looking for New York's best, and decided that the city's fries deserved more than a post—they needed a column of their own. Here's TGI Fry-Day, your weekly dose of deliciousness. Got a nomination? Let us know. —The Mgmt.
[Photo: Robyn Lee]
Our inaugural fries might just be our favorite in New York right now: "Thrice Cooked Chips" at The Breslin. Yep, thrice. Whereas many large fries end up with dry potato in the middle, these long fingers are fried nearly all the way through, giving them easily double or triple the crust of any other fries we've ever eaten. And with the occasional rough edges, bits of extra-fried skin, and stray bits of pure crunch, there are even more craggy, salty, crispy bits to chomp on.
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Posted by Carey Jones, April 6, 2010 at 11:00 PM
[Photographs: Robyn Lee]
No. 7 Sub
1188 Broadway, New York NY 10001 (b/n 28th and 29th, at the Ace Hotel; entrance on Broadway, map); 212-532-1680; no7sub.com
Service: Friendly and reasonably efficient
Setting: Tiny storefront attached to the Ace Hotel
Must-Haves: General Tso's Tofu, Turkey Cubano
Cost: $9 sandwiches
Grade: B+
As readers may have noticed, we at Serious Eats never tire of sandwiches—and there's always room for another great lunch spot in this city. But chefs and sandwiches are a curious combination.
Compared to your average corner deli guy, chefs have a tendency to innovate, and think, and source creatively—all good things, of course. Until you end up with a sandwich that's innovative to the point of bizarreness, thought until it's overthought, and uniting ingredients that add up to a double-digit price tag.
So we didn't know what to expect from No. 7 Sub. The team behind No. 7 restaurant in Brooklyn's Fort Greene—chef-partner Tyler Kord and managing partner Matt Suchomski, along with pastry chef and baker Amanda Clarke—have brought an oddball cheffy sub shop to the Ace Hotel, joining Stumptown Coffee and The Breslin to form what has become this season's Manhattan eating destination.
It goes without saying that they're taking the project seriously. The opening was pushed back by months as they tested and re-tested their bread—which arrives each morning from a bakery they opened for the purpose, dubbed "Bun Panthers," in Crown Heights. And a glance at the menu tells you these are ambitious, wacky, original sandwiches. Ceviche with leche de tigre mayo? General Tso's tofu with a broccoli mayonnaise? Whatever else, this lunch wouldn't be boring.
But would it be delicious? That's what we went to find out.
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Posted by Carey Jones, March 29, 2010 at 12:00 PM
In this great city of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's A Sandwich a Day, our daily look at sandwiches around New York. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know. —The Mgmt.
[Photo: Robyn Lee]
Have we talked about Roast Beef Monday at Salumeria Biellese yet? Because these big guys are a can't-miss. A four-incher is $6.50; a six-inch sandwich, $7.75. We recommend the seeded roll, hefty enough to soak up the beefy juices poured over the top. Juicy, meaty, and as satisfying as a sandwich could be.
Salumeria Biellese
376 8th Avenue, New York NY 10001 (map)
212-736-7376
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Posted by Adam Kuban, March 11, 2010 at 8:00 PM
The receipt listing the $25 cake fee that author Rose Levy Beranbaum and friends incurred at lunch recently. [Photograph: Rose Levy Beranbaum]
Your thoughts? Since we have people on both sides of the aisle reading this site?
Noted baking author Rose Levy Beranbaum and her lunch party were recently charged a $25 "forkage" fee* for a couple slices of leftover cake they brought into The Breslin with them. While it was "outside food," Beranbaum had brought the cake from a video taping and wanted to share it with her pastry chef friends. (She even offered the pastry chef and the server a piece.)
While it's common for restaurants to charge a "cake fee" to customers bringing their own dessert (usually on special occasions like birthdays) here $25 seems a leetle steep. Particularly when it didn't need to be cut, and because it wasn't plated (they made due using the plastic wrap as a plate)—and mostly because the diners were not informed of the fee beforehand.
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Posted by Carey Jones, January 8, 2010 at 1:30 PM
[Photo: Carey Jones]
I haven't been able to stop thinking about these pumpkin pancakes ($14) at The Breslin, so strong is my ambivalence toward them. Wherefore the internal conflict?
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Posted by Kathy YL Chan, January 6, 2010 at 12:00 PM
[Photos: Kathy Chan]
When Stumptown first opened, pastries were supplied by Cafe Pedlar, a parade of olive oil bundt cakes and pretzels. Then the lineup started to include croissants from Ceci-Cela, and now? A whole line of sweet and savories baked by the Breslin, under the same roof of the Ace Hotel. I first got wind of this when a reader, Jeff, emailed me about the lemon curd filled meringue. It sounded absolutely gorgeous.
I went to Stumptown yesterday morning in search of the meringue. "Oh, the lemon curd meringues? I don't think we're doing those anymore—but maybe they'll bring them back eventually," the barista offered. I'll keep checking! For now, you'll just have to be satisfied with the current selection of Breslin goods, which are, in fact, pretty darn swell.
The Fougasse ($3.50, at top) was one of those things that you knew would be delicious just by looking at it. Like a olive oil-slicked cross between Sullivan Street's pizza bianca and puff pastry. Savory, and perhaps a little too greasy, the bite is liberal with salt and crisp potato bits. A craveable snack.
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Posted by Carey Jones, November 16, 2009 at 12:15 PM
"The people have spoken. And City Bakery is no longer their cookie of choice."
[Photos: Robyn Lee and Sophie Finkelstein]
Last week in the Chocolate Chip Cookie Championship, we went uptown to find the best chocolate chip cookies on the Upper East and Upper West Sides. Having found our favorites, we're now moving to Midtown—between Union Square and 60th Street.*
In this round, there were formidable contenders and surprising upsets: disappointing frontrunners, dark horses, and a chain thrown into the mix.
Our eight contestants: City Bakery, Pret a Manger, Max Brenner, Petrossian, Ruby et Violette, Frankie's (at Stumptown), and Times Square Hot Bagels.
The best chocolate chip cookie in Midtown, after the jump.
*Okay, this isn't all Midtown. But do we really need separate Hell's Kitchen, Murray Hill, Gramercy, Flatiron, and Chelsea cookie tastings? We're sticking with "Midtown-ish."
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Posted by Ed Levine, October 27, 2009 at 11:00 PM
Top: Bill's Bar and Burger; bottom, left to right: Shake Shack and RUB. [Photographs: Robyn Lee (Bill's Bar and Burger and Shake Shack) and Nick Solares (RUB)]
Right now, at this moment, it's raining burgers in this burg. And not just any kind of burgers: smashed burgers made from freshly ground, humanely raised beef.
Danny Meyer and company were the pioneers of this style of burger in New York with the now legendary Shake Shack, though the Shackers don't really smash their meat so much as press it down rather gently. In fact, it should be noted that burger lovers owe Meyer a smashing debt of gratitude for the lead role he and his crew have taken in treating the reasonably priced burger with respect and love—and elevating it to serious deliciousness with careful preparation, cheffy techniques, and quality ingredients. But enough about the Shack for now.
Restaurateur Steve Hanson has now stepped up to the (blue) plate with his newly opened smashed burger emporium Bill's Bar and Burger. And RUB's pitmaster Scott Smith and co-owner Andrew Fischel have snuck up on Meyer and Hanson with their burger, which is currently being served only on Monday nights.
A Hamburger Today and Serious Eats have been chronicling Shake Shack's serious deliciousness for years now. More recently in the past few weeks, my man Adam Kuban waxed enthusiastically about Bill's, Kenji Alt told us how to fake the funk of the Shake Shack burger with his amazing Fake Shack post and recipe, and I had a ridiculously fabulous urban burger at RUB.
So what's left, my burger-loving compadres? Why, it's obvious to me: It's the Serious Eats New York–AHT smashed-burger roundup, the ultimate throwdown. Is there one smashed burger in New York City that reigns supreme? Which of these juicy suckers should you pledge your burger-loving allegiance to? Which burger is worth your hard-earned money, your valuable time, and your true burger devotion?
We've got you covered, starting now.
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Posted by Nick Solares, September 24, 2009 at 1:15 PM
As Serious Eaters become increasingly concerned about the provenance and seasonality of the ingredients that we consume, for ecological and gastronomic reasons—and simultaneously become more interested in eating (figuratively and literally) the "whole hog"—I can think of no better place to indulge both impulses than the Large Format Feast at Resto.
The restaurant's website says it succinctly: Pick a whole animal. Come to Resto. Feast. Feast is what you will do, as Chef Bobby Hellen will break down a whole animal (or two or more) sourced from a local farm and compose an elaborate nose-to-tail extravaganza using vegetables from the Union Square Greenmarket. I recently spent some time in the Resto kitchen with my trusty Nikon during just such a feast, and here is what Hellen came up with.
Pigs' heads, meat lockers, and a veritable sausagefest, after the jump.
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Posted by Allison Hemler, September 15, 2009 at 12:00 PM
[Photographs: Allison Hemler, unless otherwise noted]
New York Times readers in 1872 demanded it, just like the coffee-obsessed in 2009 on the streets of New York: "Let us have this one needed reform everywhere...hotel and restaurant keepers, please do give us good coffee." If 19th-century folk were particular about their coffee, why are we not smashing every drip coffee machine to bits in our local bodega or setting fire to bags of Maxwell House? Why are we accepting bitter, over-roasted coffee as a ritualistic drug we pretend to enjoy by adding globs of cream and sugar?
There are certain coffee shops that proclaim the Holy Gospel of coffee—where technique and skill meet fresh grinds and properly maintained equipment, where milky hearts in dark brown liquid meet a smiling cashier and a dollar in the tip jar. The newest spot to add to the roster: Stumptown Coffee's first official outpost on the East Coast, within the confines of the Ace Hotel at 29th and Broadway in Manhattan. This isn't a third Cafe Pedlar operation--even though the staff proudly serves the Frankies' baked goods--but an actual Stumptown Coffee Roasters location, boasting beans roasted six miles away in the newly opened Stumptown roasting facility in Red Hook.
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