Thursday May 20th

3pm

84 Stanton Street

After sending a few places from my “must try list” to The Wandering Foodie we decided on the recently open Meatball Shop in the Lower East Side for a late lunch. I read about it when it first opened, and the idea of being able to order meatballs at 4am was intriguing (the kitchen is open until 4am Thursday – Saturday, until 2am Sunday – Wednesday). If you didn’t guess from the name, meatballs are the specialty of the house. The space itself is small—a large communal table fills most of the dining room with a few tables running along the side wall and about a dozen seats at the bar. During warm weather there’s a few tables available outside as well. Fresh flowers are neatly arranged at each table, a chalkboard announces the specials of the day (featuring a daily meatball, sauce, side, salad and ice-cream) and black and white vintage family portraits line the red wall.

When you sit down you’re handed a laminated menu and a dry erase marker to make your selections. The menu is divided into 3 sections: Ala Carte Balls, Sandwiches – hero (served on a baugette) or sliders, and a meatball smash (served on a brioche bun).

How it works:

Step 1. Select ala carte, slider, hero or smash

Step 2. Select your meatball – chicken, beef, pork, vegetarian (made with lentils and walnuts) or special

Step 3. Choose a sauce – classic tomato, spicy beef, parmasean cream, mushroom or special

Step 4. Mozzarella or provolone

I love the idea of taking one food – the meatball – and creating an endless choice of options, but I guess this is why you get the dry erase marker in case you start to second guess. If you’re at a loss the wait staff will gladly offer up their recommendations and favorite combinations. These aren’t Mom’s meatballs (my Sicilian Mother and Grandmother used a mix of pork, veal and beef and simmered them in a tomato sauce with neck bones for flavor), but they were tender and delicious. I recommend trying the basil pesto (if available as the special) with a chicken meatball or the spicy beef with a beef meatball (beef on beef seems so gluttonous but tasted so good).

Tip: Don’t forget to save room for dessert! The ice-cream is made in-house and you can create a “custom” ice-cream sandwich from a choice of four types of cookies or a brownie.

Lunch

(I had a taste of each)

• Sliders – beef with spicy beef, special jambalaya with shrimp, andouille and rice with basil pesto (the only miss, was too salty and fishy), pork with mushroom, chicken with classic tomato
• Smash – chicken with basil pesto and mozzarella (my favorite)
• Side of white beans
• Special salad – arugula with asparagus and a creamy lemon vinagarette
• Market salad – arugula with apples
• House made tangerine, caramel and mint ice-cream with a ginger snap cookie on the side (We couldn’t come to a decision on a sandwich combination so ordered ala carte)

Good for: Meatballs, Endless Choices of Meatballs, Late Night Meatballs, Customizable Ice-Cream Sandwiches

Friday April 9th, 2010
11:00am
51 Spring Street

One of the greatest things about New York City is wandering down a familiar street only to discover someplace that you’ve never noticed before. After leaving an appointment on Spring Street and heading to the 6 train I was on the lookout for a Starbucks to grab a quick coffee when I spotted La Crêpe Parisienne with an Illy coffee sandwich board out front. Inside the small window a chef was making crêpes while another man took orders at the counter. There’s only a handful of tables and a few stools along a counter at the other window. It’s a quaint spot, and each order is made while you wait. Since since Summer is right around the corner I only ordered an Illy coffee, but the selection of breakfast (butter and sugar), sweet (nutella, berry and sugar) and savory (gruyere) written on the chalk-written menu board on the back wall was tempting.

On a side note, this establishment got it’s start as a street cart in Mexico City. It was opened by 3 brothers in 1996 after they lived in Paris. Spring Street is the only U.S. location to date – the other 6 locations include Mexico, Brazil and Guadalajara.

Wednesday March 17, 2010
1:45pm
76 Fulton Street

In anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day festivities planned later in the evening I thought it might be wise to have a good lunch. The Country Kebab is a tiny carry out (with limited seating) Turkish/Mediterranean restaurant on Fulton Street. The food is fresh, authentic and reasonably priced for the FiDi.  There’s a great selection of all the classic vegetarian dishes (such as hummus, tabouleh, babaganoush and falafel) but they also serve lamb, chicken and fish options. They also serve a variety of soup (my favorites are the butternut squash or lentil) and a daily hot food selection.

Lunch (enough left over for another meal/snack)

• Chicken kebab platter – served with a warm pita, spicy red sauce, white sauce and a choice of 3 sides
• Sides –  2 stuffed grape leaves, hummus and Shepherd’s salad (cucumber, tomato, feta, red onion and parsley in fresh lemon juice and olive oil)

Good for: Cheap Eats, Lunch, Carry Out, Delivery