Dining Out

Given my financial straits, I decided to pack a lunch today (something I almost never do). This means no local food review for the day, however it does give me the opportunity to talk about something I actually like about working in the Financial District. Lower Manhattan has numerous places to sit (and eat) outdoors when the weather cooperates. Yesterday, for example, I ate my uninspiring burrito at one of the tables set up opposite the New York Stock Exchange. These can be rather crowded, but are a good option when eating messy food (having a table protects your lap). Today, with the relatively unmessy quiche I had packed, I went instead to my favorite place to sit outdoors at lunchtime: Rector Park.

In contrast to other parks in the area, Rector Park is nearly always deserted at lunch. Rector Park is actually two parks, so if you can't find a pleasant, remote seat in one, you can always try the other. Both have plenty of benches, which offer the possibility of sitting in direct sunlight (my usual preference), deep shade, and something in between. There are also really nice-looking grassy areas in the middle, so you can come with a blanket and eat picnic-style.

Rector Park is on Rector Street between West Street and the Hudson River.

And, just for good measure, this is what I ate:

Mushroom & Gorgonzola Quiche with Bacon
1 frozen pie crust (the smaller size - probably 8")
2 strips bacon, cooked well and crumbled
8 large white mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1 shot port
1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola
4 eggs
1 cup milk
salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Put the mushrooms, butter, and port in a medium frying pan over medium-low heat and cover. Cook for 8 minutes, remove from heat and uncover. The juices and butter should mostly have cooked off/into the mushrooms. Drain any remaining liquid.

Prick the pie crust with a fork in a few places, and bake at 400 for 7 minutes, then remove and reduce the oven temperature to 350.

Whisk the eggs and milk until blended and season with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the bacon over the bottom of the pie crust. Spread the mushrooms on top, as evenly as possible. Sprinkle the gorgonzola over the mushrooms. Slowly pour the egg mixture over everything.

Bake for 35 minutes or until set. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Street Burritos

At 12:15 today, I realized I had somewhere around $40, give or take, to last me until my next paycheck. At 12:45 today, I realized I was starving. My unfortunate financial situation kept me from going to one of my usual filling-lunch destinations, and inspired me to hit the food carts in the hope of finding a cheap and filling meal.

I have worked in this area for close to three years, and have never eaten from any of the food carts down here besides a couple of the fruit salad/juice carts. I have long been curious, but never knew where to begin. I did recall seeing a taco cart once off the Chase Manhattan Bank plaza, and I do love tacos, so this is where I began.

There was no one waiting, which I tend to think of as a bad sign at a food cart*, but Mexican sounded really good to me. And I was starving. I only saw hard taco shells, so decided to try a burrito rather than a taco. I briefly debated getting a vegetarian burrito, but quickly decided on chicken instead. The chicken was pulled and stewed in a red sauce, and topped with beans, lettuce, and sliced tomato. Unable to choose among my various options, I requested sour cream and cheese and guacamole (the last of which added $1.50 to the price, for a total of $4.50).

My burrito was not very tightly wrapped, making it messier than it had to be. The chicken was pretty tasty and the guacamole was fine, but all the other ingredients left much to be desired. The lettuce was soggy and the tomato was (as I mentioned) sliced, which is awkward in a burrito. The worst component was the cheese (which I recognized was a mistake to order as soon as I saw it) - it was the liquidy orange nacho cheese.

Overall, edible but disappointing and not very filling. I'll have to go to an old standby tomorrow to make up for it.

* I have a general theory that to recognize a good cart, one should look for the longest line.

I think there may be more than one taco cart in this general vicinity, but the one I went to today was the south-most cart in front of the Chase building on Broad Street, just north of Pine St.

Champs Gourmet Deli

Champs Gourmet Deli is one of my favorite places for food in the Financial District. In an area that is overrun with giant and overwhelming food court-style delis, Champs stands out as an easy place to get basic food (despite that "gourmet" in their name). They don't have a sushi bar or a juice bar or a stir-fry bar or a large selection of hot/cold bar items. However, they do have pretty much all the stand-by food items I might want, and they prepare them with care. They have a grill where everything is cooked to order, a small salad bar, a cold sandwich counter, and a decent selection of baked goods. They also have daily soups and oatmeal.

I frequently get egg sandwiches ($1.85 for mine) there in the morning, which are prepared exactly to my specifications (one fried egg, cooked through, with cheese on a toasted biali - yum!). They have excellent muffins ($1.40), which are obviously baked fresh daily (the chocolate chip, cranberry, and lemon-coconut are my favorites). They also make great sandwiches (starting at about $3.50) for lunch - both hot and cold. All the ingredients are fresh and everything is made to order.

Finally, I am very impressed with the staff at Champs. Despite the busy location and small space, they are incredibly efficient. Even at the busiest times of day, you can always count on quick service with very little waiting.

On the down side, while Champs does have tables, it's not a great place to eat in. Usually, when I pick up breakfast or lunch at Champs, I end up taking it back to my office to eat.

Champs Gourmet Deli is at 71 Broadway, but the entrance is actually in the back of the building on the corner of Trinity Place and Rector Street. There is a second location on Exchange Place between Broad and New Streets.

Welcome, Introduction, Explanation

I have for some time envied my midtown-working colleagues their lunch options, and the blog that describes them. More recently, I was disappointed to find that the 2007 list of cheap eats in New York magazine's annual Cheap Eats issue included only one restaurant that was south of Canal Street, and it was just two blocks south at that. This was definitely not an easily accessible lunch option from my Financial District workplace. Time Out New York's recent cheap eats issue had little more for me.

It's true that the options down here are limited. What is available is often unimpressive and overpriced. There are, however, also little gems: there is some delicious food; there are some reasonable prices. In these pages I will chronicle my lunches, and perhaps occasional other outings in the area.

Before I begin, there are a couple additional things potential readers might care to know about me, because they will influence the content here:

1. Despite my financial district location, I don't work a financial district job. In honor of this blog, I am granting myself a lunch budget of $10. (This is a big improvement over the $6 I used to allot myself.)

2. I don't eat much meat. If you're looking for burgers, I won't be able to help. I am not a vegetarian, but I only have meat at lunch maybe once a week.

3. I don't eat much lunch. At least a couple times a week, I sate myself with pretzels from my office vending machine. Reviews of those pretzels (or the things I have to substitute for them on the occasions when the machine runs out) will not be included here.