A Breadier Kind of Life

So my office has moved 8 blocks. Gastronomically speaking, the new location is a nice change but the gains are bittersweet. Now, I am just out of reach of eating everyday in Chinatown, my psychic center if there ever was one. But a new door has opened, albeit an Occidental one - I am now able to eat and shop at the culinary strip of Bleecker and 6th Avenue. Hello, Murray’s Cheese Shop, Wild Edibles, Amy’s Bread, Faicco’s Pork Store and Ottomanelli & Sons Prime Meat. I just wish Shopsin’s was still on Carmine so I could watch the family play ping pong during their strange off hours. And then there are the Western reaches of Soho - Once Upon a Tart’s tuna and dill sandwich and the rosemary flecked Pizza Bianca at Grand Daisy Bakery.

The sandwich pictured above is the Iberian sandwich from Murray’s. For $7.95, you get a long roll filled with Iberian-like ham, made from white pigs fed on acorns and forced to do yoga twice a week. (I’m only kidding about the yoga.) There’s portabello mushrooms, piquillo peppers and gooey La Serena cheese from Spain in there too. Murray’s also has the best chicken and avocado sandwich I’ve eaten in a long time. The chicken tastes like it’s been fed fresh nuts too and it hasn’t been grilled to the standard deathly dryness.

To get my Asian fix, I will have to rely on Noodle Bar on Carmine. When I first went there a couple years ago I went home and googled "Hunan pork bolognese" to find the recipe. Of course, I was being silly - they created it there. The dish itself is not very complicated. It's just shredded pork cooked down in a simple tomato sauce, topped with lotus root chips and lying on a bed of udon, but the simple tweak was just enough to freshen up the tired bolognese. On subsequent visits, the dish doesn't always turn out great, but there are plenty of other things on the menu. Beef brisket salad with mango and papaya. Cold duck soba.

So, there are a lot of good lunch options in my new location. But I do miss Chinatown so. I mean where else can you get a double meat lunch, full of juicy tea-colored barbecued chicken and pork topped with minced ginger for $4.25? At OK 218, you can.

Murray’s Cheese
254 Bleecker St
West Village
New York, NY 10014
(212) 243-3289

Noodle Bar
26 Carmine St
West Village
New York, NY 10014
(212) 524-6800

OK 218
218-220 Grand St
New York, NY 10013
Chinatown
Phone: (212) 226-8039

Comments

[jrw]

Great Scott. . . that sandwich looks tasty! I think I passed Murry's every day for two weeks and never even considered it. . .

[Michelle]

Well, next time you're in town you have to stop by! It's cured meats and cheese heaven.

[Sarah]

Next week I'm definitely getting one of those Murray's sandwiches--I'm in the place practically every evening after work to pick up stuff for dinner, but haven't tried their lunch things.

[Michelle]

Hi Sarah, Yes, and I'm guessing it's half the walk to the Saigon Bakery for you! When you do maybe you could tell me what their roll is made of, it's caked with some polenta/cornmeal-like flour. The grilled serrano sandwich also rocks.

[Sarah]

Went to get my sandwich today--they didn't have it! I got the feeling it was a one-shot thing--the guy said they'd made it because they had extra La Serena cheese. Instead, I got the serrano ham and manchego. It was good, but yours sounded better.

[Michelle]

Hi Sarah,

That sucks but try again, just at an earlier time of day. The problem is the return of the NYU kids who are gobbling them all up. Last week, all the sandwiches were sold out, but a couple days later I saw a couple Iberians kicking around.

[Tammy]

Hi Cuz,
I actually did a Greenwich village food tour on that street. I am envious that you can get a good slice of pizza for lunch. I am surrounded by chains here! Please have one for me next week!
Tammy

[Michelle]

Chains are the worst. I'll have a slice of Joe's with lactaid and think of you. Will you please go to The Apple Pan for me?

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Went to get my sandwich today--they didn't have it! I got the feeling it was a one-shot thing--the guy said they'd made it because they had extra La Serena cheese. Instead, I got the serrano ham and manchego. It was good, but yours sounded better.

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