Parisi Bakery

For us, a Parisi sandwich is a seasonal item, only to be consumed on a nice warm day because we then take it to eat at the nearby park. While today is a far cry from that nice warm day, it didn't keep us from suddenly developing a craving. Once there and waiting in line, getting ready to order our usual, I saw a bunch of these getting brought out from the kitchen. They looked so delicious, they needed to be tried. So here it is, chicken cutlet with fresh mozzarella and their homemade roasted red peppers. Mmmm.
Parisi Bakery, 198 Mott St, NY NY 10012 (btwn Spring & Broome)

4:00pm pb&j cupcake

We've been Village Tart whores of late, and we gotta admit, we haven't been disappointed yet. Today's cupcake was an unusual twist on what one might expect from a pb&j cupcake. Wasn't quite sure if it was the chocolate, or the strawberry puree. Whatever it was, it made you ponder on what you were eating for a minute. And though it wasn't something I would call delicious, sometimes a little flavor curiosity sparks a fine and tasty culinary intrigue.
Village Tart, 86 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Mulberry)

Shanghai Cafe, with Ray

Ever since Danny introduced us to Shanghai Cafe, we've been addicted to the rice cakes with preserved cabbage and shredded pork. Addicted. As in it's not even a question whether we order it or not. But today we forwent the usual soup dumplings order to try something none of us had heard of, namely the shanghai rice with pork, chicken and shrimp. And hmm, nothing special.
Shanghai Cafe, 100 Mott St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Hester & Canal)

4:00pm roll cakes

I can't say that we have EVER found better bang for buck than in the 80¢ roll cakes from the chinese bakeries scattered throughout Chinatown. Soft and squishy, lightly sweet and if you get the coffee roll, the slight flavor of coffee bitterness. All in all quite lovely.
Grand Manna Bakery, 212 Grand St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Mott and Elizabeth)

Grand Bo Ky, with Josh

Grand Bo Ky can be pretty overwhelming as the menu is 2 full pages of densely packed noodle soups of every variation written in 3 languages. So to simplify your life, we will recommend the #4 (Hu Tieu Nam-Vang) or #5 if you're a vegetarian who eats seafood. By default it comes with wide rice noodles but I personally prefer the thin egg noodles.
Grand Bo Ky, 216 Grand St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Mott & Elizabeth)

4:00pm lemon pound cake

We tend to shy away from lemon poundcake as it's often unreliable but McNally Jackson continues to bring happiness to our hearts. This one even looked potential dry but was surprisingly moist and had the taste of fresh tart lemons. If you haven't been by, please go! We have just newly renovated the cafe with flying books, the menu is revamped with delicious local treats, they're serving Stumptown coffee and an array of teas. And oh yes, it's the best independent bookstore around. That should be reason enough.
McNally Jackson Teahouse, 52 Prince St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Lafayette and Mulberry)

Saha Thai

Saha Thai is our local go-to. We don't have to cross any streets and the lunches are pretty reliable whether you go for the pad prik khing or pad kee mao. But today aha, an interesting diversion. All because this sole guy was steadily making his way through an entire fried fish. It never occurred to us that fried fish would be an entree worth ordering, but it was. Although to be honest we ordered the wrong one. We got the Pla Ginger Sauce but probably the Pla Rard Prik was the way to go. Or we should have asked the guy finishing his off with such zeal.
Saha Thai, 227 Centre St, NY, NY 10013 (above Grand)

4:00pm apple galette

We continue to experience delicious moments of afternoon desserts at Village Tart. Following Kathy's recommendation today we picked up the candied apple galette. On a note of personal preference, we both found it a tad too sweet. But sugar preferences aside, it is as Kathy reports, "simultaneously crunchy and tender, and tastes as beautiful as it looks." And as recommended by both the servers and Pichet Ong himself, we popped it into the toaster oven for a couple minutes before dessert time. The scent of candied apples permeated the office afterward. Heavenly.
Village Tart, 86 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Mulberry)

L'asso

It was surprisingly boisterous but not packed at L'asso today. And then we realized all the hype and hoopla was coming from one rolicking table full of friends with maybe an owner sitting amongst them. The peals of laughter made for a cozy collegiate atmosphere, which is mildly preferable to overcrowded loud dinner scenes. Although both scenarios are good for business and you can't argue with that.
L'asso, 192 Mott St., NY, NY 10012 (at Kenmare)

4:00pm red velvet cupcake

One of my favorite methods of carrying cupcakes back to the office for afternoon dessert is the upside down coffee cup. My other favorite is the open paper plate with 2 forks sticking out.
Oro Bakery, 375 Broome St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Mulberry & Mott)