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Alison Stewart: This is All Of It. I'm Alison Stewart. Live from the WNYC studios. Thanks for spending part of your day with us whether you're listening on the radio, live streaming, or On Demand, I am grateful you are here and I'm grateful to be back on the air and in one piece minus one kidney, which is working quite well for my sister, by the way. Thanks to team All Of It and WNYC for being so accommodating and thanks to all the WNYC hosts who kept the show going while I was out.

Brigid Bergen, David Fass, Kousha Navidar, Kerry Nolan, and Tiffany Hanson, and thanks to all of you for your well wishes, your cards, comments, calls, texts, DMs, even the lady who said it wasn't going to be easy and no big deal, ma'am, I agree to disagree. On today's show, we'll talk about the value of a college education and take your calls about whether you choose to forego one and why. Novelist Lauren Groff has a new book out and she joins me to discuss it titled The Vaster Wilds. It's spectacular by the way. New York photographer Barbara Mensch has been visually chronicling her neighborhood for years.

She joins us to discuss her new book, A Falling-Off Place: The Transformation of Lower Manhattan, full of photos pre, during, and post-9/11. That is our plan. Let's get this started.

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Having major surgery brought up a lot of issues to think about. Important things like how I had all this amazing treatment at Mass General yet so many people suffer because of how unfair and how broken our healthcare system is, how oxy works really well as a pain med, and how it's clear how easily people get sucked into its thrall, how work-life balance is something I should work on, and then the subject that surprisingly occupied my thoughts every single day. Lunch.

When you host a live radio show from 12:00 to 2:00 every day, lunch usually means salad from home at your desk right before or after the show. One of the unexpected pleasures of my recovery period was having the time to sample some of the great lunch spots the city has to offer. I wanted to share some of my favorites with all of you and help me share some of his favorite lunch places is Eater New York editor, Robert Sietsema. Robert, welcome to the studio.

Robert Sietsema: Hey, Alison, Thank you so much for having me on.

Alison: Listeners, we want to hear from you. What are some of your favorite lunch spots around the city? Maybe you have a lunch hack you want us to know about or a favorite food truck or it's outside your office or a cart. Give us a call, 212-433-9692 212-433-WNYC. That's 212-433-9692 212-433-WNYC. We want to hear about your favorite lunch spots. Big picture question, Robert. What are some of the things you look for in a lunch place?

Robert: Well, to begin with, lunch is the new dinner. Getting reservations, going out at night has gotten so complicated that it requires weeks of preparation, whereas even at your favorite restaurants, you can just walk right in oftentimes. They're glad to have you, the meal is cheaper, you have longer to digest before you go to sleep, and man, I'm just looking over this list you sent me and you went to some amazing places. You've been to places I haven't been at like Hotel Chelsea.

Alison: That was specta-- The new Hotel Chelsea, if you want to feel fancy, it technically was breakfast but I went late enough that I considered it lunch. [chuckles] If you just want to feel like you've gone to a bygone era and have your delicious coffee out of a beautiful China cup and boast with gold Hotel Chelsea and all the art deco and the beautiful mirrors, I would suggest that one. I was telling you off the air, one of the reasons lunch got to be a big deal is I was supposed to walk every day.

My friends who were taking care of me, we made lunch the place we would walk to, and then as I got a little better, I could take the subway and then we could walk. There's a little bit of a progression here. A place that I went that had a ton of options was the Pier 57 new food hall. I tried out LoLo's Shack, which is Caribbean and coastal comfort foods. The original location is up in Harlem. What's your take on the food halls?

Robert: Food halls are a mixed bag. The best thing about a food hall is to discover a place that you love and then you can go there easily without bothering with the other places if it's not too crowded. The place you're talking about is run by the James Beard Foundation and has a lot of great stuff including Indian dosas and I would say that's one of the best, but we also have that food court that does Singaporean food up in Midtown just north of Times Square. I think food halls are fine but they're not a good deal really compared to eating in a restaurant, oddly enough.

Alison: Oh, that's interesting. Really? Financially, it's not the way to go necessarily if you're watching your budget.

Robert: No. They'll get $25 or $30 out of you if you get a main course and a beverage and you pay a tax and then they spend that little thing around asking for a tip and even though there's not really any service to speak of but that's neither here nor there. Yes, I prefer the standalone restaurants and especially ones where-- or even carts. I see that you ran into Jamrock Jerk, one of my favorite places. What an operation.

Alison: That is incredible. According to Jamrock Jerk, they say they are New York City's first legally permitted street cart equipped with grills and smokers necessary to produce the authentic Jamaican jerk experience. I love the cart because it's Hudson Yards sometimes, it's on Astor Place if you check their Instagram or their Facebook page. Their jerk chicken was so delicious and spicy and it was a lot.

Robert: It was not really that expensive. What is it, like $16? I find it hilarious that they have a point-of-purchase display and little monitors on cantilevered arms that come out and it's just like you're in a restaurant only there's no restaurant. That place moves around. You got to check online though to see where it is and I think there's more than one.

Alison: Also, that was lunch and then dinner. There was so much. The portions were really bi-- in the best way.

Robert: You get rice and peas and you get the stewed vegetables and as you point out, really, I think half a chicken.

Alison: Easily, easy. Cindy from the West Village says, and I'm not sure I'm pronouncing this right, Revelie in SoHo across from Raoul's.

Robert: That's the Raoul spin-off. People are raving about that. I haven't been yet because my boss, Melissa McCart went there already. We draw straws as to who goes where since you can't go to all of them at once. I see you liked 886 and, of course, Via Carota, which you could never hope to get into in the evening but man, if you walk over there at two o'clock, there's empty tables.

Alison: It was pretty great. For people who don't know Via Carota, I believe we had the owners and the chefs on the show. They have their own cookbook now. It is an A-Lister star boldface named place in the evening, but during the lunch hour, you just feel like you're walking back-- like you're going to some small cafe in Italy but it's still got the sense of occasion about it that the bar-- I sat at the bar with my friend's scooter and the bartender said, "Okay, friends, what would you like?" "Friends?"

Robert: One of the secrets there is that the salad is so big. Four people could eat it. That leaves you money to buy the bunny, the deep-fried, the chicken fried rabbit which comes on a little piece of French toast and is absolutely delicious. If you have never had rabbit before, it does taste just like chicken.

Alison: Again, brought home food. It was plenty, plenty of food. Hey listeners, we want to hear from you. What's your favorite lunch spot? Maybe it's a food truck. Maybe you go someplace on a special occasion since we all decided lunch is the new dinner. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. You can call in and be on the air or you can text to us. Once I got into the subway because I live in downtown Manhattan and I went out to Greenpoint, it was a hot day.

Robert: Tacos Ramirez.

Alison: Taco Ramirez.

Robert: Oh, my God.

Alison: I have gone by there many times and the line has been around the block but it happened to be a hot day, a little bit of an off time, and there's not really much of a place to sit, although I did get to sit, but there are these amazing-- they're so delicious, the tacos. Why, in your opinion, does one taco spot hit when there are so many others? What is it about certain taco spots make it really breakthrough?

Robert: Well, the people at Taco Ramirez, they're taco scholars. They have that contraption where the meat is in a little merry-go-round and it gets dragged through the oil for hours at a time. It's poached in oil almost. They don't stint on the fillings and they pile those tacos high. The tortillas are homemade and they are absolutely astonishing. Some of the best tacos in town, although this is a city filled with amazing tacos.

Alison: I like the idea, it reminded me of college, that you stand in line to put on whether your cilantro, your pica de gallo, it's a nice atmosphere. It's not precious. I was a little bit concerned with the long line and the hipster vibe that was going to be precious. It's the opposite. It's very authentic and very real.

Robert: Participatory, as you point out. You really get to customize the taco any way you want.

Alison: We've got a text that says, "Outside Atlantic Terminal in front of the Apple Store is the amazing Caesar's Empanadas, homemade and very inexpensive to grab and go."

Robert: Oh, never had that before. It sounds good. Also, outside of the bus depot in Jackson Heights, there is always a line of taco carts and you can get just about-- all sorts of Ecuadorian carts and things like that. If you just get off of the E or any of those trains that stop there and just walk up Roosevelt Avenue, you will find a wealth of lunch places.

Alison: Someone else, Nick says, "Llunch spots John Doe kitchen on 5th at 28th Street and Sister Restaurant Jane Doe Lounge on 44th between 5th and 6th Ave are great and they sell one-dollar oysters." Nick, thanks for the tip. Before we leave Mexican food, you were recommending Electric Burrito?

Robert: Oh yes, and there's going to be another branch of it somewhere, but the one at the moment is on St. Mark's just off of First Avenue, and it's a real California-style burrito, which means they put French fries in it. They have breakfast burritos and they have lunch burritos, but it's an absolutely great place. Once again, the burritos are so big, and this is common to many of the lunch spots that you and I have listed, that two people can eat one lunch, that the servings are so big and the Electric Burrito is like that, too.

Alison: Let's take a call. Abdul from Harlem is calling in. Hi Abdul. Thanks for calling All Of It.

Abdul: Hi, how are you? Thanks for having me.

Alison: Glad to have you on the air.

Abdul: I just wanted to plug on Il Buco Alimentari on Great Jones Street. On top of being great food, they have a little store where they sell imported goods from Italy, and it's open for lunch, and the chef, Justin Smiley, is fantastic.

Alison: Abdul, how did you discover the lunch there?

Abdul: I actually used to work there a few years back, maybe five, six years ago, but it's still doing its thing. Pizzas, paninis, pastas. They're known for their dinner in particular, but for lunch, it's really great to just walk by and you'll get a seat.

Alison: Abdul, thanks for calling in. Let's talk to Judy from Brooklyn. Hi, Judy. Thanks for calling All Of It with your favorite lunch spot.

Judy: Hi. In Brooklyn, Flappish Avenue and Avenue R is a China new store, and Monday through Saturday, they have a big lunch menu with soup, entree, and dessert.

Alison: Judy, thanks.

Robert: Sounds good.

Judy: There's one [unintelligible 00:12:57] Cantonese.

Alison: Oh, sounds good. Thank you for the tip. My guest is Robert Sietsema, New York editor at Eater New York. We are talking about great lunch spots. We'd like to hear from you. What are some of your favorite lunch spots around the city? Maybe you have a lunch hack you want us to know about or a favorite food truck or cart. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. You can call in and join us on the air or you can text to us. I had this moment when I was feeling like a Parisian housewife and I wanted to just pick up a few things to bring home because I wasn't feeling like eating out per se because some days I just wanted to be home. I'm not sure I'm pronouncing this correctly. Fabrique Artisan Bakery.

Robert: Oh, I love that place.

Alison: I would get a-

Robert: That's actually Scandinavian, believe it or not.

Alison: Oh.

Robert: Even though they're putting on the French dog, as they say.

Alison: I did not know that. Well, I just like that idea of like, you buy one thing at the market and you buy another thing in the market and then you put it in your bag and you take it home.

Robert: Oh yes.

Alison: Ah, the baguette was-- are so delicious.

Robert: They have little baguette sandwiches too, if you want to eat something right away. My wife's favorite thing there is this thing called Mr. Toast, which is a sourdough loaf and they have a Mrs. Toast too, who is whole wheat, but yes, you get it and you can make your own sandwiches and go over to Chelsea Market and pick up some cold cuts from one of the butchers there.

Alison: You are recommending, and we're thinking about [unintelligible 00:14:22] cozy experience, by looking at this place's Instagram. It looks like it could be a lot of fun. Salty Lunch Lady's Little Luncheonette. This is in Ridgewood.

Robert: This is in Ridgewood. Ridgewood is exploding with new creative restaurants, but this place, it's only been open a few weeks, and a little obscurely located, and they make these creative sandwiches, including this sandwich called Fancy Polony that really has mortadella in it and aged provolone and ajvar, ajvar, the red pepper paste that the Baltic people that live around there, rather the people from Eastern Europe, the former Yugoslavian people, the Balkan people that live around there use on almost everything.

They have another one that's filled with herbed egg salad and they have all sorts of pastries too, but that place is new and you better get there before it becomes a big hit and you can't get in. Although, lunchtime? Always.

Alison: Also, it's right in the name. Salty Lunch Lady's Little Luncheonette. Let's talk to Josh from Astoria. Hi Josh. Thank you for calling in.

Josh: Thank you for having me. I have a job that takes me all across the city, all five Boroughs, every neighborhood. One of the big perks is being able to discover all these different lunch spots around the city that I would never be able to get to. One of them is New Asha Cafe in Staten Island, Sri Lankan. There's a pretty big Sri Lankan neighborhood-

Robert: At the top of the hill across from the mosque.

Josh: Yes, exactly. I feel like you may have actually mentioned it on one of the shows you've been on. It's my favorite of the Sri Lankan places in that neighborhood. I know some of the other ones get more recognition, but this one is the best. As luck would have it, I'm in Brooklyn right now, and I was trying to figure out where to go to lunch, and now I am headed to Tacos Ramirez based on your recommendation.

Alison: [laughs] Enjoy, enjoy. Hey, if you get there, take a picture and send us a DM on Instagram so we can see it and tell us how you felt about it.

Robert: Thank you so much. It sounds like you have a great job.

Alison: Listeners, we'd love to get you on the air. We're talking about great lunch spots in New York City. 212-433-WNYC is the number. My guest is Robert Sietsema, editor at Eater New York. We'll take more of your calls and your texts after a really quick break. This is All Of It.

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You're listening to All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. My guest is Robert Sietsema, editor at Eater New York. We are talking about great lunch spots in New York with an upside of medical recovery is I got to go to lunch. I never get to go to lunch because of the hours of this show. We're getting some great, great suggestions. In Chinatown, there was a line out the door takeout dim sum place and they are called Mei Li Wah. Pardon me if I didn't say that right.

Now it's a restaurant on Pell. We also had Cameron from Brooklyn. Despaña for a bocadillo and gazpacho is a must-lunch. Missed you on air. Also, someone texted in to say that they thought we missed Carrie Nolan in our thank yous. I did say Carrie, but we did miss Arun Venekapal, who also filled in, so thank you to Arun. Did not want to leave Arun out. Let's talk to Justina on line 2 from Queens.

Justina: Hi. First of all, welcome back. We missed you.

Alison: Thank you.

Justina: Since you mentioned Electric Burrito, it made me think of another place that serves those burritos with French fries inside and belly, pork belly, and whatever else goes in there. The place is called [unintelligible 00:18:22]. They have actually two locations. One is in West Village. The other one is in Jersey City but my whole point about them is that on Mondays, they serve those Cali burritos buy one get one free. I think they are $12, maybe $14 at this point. They used to be cheaper but that was a couple of years ago. It's an amazing deal and the flavor is outstanding. I highly recommend it.

Robert: They have a lot of Filipino fillings to the burritos too. They have a really interesting menu.

Alison: Justina, thank you for calling in. I wanted to check out S&P, which was formerly Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop on Flatiron. The owners of Court Street Grocers have taken it over. It was a classic. The inside is still the same.

Robert: They'v kept it the same, thank goodness.

Alison: The tuna melt, still delightful. Lime Rickey was a little sweet for my taste, but I understand why someone would like it. When you want to think about a place that makes a great sandwich, a place like S&P, where would you suggest?

Robert: Oh, man, on the spot. I love S&P. I wonder what is even equivalent.

Alison: Pastrami Queen?

Robert: Pastrami Queen is great but you got to eat the pastrami, which is fine. I think the beauty of S&P is that it reproduces a form of restaurant that used to cover New York. New York used to have lunch counters everywhere where you sat at the lunch counter and that's one of the few ones left. You would have to go into deepest Brooklyn or up to Inwood to find a similar place.

Alison: Let's talk to Jordan from Norfolk, Connecticut. Hi, Jordan, thanks for calling in.

Jordan: Hey, so glad you're back and healthy, Alison, Robert. Over the years you've helped me. You've assisted me with so much gustatory. Pleasure and thank you. This one, my recommendation actually comes from Robert from some podcast maybe years ago. It's a little gem. It's in Regal Park, Queens. It's a kosher Uzbek kebab restaurant called [unintelligible 00:20:31]. When I was living in Ridgewood, I had doctors appointments, business in Rego Park, shopping expeditions. This was a great place to duck in 25 or more different kinds of kebabs. Fresh breads, pelmeni soup, which is like lamb tortellini soup. So many Uzbek specialties. Excellent choice.

Robert: Including lamb tail fat kebabs, which you eat with your bread. It's just delicious. It's like putting butter on bread.

Alison: Let's talk to Julian from Greenpoint. Hi, Julian.

Julian: Hey, how you doing? Wow, I did not expect to get on this.

[laughter]

My-- For one, huge fan of both of you. Hope you're doing well. My spot is Ashbox and Greenpoint at the very tip of Greenpoint. It's a little Japanese Cafe. They sell [unintelligible 00:21:23], seaweed wraps, housemade Tofu specials that are all additive-free. Very, very health conscious. The lady who runs the place actually has a YouTube channel. She definitely needs a shout-out. I wish I had a name of it, but if you go on her page, she has it all linked there. It's just a great spot. It's one person show, so it's hard to get in there. If you can, it's really good stuff. It never fails for me.

Alison: Now, Julian, it sounds like you're actually cooking. Are you making lunch?

Julian: No, I'm just sitting on the water, actually, in Greenpoint. Sorry, it's a little staticy over here. There's so much construction [crosstalk]

Robert: It sounded like you were chopping something. We started drooling.

Alison: That's a nice place to sit in the ward front in Greenpoint. Julian, thank you for calling in. I tried a new Mediterranean place. It's one of those fast casual Terra Mediterranean just opened up in Chelsea. The price point was a little bit high, but the food was good. In terms of Mediterranean food, you've recommended and I'll make sure I say it right, Mustache Pizza.

Robert: Right. It's just for 30 years, it was around the corner on Bedford Street and it's just reopened. It was started by an Iraqi guy who lived in Paris for years, and he was channeling these Lebanese restaurants where they bake Pitas and you bring your own toppings and then they bake it into the Pita and they make these things that he calls Pitza's. The place has just reopened and more spacious digs, and they have pizzas. I'd recommend all of the [unintelligible 00:22:57], all of the baba ghanoush. They have like a dozen different varieties and you get those with the freshly made Pitas and it makes just an excellent lunch, and I hesitate to say healthy as well if you go in for that.

Alison: What about noodles? What if I'm in the mood for noodles?

Robert: I would go to Tony's Noodles, which is a renamed place in Chelsea at about 15th Street. It's actually no-- tang. I'm misreading my own note. Tang's Noodles. It's [unintelligible 00:23:32] Tang is the grandfather of the people that run it now. You may have been there in one of its incarnations, but he's the actual one who invented sesame noodles, which you think of as Chinese, but it's really a Chinese-American dish with Its cunning mixture of sesame paste and the secret ingredient, peanut butter.

For hot weather, there's nothing better. That place has a whole panoply of different kinds of Chinese noodle dishes. Of course, noodles are now like a main course that everyone's accepted. You don't really have to have a big piece of meat on your plate anymore.

Alison: Not at all, let's see. You've got a text that says modern love in Williamsburg for amazing vegan food, Reben luncheonette on Havemire in Williamsburg, famous for their Morir soñando.

Robert: To die sleeping or to die dreaming. [laughs]

Alison: To die dreaming.

Robert: To die sleeping.

Alison: La [unintelligible 00:24:26] in Greenpoint. Heard they are opening in New York City. Yes, I walked by there. They're opening in Chelsea. Gordo's cantina on St. Nicholas in Ridgewood. Someone has texted in. Thank you for those suggestions. Let's talk to Trent from Park Slope. Hi, Trent.

Trent: Hi. Thanks so much for all these wonderful recommendations. I want to throw Little Egg into the ring. It's a seasonal community, diner-style, actually a reincarnation of a long-standing Williamsburg restaurant called Egg that was there for 18 years or so before they closed for the pandemic. Have reopened in Crown Heights. They've got amazing pastries. The omelet, I'm not an omelet guy, but their French-style omelet is to die for. Crispy katsu egg sandwich. Crispy chicken sandwich. Just phenomenal menu all around. Dessert, special flap cake and floats on the weekends. It's really just such a charming, wonderful little spot.

Alison: Trent, you've painted quite a picture. Thank you so much for that. We have a text that says, "Tatiana's Russian Cafe on the boardwalk in Brighton Beach. Nowhere else to eat on the oceanfront in New York City. It's a Brooklyn hidden secret, and it's like leaving the country. It's also a nice club, and they have a floor show at night on the weekends. The Boardwalk Cafe is charming. Huge family portions, so Keep in mind." That is Susan calling in or texting in from Bay Ridge. You wrote a piece, Robert, this plex place, the new Uyghur spot, is the best reason to eat in midtown right now. What are we talking about?

Robert: Are we talking about Tangri Tag Uyghur, [crosstalk] on West 37th? Yes, Uyghur restaurants, there are not enough of them. It's the Muslim minority that lives in far Northwestern China abused, imprisoned, and many of them, luckily, brought their food here. It's Chinese food with a lot of Middle-Eastern influences. It's kebabs covered with Asian cumin. It's rice dishes like pilav and it's a famous dish which is called Big Tray Chicken Everywhere, which is like pieces of chicken swimming in chili oil with handmade wide noodles, like Popper Dell in it. You can get more noodles and keep dumping them into the oil and feed eight people with a single lunch entree.

Alison: Like that. Let's talk to Frank, who is calling in from White Plains. Hello, Frank. Thank you for calling in.

Frank: Hi. My name is Frank. How are you doing? Wonderful that you're back in the air. I'd like to have a shout-out for some of the Irish pubs that are still going on and they're doing wonderful deals for lunches, particularly my friend Pete and Sheila. It's a family-run business, the Molly's Shebeen on 23rd Street. You can get a burger and fries in there cheaper than-- It's like $12 at lunchtime. They're famous for their Irish stew and it's just a wonderful place to bring family if you've got elderly people that don't want to go for the sushi type of stuff.

[laughter]

Alison: I love that. Frank, thank you very much. I like one. I'm down with an Irish pub and an old man [unintelligible 00:27:53]

Robert: That Molly Shabeen is great because it really evokes Ireland-- and I go there for corned beef and cabbage every St. Patrick's Day.

Alison: Do you have a place? I needed some comfort food and I went to a throwback. I went and had high tea for lunch at Tea and Sympathy.

Robert: Oh, my God.

Alison: On Greenwich Village.

Robert: It's a miracle that place is still open.

Alison: It's amazing. It's just got such a great-- It takes all the fussy out of high tea. I like a fussy high tea, but it's just really wonderful. There's just a nice community around it. Do you have one of those places that's been around a long time that you don't think about going to, but then once you go, you're like, "This is why I love this place."

Robert: I go all the time to Jersey City, to Ganesh's Dosa House, which is just to me, that's comfort food. It's a pancake filled with potatoes kind of on the same line, but Indian rather than Irish or European. I would go to any of those places. There's a place called Saravana Bhavan in Curry Hill, which also is a place where you can go to get dosas. Or to the Dosa man, for God's sake, right in Washington Square who's there sporadically. Yes, Dosas are my comfort food.

Alison: All right, we've got a question for you on line one, and if you can't answer it, that's fine, but we'll just throw it out there. Karen calling in from Morningside Heights. Hi, Karen.

Carolyn: Hi. It's Carolyn.

Alison: Oh, Carolyn. Hi, Carolyn.

Carolyn: I think it's about something [unintelligible 00:29:25]-- Hi. It's a question about a lunch item or dinner item that in the Netherlands is known as Turkish pizza. It's a round, flat bread. That's spread very thinly with a mixture of ground meat and a dark red sauce.

Robert: Lahmacun or Lahmacun.

Carolyn: You know where we can get one?

Robert: Oh, gosh, yes. That mustache pizza place we just mentioned, which is on 7th Avenue South around Morton Street. Definitely serves it and serves a good version, but any Turkish restaurant

Robert: Wwill have it listed as an appetizer, whether you're in Bay Ridge or you could be in Astoria. There's Turkish restaurants there where they will serve it, but it's called Lahmacun or Lahmacun, and it's delicious. Very finely ground lamb on a flatbread.

Alison: Let's see. Let's take line 7. Miriam. No, we don't have time for Miriam? We do have time for Miriam. Okay. Miriam. Hi. Go for it.

Miriam: Can you hear me?

Alison: Yes, I can hear you.

Miriam: Welcome back Alison.

Alison: Thank you.

Miriam: It's good to hear your voice. I'm going to go fast because they told me there is only few minutes left. I just want to speak about my Brooklyn places and my halal Brooklyn places. On Coney Island, there is dharna. There is Tashkent, which is a wonderful place just by the end of the R train, F train, and it's on Coney Island, and it's the mecca of all the halal food. It's just magnificent. Everybody has to go there.

Alison: Love it. Miriam. Thank you so much. Somebody's actually sent us a DM on Instagram at the Salty Lunch Lady's Little Lunch Annette, I was walking by when you talked about it. See? Magic. All right, before we go, we have to talk about sweet treats. I made my way to Bedstuy to Brown Butter Creamery, delicious. Caffè Panna on Irving Place.

Robert: I love that place.

Alison: If you wanted something sweet, a little something sweet, what do you suggest, Robert?

Robert: I'm a fan of donuts. Even though the old donut pub has been closed due to a next-door building near collapse, the new-fangled one with all the neon is still at 8th Street and Broadway. You can just go in there and just like-- I bring my granddaughter, and she stands there for 20 minutes pointing at the different colored donuts. She likes the one with the pink frosting and the sprinkles, of course. Yes, donuts are absolutely great. Anything with chocolate will get me.

Alison: Love that. I love that-- such good grandpa points. Way to go. Way to go. Robert Sietsema has been my guest. He's editor at Eater New York. You've been my guests as well. Thank you for shouting out so many great lunch places in this fine city.

Robert: Thanks, Alison.

 

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