Chillin' on the Porch

Last night AG and I planned to meet up for drinks. Having not seen each other in several months (really? it's come to that?), we wanted someplace low-key where we could hear each other talk-- and someplace that was also near enough to the office so AG could return if he needed to post-drink (boo). We first tried the bar at Aureole, which I've been to once before and found to be swank but also chill. Well, one look at the bar this time around revealed an absolutely PACKED bar area with suits shoulder-to-shoulder. No thanks. So we steered ourselves toward Bryant Park to take in the Southwest Porch.

The Porch is something of a pop-up hangout spot courtesy of Southwest Airlines. AG and I arrived to find the place also-- surprise!-- packed. But as soon as we were about to turn around and leave, two lovely people decided to depart. So we spent an hour chilling on a porch swing, sipping beverages. No, really, we did.

Our view of the Porch from the swing

I went with an $8 glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Though served in a plastic cup (which I understand, this being outdoors and all, although it's still disappointing given my love of good glassware), it was zippy and zingy and all those z-words, with an alcoholic bite that jumped out at you first thing. AG went for a beer. I asked several times for a glass of water to accompany the wine, and eventually a server swung by with two cans, saying they were "complimentary water." Two things here: 1) I've never heard anyone refer to water as "complimentary" in this manner, pitching it as a HUGE plus; and 2) I've never, ever had non-carbonated water in a can. It was cool, yet somehow still disconcerting, as though it was supposed to be carbonated but they just forgot.

Southwest Airlines water. In a can.

So all in all, the Southwest Porch is a really cool place to chill on a nice summer evening. "Swing" by (har har har) with a friend or two, grab a drink and a bite to eat, and enjoy the urban semi-oasis that is Bryant Park. It's quite nice, actually.

Lovely atmosphere and okay food at Bryant Park Grill

The other day, I was treated to another work lunch with two team members at the Bryant Park Grill. Since it was a lovely day, we headed over to the park, eager to eat outside.

So incredibly beautiful outside

We had a reservation, and I went inside and checked in at the hostess stand. She asked whether we wanted to sit inside or out; I said out, and she sent me outside to the outdoor host's stand. There was a huge line, and I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to join the line or cut in front, so I just stood awkwardly to the side for a while until the host noticed me, I made puzzled comments, and then they seated our table. Phew.

Standard menu

We looked at the menu and quickly placed our order. A bread basket arrived shortly after, offering three kinds of bread: a mixed grain roll, a ciabatta-like white roll, and a cheesy breadstick. I chose the mixed grain roll to start and dug out a dollop of softened butter from the ramekin. The roll had promise, but unfortunately the exterior was soft rather than crisp, so it was unpleasantly reminiscent of the rolls you get in airplane meals, you know? The interior of the roll was a bit better, but I still wasn't satisfied. I moved on to try one of the ciabattas. It turns out that these were flecked with pieces of olives, which usually aren't good but in this case weren't bad. The bread was crisp and really chewy. Together, the two rolls provided a suitable carb fix for the time being.

Many bread options

Disappointingly soft roll

Better ciabatta

Our entrees arrived shortly after. L had ordered crabcakes; they came as two reasonably sized, golden-brown cakes with some lettuce in between. She finished most but not all of them; I didn't get a read on how good the dish was, but it looked pretty standard.

Sunny crabcakes

S ordered the chicken Caesar salad. It was enormous, with almost an entire chicken on the side. This got points for good value, and S enjoyed the taste.

So...much...chicken

I ordered the avocado, shittake mushroom and spring onion salad, except I replaced the avocado with celeraic. While substitution came as requested, I asked for the dressing on the side, which they didn't do. The salad was small, and while the menu description said it was on a bed of arugula, it was actually mostly frisee (boo). The dressing was very flavorful, and the mushrooms were good but in very small quantity. I don't recall encountering any spring onions. Overall, this salad was very...meh. And as I finished it, there was a pool of oil at the bottom. Not so appealing.

Mediocre salad

Bryant Park Grill is a lovely, lovely place to eat if it's a nice day. When we were there, the sun was shining, people were happy to be out of the office-- and some days that's all you need. Food-wise, the Bryant Park Grill (at least the outside part) could step up its game a little bit-- but still, I wouldn't hesitate to go back if the opportunity presented itself. For that, I award BPG three out of five offset spatulas.

A taste of France (Belgium?) in Bryant Park

Today I was treated to a lovely lunch with a colleague at the relatively new Le Pain Quotidien at Bryant Park (on 40th Street, near 6th Ave). LPQ is one of my favorite chain-ish places in New York; I've been to the one on Madison on the UES several times before, and it's always yummy. Sure, sometimes there's attitude-- hey, it's French, or possibly Belgian, I'm not quite sure-- but it's worth it to plow through that crap for the delicious food.

The new Bryant Park location is relatively large, with a huge to-go takeout area dominating the front part of the restaurant. My colleague and I were led to the back, where the sit-down tables are arranged. As always, there was a long communal table, one of LPQ's trademarks, in the center of the room, but we were seated at a small two-top against one wall. All the tables were rough-hewn wood and rustically styled, to match the rest of the place. The restaurant was well-lit and bright, even on a semi-overcast day like today, but it got noisy as more people showed up. (I guess fabric-covered surfaces aren't "rustic.")

The communal table, with a peek at the take-out area

The menus arrived quickly, and we chose what we wanted. There are so many lovely things on the PQ menu, especially for a vegetarian, but definitely for anyone who likes really fresh, tasty food. I've had their Salade Vegetarienne several times before, which is a mesclun salad topped with all sorts of delicious cheeses. If you can put aside the fact that you're consuming approximately 13,000 calories' worth of cheese in a "salad," it's uncommonly delicious. Hey, even if you can't put that aside, it tastes damn good.

This time, to restrain myself a little bit (there's a work event/party tonight, sure to be a binge-worthy time), I chose the simple mesclun salad. The salads come with bread on the side, and I chose their organic whole wheat, although their baguettes are also a top-notch choice. The salad was reasonably sized, and it came with sliced cucumbers, sliced radishes, a couple of tomato wedges, and a small slice of cantaloupe (anyone seen the Jacques/bowling/brunch episode of the Simpsons? "It comes with a slice of cantaloupe at the end"? Anyone? Anyone? Shout out in the comments section... you'll win some sort of prize.). One of the best things about LPQ salads is the pesto-olive oil dressing-- they just put a drizzle on there so the salad isn't drowning, but it's truly delicious and flavorful. I managed to eat the radishes without being too put off by their taste; overall, a very good salad.

Mesclun salad, with cantaloupe wedge obscured behind the tuft of greens.

But of course, the most important part is the bread. I ate my whole wheat slices alternately dipping it in the dregs of the dressing and slathering it with their nutella-like spread (no chocolate, just hazelnut), which comes in the condiment caddies you can request. PQ also makes good jams, which populate the other two spots in the caddy, but I stuck with the hazelnut spread, because it is just. so. good. Smooth and sweet without being sugary, it makes even virtuously healthful whole wheat bread somehow bad for you.

Carbs.

Condiment caddy, with hazelnut spread on the left. All restaurants should provide hazelnut spread along with ketchup and mustard at every meal.

My companion ordered the tofu salad, which I've also had before. It's a similar type of basic mesclun salad topped with several wedges of tofu, each one dabbed with one of a couple different sauces/marinades. It's Asian-inflected, with a couple sheets of nori in the salad to bring the concept home, and highly flavorful. But it's a lot of tofu-- you've gotta really commit to the idea of eating tofu in quantity to be up for the challenge of this salad. As my friend put it, "This is more tofu than I eat in an entire year." And she's a vegetarian as well.

Tofu salad. Isn't it pretty?

Service was brusque (just usual New York-style, not French attitude-style, which was a relief) and efficient-- in fact, the whole experience was quite efficient. We didn't wait long for our food to appear, and once we were done, the dishes were cleared and the bill delivered in a highly timely manner. This restaurant, at least at this time of day, is unsurprisingly clearly geared toward the work lunch crowd. We were in and out in probably 45 minutes. The atmosphere wasn't rushed, but it wasn't the type of place where I'd feel comfortable loitering.

The only other notable thing about my experience was the bathroom. It wasn't a Tao-style, blow-you-away-in-a-confusing-manner bathroom, by any means. In fact, it was sort of utilitarian, a shade on the dingier side of upscale. But the best part was the paper towel dispenser. It was one of the kind where you wave your hand and it dispenses a given amount of towel. Usually, I find with those that the amount these dispensers give is just a bit too little to dry your hands completely, but of course two sheets is more than you need and is wasteful. So you're caught in some kind of damp-handed purgatory. But this paper towel dispenser produced the perfect in-between length! Hooray! I'm not exactly sure why I'm dwelling on this, because it's sort of weird, but this is one of my pet peeves, so I was glad to see a restaurant that got it right.

Overall, LPQ provided a very good lunch. I'd recommend it for anyone looking for a mid-level sit-down lunch option in midtown. It's probably also great for people who want to get some take-out from the front part of the restaurant and then go sit out on the grass at Bryant Park in the nice weather. Either way, I'm definitely adding this place to my list of good lunch places in the area. For being delicious and reliable but still a get-em-in-and-out chain, I bestow upon Pain Quotidien three offset spatulas.