Friday, September 26, 2008

Cafe Europa and Exploring at Lunch

First week of work is down - I managed to find a clean looking salad joint called Cafe Europa - it's owned by PAX foods, a chain prevalent here in the city. What drew me in was the big sign announcing chopped salads. I love chopped salads - they are pre-dressed and everything is bite sized or smaller so no stray pieces jump off your fork.

They have a nice model - you pick up a bowl of lettuce - they have just spinach, or a mixed greens or romaine, and then you have a guy who puts a scoop of what ever you want on it. Like sunflower seeds, tomatoes, cukes, carrots, etc, and different protein and cheese options, and then they pop the whole thing in a pseudo-food processor. So no stray lettuce! Then they put it in a big bowl and dress the whole thing. So yummy :)

Walking around near work it's kinda funny just how diverse the neighborhood is. We have a strip club within a block, and a couple of sexy lingerie shops. The Empire State building is right there, and there are souvenier shops that sell 15 I love NY T-shirts for $10. (just so you know, when we first got here I bought Jilly one of these T-shirts for $5...). Anyway, I already mentioned Macy's, and it looks like JC Penney will be here in the spring (not open yet).

Also, all the fast food joints have I have avoided because the other locations looked so nasty. These look ok - Micky D's, Wendy's, BK...Subway (though we do go to the one near us for this), dunkin donuts, starbucks...

Then there are the Korean BBQ places - there are at least 6 of them. I haven't dared to go in yet as nothing is in English and I don't read Korean symbols. I'm sure I will at some point, just not the first week :)

I've been taking the 4/5/6 to the N/R/W, but my new boss pointed out that I can take the 6 to 33rd and walk 4 long blocks. Now that I have some comfortable shoes I might even consider that :)