My name is TT and I work in Herald Square aka one of the least exciting lunch neighborhoods in Manhattan, except for K-town. The food trucks tried out the neighborhood in the past, but quickly moved on to greener pastures. When I heard about a new food court opening up called Foodparc in the Eventi Hotel a couple blocks away from my office, I got pretty excited. When I heard it was being opened by Jeffrey Chodorow, I was worried that it would be another overpriced shitshow that is his speciality (Rocco’s, Kobe Club, etc.) Regardless, the previews on Eater and Serious Eats gave me some much needed optimism on this place. I was able to get Yvo to come with me to check it out since she had the day off from school. Her friend, James, also ate with us. The more people the better since it allowed us to try more food.
There are four different “stands”; 3Bs for burgers and the like, Fornetti for Italian pastas, flatbread pizza & sandwiches, Red Farm for different Asian items, and The Press for coffee and breakfast items. The design is very bright and modern. Ordering can be done at the cashier at each stand or at one of the multiple kiosks in various locations. After ordering, you are given an order number and you can see the status up on the big screens all over the place. It appears to be a very smart and efficient ordering system that was working well even in the first few days of opening.
As I was trying to decide what to get, I saw Bobby Flay come in. It was pretty funny especially since Yvo & I went to his Hellmann’s demo the week before. I would have said hi and mentioned the demo, but he was busy talking to some of the owners including Ed Schoenfeld(bald guy with gray hair) who is behind the Red Farm concept.
Yvo and James stuck to 3B’s for their selections. She knew she wanted the “bacon snacks” and “stuffed hash browns” before she even entered the place. The bacon snacks were 3 large pieces of bacon covered in sugar and other various spices with a dried cherry BBQ sauce. I had one piece and found the bacon tasty, but a little limp. I like my bacon to be crispy. The dried cherry was pretty absent in the BBQ sauce or it could be that it was overwhelmed by the bacon and spices. The stuffed hash browns were also yummy, they were deep fried, so how could they not be? The menu said there is bacon, cheddar, and potatoes. I detected zero bacon inside, disappointing. She also got a watermelon-ade to drink. I’ll let her tell you about that.
(pic courtesy of Yvo)
Innards!
(pic courtesy of Yvo)
Bacon Snacks
(pic courtesy of Yvo)
(pic courtesy of Yvo)
Yvo says: I thought the bacon was not only limp, but way too sweet. There was too much brown sugar in the stuff they dipped it in, ick. The BBQ sauce was more on the savory side – though still sweet – so dipping the bacon liberally in that made it much more tolerable. But come on – the smokiness of the bacon was completely gone; it was thick-cut so you’d expect some meatiness too, and all you got was… sugar. I was a little confused to see sesame seeds falling off, as well; I like sesame but sesame seeds make me wary that some are stuck in my teeth, and if you’re not there to add to the flavor, you’re useless. (This comes from the girl whose breakfast of choice for about 3 years was a toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese…)
As for the stuffed hash brown, perfectly fried on the outside – not too crisp, not too soft, and honestly, it didn’t feel oily – with an almost creamy center of potato, cheese, and a teensy bit of bacon. I saw the bacon in my piece more than tasted it, though that one part had a lil more chew to it than the rest, but next time, I’m not sharing. So good!
The watermelon-ade was, as its name promised, very refreshing and watermelon-y. After I’d sat down in the strangely posh seating area with my order, TT came over and told me there was blood orange-ade at Fornetti. I was disappointed I didn’t get to try that, but StB went later that night and ordered both the watermelon and the blood orange, and told me watermelon was better by leaps and bounds. So I felt better 😉
James got the Pastrami Bacon Reuben with house-cured pastrami bacon, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing on Eli’s pumpernickel. He also got a side of the McClure’s Spicy Fried Pickles with 3Bs secret sauce. I had one and it was a well-fried pickle. Although, I had no idea it was “spicy” until reading the menu. He also got an egg cream to wash it all down.
(pic courtesy of Yvo)
(pic courtesy of Yvo)
Yvo says: The fried pickles were not spicy at all, which I’d been concerned about prior to having one since I’ve had spicy pickles from McClure’s before. It wasn’t pretty. I kind of expected what I refer to as “American spicy” – culturally, spicy American food just isn’t that spicy. Anyway, these were fairly mild, but the sauce had a small kick to it. I liked the pickles with the sauce better than just the pickles – alone, there wasn’t much pickle-taste to them.
I learned after the fact that he also got a burger and fries to take back to office for his Dad. I am not sure what he got on it, maybe bacon? Without lettuce and tomato, it looked like a pretty sad burger. The meat to bun ratio was also way off. On the brightside, the fries looked good!
(pic courtesy of Yvo)
(pic courtesy of Yvo)
Just like Yvo, I had made some selections beforehand, notably, the Bacon Egg Roll from Red Farm. Since Yvo and I were sharing some items, I decided to try out the Katz’s pastrami egg roll too. The bacon egg roll was a fail. As you can see, the bacon looks undercooked. It was also not very “baconey.” The pastrami egg roll made up for the bacon one. It was stuffed full of yummy Katz’s pastrami. It was quite good and very unique. I got a green tea iced tea to drink.
(pic courtesy of Yvo)
(pic courtesy of Yvo)
Yvo says: The bacon tasted like it’d been boiled – of all its life, texture and flavor! What the heck! However, the pastrami was super succulent, soft, and delicious. The pastrami flavor was the star here, with the crisp outer shell… and the mustard they give you with it, which was a touch sweet – this is not your standard deli mustard – I liked, but a friend later told me he found too sweet. I admit I was skeptical and didn’t want egg rolls, but TT made the right call by “making” me eat both. The bacon was bad. The pastrami? Winn-uh!
Since I knew that wouldn’t be enough for lunch, I also decided to try half of an Italian Roast Pork sandwich from Fornetti with roasted red & hot cherry peppers and sharp provolone with roasted garlic aioli. You can have it on white or whole wheat flatbread. I went with whole wheat. It was a hot, juicy mess with a nice spicy kick from the peppers. Quite a tasty sandwich.
Yvo says: TT offered me a bite, but that looked way too mess to try to share, so I declined. He seemed to really enjoy it though – he did not say a word while he ate it, and James and I caught up since it’d been easily years and years since we last saw each other.
The dining area was weird with its stadium seating and white tablecloths. I am not sure what they were thinking when they designed this aspect of the place, but it was totally off. They also serve all food in take away bags even if you want to stay and eat there. It was quite weird to eat out of a brown paper bag on a white tablecloth. The bus boys were also way too eager to clean off your table. How about you wait until the whole table is done with everything and we leave before cleaning off the table? There will also be a large outdoor seating area in the back, but it was not ready yet.
All in all, the food was pretty good. Prices aren’t too terrible, but you will most likely be coming close to breaking the Midtown Lunch price barrier of $10. James had some 20% cards that they were handing out, which are good until the end of October, which will ensure a return visit by me. On the way out, we saw the man himself, Jeffrey Chodorow, coming in to see how everything was going. Food Parc is definitely a welcome addition to the neighborhood. It will be interesting to see what other restaurants will come along to follow No.7 Sub Shop, Food Parc, and other recent additions to the area.
Aimee says
It looks good, although Yvo had something negative to say about most of it. She’s mean! : )
Feisty Foodie says
I resent that! I totally liked my bacon hash browns, and the watermelon-ade. And the pastrami egg roll! Jerk! 😛
Aimee says
Sucker! lol
T.C. says
Cool. Nice selections!!
Lotta bacon happening which is a plus.
Too bad those bacon egg rolls were fail.
Hungry says
Redfarm is led by Chef Joe Ng who always does Chinatown Brasserie. I used to eat at his dimsum place in Brooklyn. He was talented!
CT says
wow! that pastrami egg roll looks really good!! great write-up and pics!
Mangala says
What about the Pastrami Bacon Reuben? The picture looks good, but there are no comments about how it or the egg cream tasted.
TT says
Sorry Mangala. I did not eat the reuben or drink the egg cream, James did. I think he liked it.