Financier: Not Just for Les Vegetarians

Martha — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:59:52 +0000

When I worked in the financial district, I was a vegetarian. Maybe working around all those cut-throat lawyers led me to a gentler diet? While good vegetarian options do exist, even in that neighborhood, it can be hard to find meals that really shine. At Financier Patisserie (62 Stone Street, NYC), an excellent patisserie and coffee shop, I noticed a panini on the menu called “Le Vegetarian” and immediately thought “ho hum, another tomato mozzarella basil”. Not that I have anything against that sandwich (when done right, it’s fantastic), but I was tired of being offered it at every sandwich shop, as if vegetarians subsisted on nothing else. Not to mention the sadness of a sandwich made with bland, pale winter tomatoes, compared to the pure awesomeness of a midsummer heirloom tomato sandwich…

Anyway, back to Financier. I noticed the word “fried” in the sandwich’s description. “Fried green tomatoes”, specifically. Yes please – I may have been vegetarian, but I was by no means a health nut. I no longer work down there (thankfully) and I am enthusiastically back on the meat wagon, but whenever I’m in the neighborhood I make sure to pick up “Le Vegetarian” ($7.25). This sandwich is awesome: fried green tomatoes lie between layers of mozzarella cheese, basil pesto and fresh arugula. Pressed into a panini, it’s gooey, fried, cheesy, basil-y goodness – but it never oversteps the boundaries of the chewy bread. The pesto is slathered on both slices of bread, and soaks nicely into it without soaking through. In fact, it’s noticeably easy to eat neatly (no CounterForce or Patrolling needed!). This sandwich is sophisticated, and like a well-dressed Frenchman snubbing his nose at slovenly American tourists, it stands tall above the usual tomato blandness.

While you’re at Financier, you should probably pick up some pastries and/or cookies. You won’t regret it.

The tomato-frying pushes it to a high level of strategy, and good cheese, bread and pesto earn it high execution marks as well.

A classy package for a classy sandwich:

A crisp fried tomato peeks out:

Stratas of tastiness:

Champ’s Gourmet Deli is My Work-Lunch Champ

Ben — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:54:15 +0000

Champ’s Gourmet Deli (71 Broadway, NY, NY) is a bustling hive of downtown sandwich love, often full of brokers and traders (WAY downtown.) I went for lunch on Thursday around noon and was apprehensive of the lunch rush from bankers and tourists. Thankfully, they work at a blistering speed and it wasn’t terribly crowded (most people take their food to go). They have a decent amount of tables and solo seating along the windows where, thanks to the proximity of the WTC, Wall st and Century 21, you can watch the tourists look at maps. Champ’s looks like a slightly cramped version of the same deli layout that everyone in New York knows: there’s a salad station, a grill station, a sandwich station, some drinks and a cash register. I read through all the usual sandwich offerings (Rubens, tuna, burgers, etc.) and settled on the “Manhattan Special”, because Thursdays are always good for roast beef.

While seemingly nondescript, the sandwich is well constructed. The soft, hot roast beef never exhibited any signs of filling creep, the mozzarella was melted through and the bun kept it all in a neat package while helping the texture and not masking any flavors. That is what this sandwich is all about: texture first flavor second. Sure it tasted good, but the thoroughly soft and warm texture was more inviting. Never was it mushy, or crumbly. Each ingredient provided a slight resistance and came together to soothe like a warm blanket. The portion was large, but not holy-crap-I-can’t-believe-I-finished-it-,-I-can’t-stand-to-walk-and-will-just-take-a-nap-here food-come large. It was the right size.

While I wouldn’t make a weekend event of it, I’d head back there without hesitation. The prices are a little high and the food certainly isn’t gourmet, but Champ’s Gourmet Deli is worth a stop if you’re in the neighborhood (or really like to help tourists with directions). The entrance is really on the south-east corner of Trinity and Rector Streets.

Manhattan Special: Roast Beef, Mozzarella cheese on garlic bread (or in this case a sesame seed roll), $6.75

The sign on Trinity St:

Christmas Surprise:

See all that delicious:

Mmm:

Simply Sandwiches » downtown

Financier: Not Just for Les Vegetarians

Champ’s Gourmet Deli is My Work-Lunch Champ