Better than a random Midtown deli, worse than Burger Joint. It’s literally a good burger. Lunchboxr has the full report including my post-meal IM review. Here’s an excerpt:

Ben: mollie, please sum up your goodburger experience in a sentence or two.
Mollie: i was hoping for hand-cut fries. the meat itself was cooked as specified (medium-rare), but i had to remove the condiments and salt the patty.

[Lunchboxr]

Showing great promise for all of humanity, Lunchboxr.com has finally launched. Currently Midtown-only, it will soon expand to other New York City neighborhoods. The site will feature an option to input your location. Other plans include implementing weather forecasts to further customize your lunch choice—if it’s raining, you’ll know to order delivery (and from where), or Lunchboxr will suggest restaurants that are close by. Check it out!

• Pretty safe to say that Yum Thai is finally gone. It sucked anyway, but when will a good Thai restaurant open near me? [Midtown Lunch]
• The Pond at Bryant Park is closing tomorrow. Eff u, Fashion Week! Stop by and say hello to our friend Dan as he dismantles his fruits of labor.
• Twins separated at birth met and married. [Reuters, via Brooke] (I’m honestly not sure what I’d do in this situation…you can’t undo what’s already happened, so maybe just stay together? Weird/sad.)
• National Treasure: Book of Secrets sucks ass. Not even a good dumb-movie-on-a-lazy-Saturday choice. Enormous and not overlookable plot holes. Nicolas Cage just gets uglier, and I don’t understand why my beloved Helen Mirren was in this shit?

Our good friend Yossi recently started making his own pickles. We’ve always loved pickles, especially pickled green beans. So good! Maybe later he’ll talk to us about how he got started, his favorite pickles, and his future hopes and dreams. (Note: the pickles shown are not Yossi’s pickles)

Meatloafing: can i interview you about pickling?
Yossi: uh
Yossi: I don’t really know much about it
Yossi: I’ve followed the same recipe succesfully five times. that’s it.
Meatloafing: i don’t care
Meatloafing: i don’t know many picklers

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‘Tis the season to relax and possibly hermit a little. But we also enjoy getting out of the house sometimes. Hopefully you’ll find inspiration in some of these 10 simple suggestions.
Compiled by Barrie, Mollie, and Todd

1. Ice skating ♥

2. Marvel at the Grand Central kaleidoscope light show

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• ZOCALO, a gem of a Mexican restaurant in Williamsburg, has reopened after adding a full bar on the lower level and also adding an entire second level. I thought they’d closed and I was sad for a very long time because I love this place. The remodeled interior is pretty weird—they utilized the space in an odd fashion—and makes me not want to eat on the premises, but the food is still really good and so I can get takeout and eat it in front of the television in sweatpants. Recommended dishes: Milanesa de Pollo Torta, Mole Pork Burrito, most stuff. 295 Broadway, 718-388-2161
• Favorite non-fancy grocery store cookie: Keebler Fudge Shoppe Fudge Sticks (Fudge Covered Creme Wafers). They’re very fudgy, very delicious—airy yet substantial wafers filled with a luxurious vanilla creme. (Only recommended if you can limit consumption to five Fudge Sticks per sitting.)

• Tragedy at DiFara last Wednesday: They’re out of artichokes until sometime this week. They were also out of porcini mushrooms, which was troubling but not as heartbreaking as the lack of ‘chokes. We had to order sausage, which was fine, and eggplant, which wasn’t as fine (it was chewy and weird, but luckily half the pie was plain…mmmm). Meatloafing urges you to call DiFara before you make the trip.
• We Went to the Movies: Awhile back, we caught an advanced screening of I’m Not There at the Tribeca Cinemas. Saw some d-list celebs and aggressively blitkrieged the hors d’oeuvres people at the reception and Q&A sesh with Todd Haynes. But my main reason for mentioning the film is that I think you should see it because it is amazing and Cate Blanchett is amazing, but much of the movie confused the hell out of me and I wish I’d done just a bit of research prior to the screening. I think even if you know a decent bit about Bob Dylan’s life, you’re still going to be like “huh” if you don’t know what the filmmaking process involved. Maybe not though; I could be dense.
• Midtown Lunch scoops out the 53rd & 6th daytime cart and its legitimacy. Is it for real? (Who cares, really? The daytime cart tastes delicious and there’s no way I’m going to wait in (on) line for an hour to get a cart dinner.)

Desserts.

In recent months my sweet tooth has really blossomed. It began with small items I could scavenge, then progressed to homemade brownies and ice cream (consumed in bed while watching Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage), and plateaued with the simple Oreo. Er, regular Oreos, Golden Oreos (with chocolate creme), and chocolate-on-chocolate Double Stuf Oreos.

And then I met the Pure Milk Chocolate–covered Mint Oreo. These little things are effing amazing, rich, and comforting. My advice: keep them at room temperature and if you want to mash them up in vanilla ice cream, that’s great too.

Another great product for dessert lovers is the Whole Foods pie. We sampled blueberry and apple, but they also have pumpkin and peach-raspberry (and probably others). Blueberry was chosen, and again, paired with vanilla ice cream. Most pre-made pies truly suck, but this tasted like Grandma’s (or mine, honestly). My point: it was delicious, full of fresh-tasting and perfectly sweetened fruit, solid but flaky crust that didn’t get soggy even after 3 days in the refrigerator.

Finally, for those of you who enjoy fine dining, the Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding at Blue Ribbon is the best non-fruit dessert I’ve ever eaten.

A chilly fall forecast. Get cozy!

Few Showers / Wind
High 50° F
Precip: 40%

Windy. A few showers from time to time. High near 50F. Winds N at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

I think it might be a perfect day to go see American Gangster, which was partially filmed in my old ‘hood in South Williamsburg. I walked through the set a few times and once had meaningful eye contact with some guy, then seconds later realised it was Russell Crowe. But it was too late for me to go back. Now after revisiting his oeuvre, I understand why so many women wanted to hit it from 1998–present.

Lastly, Meatloafing on Ice was a tremendous success. Read on for a video preview of the event. Complete coverage tomorrow Monday or Tuesday!

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Our GOOD FRIENDS the Brooklyn Kitchen will be celebrating their first birthday next Wednesday at Union Pool. It’s also a Bodega Challenge. Insanity!

The Brooklyn Kitchen First Birthday Party

Wednesday, November 7th
7 p.m.
Union Pool Back Room
484 Union Ave
L to Lorimer, G to Metropolitan

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