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When New York State Governor Cuomo on Wednesday urged private employers to drag their workforce back into the office like some rich jerk at a party indignantly detailing why you must visit the Amalfi Coast, visions of weekday lunches leapt to mind.
There have always been a few not-so-great work lunch options in NYC: Prepare, pack, and remember to bring something from home, stand in line at the salad place or whatever, or go to lunch, which is never very satisfying because you can only have one glass of wine if that and the whole thing needs to happen in 45 minutes at best and it just ends up seeming like more trouble than it's worth. The middle one mostly splits the difference, and a new option is coming to Flatiron.
The first of two planned NuLeaf “plant positive” restaurants will open at 23 West 23rd Street on Monday. It’s a few doors down from owners Michael Pease and Craig Cochran’s previous vegan grab and go joint, Terri, which closed last summer. Unlike tiny Terri, which did not have tables, NuLeaf’s spot is 1,760-square feet with 46 seats inside and 16 more outside.
NuLeaf’s menu is expected to include smoothies, baked goods, sandwiches, and salads like a grilled peach variety with spicy candied pecans, jicama, mixed greens, maple balsamic dressing and a house made substance fashioned after ‘goat cheese.’ It appears to have the type of vegan menu that skews more toward imitation meat products than simply plants, so expect a fair amount of ‘chorizo’ and ‘chicken.’
Terri eventually grew to three restaurants in NYC before each closed. NuLeaf’s second location at 888 8th Avenue is scheduled to open later this summer. Both will be open Monday-Friday from 10:30am-9:30pm and Saturday and Sunday from 11:30am-9:30pm.