Submit your lunch photos today!
is the Lead Corporate Sponsor of the Lunch Hour NYC exhibition and related programming.Additional support for this exhibition has been generously provided by the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.
Support for The New York Public Library’s Exhibitions Program has been provided by Celeste Bartos, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos Exhibitions Fund, and Jonathan Altman.
Media Sponsor
Text submitted by Valary
This is a great exhibit and I’m happy to help spread the word. I thought it had great art direction and I really liked the use of different media, like the recorded interviews and jukebox. ~ Valary aka nolagrrlnyc
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Thank you for coming by. People are always surprised to hear that the Library is doing such cool things like Lunch Hour NYC, but it is! And it’s nice to see visitors appreciate that.
Look back at Valary’s photos here.
Photo and text submitted by Paige Yim
Grilled fresh hand-picked clams and kielbasa - perfect Labor Day lunch by the water.
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Thanks for the submission, Paige! We admire your clamming skills.
You know you want to make our weekend too by submitting your own lunch photos.
Photo and text submitted by Gretchen VanEsselstyn
I’m on a writing retreat at my parents’ house and my dad and I just made James Beard’s Vidalia onion tea sandwiches for lunch. Just butter the bread, add one layer of salted paper-thin sweet onion slices, spread the cut edges with mayonnaise, then dip in chopped parsley. A lovely lunch on a hot day.
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Thanks for the submission, Gretchen - good luck with the writing! Share your delicious meals, and show off your cooking skills by sending us your lunch photos. It’s easy peasy.
Submitted by Little Ladies Who Lunch
Baked whole wheat penne pasta with local cheeses (ricotta by Salvatore Brooklyn; fresh mozzarella by Russo’s) and organic baby spinach in a tomato sauce surrounded by butternut squash puree; haricot verts; Bing cherries; half a peach (our first of the season!) garnished with organic strawberries
The sun is back after a couple of days of heavy rains. The peaches and cherries are back after a long haul without them, too. I think today is going to be a great day!
http://littleladieswholunch.com/post/23605997116/baked-penne-with-local-cheeses-pureed-butternut
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Thanks for the submission, Little Ladies! It makes us wish we could rewind to the beginning of summer again.
Submitted by Joseph Timmons.
Curious question comes to mind, remember the “Automats”, the cafeterias of the future, which vanished into obscurity just as quickly? The concept of “the 3rd place”, that respite on the edge of between home and work, or a place that is solely yours for the moment of pause in the busy daily life. Today, so many people want a moment to relax and forget about the real world, but all too quickly the 3rd place needs to be replaced, shops become so popular or trendy that they lose the flavor that made them once special. I lament, the point is that in our search for the perfect place, we forget the simple pleasures of life, and often look back into the past, looking for the good times gone by.
As I remember, NY is the place where all things are possible, a city of dreams and dreamers. I had spent numerous times at the NYPL, one of my first 3rd places, and looking back with misty eyed fondness of yesterday, it always will be.
In short, I Love NY.
Joseph Timmons, Misplaced New Yorker
http://www.lulu.com/shop/joseph-timmons/rants-and-ravings-of-a-modern-day-cave-dweller/paperback/product-14922829.html
Photo and text submitted by Marcia Bricker Halperin
Don’t get me wrong - the Lunch Trucks serve great food, but I long for the days when you could find a midtown Cafeteria to while away the hours. A map in the exhibit of the Bryant Park area shows no less than 2 huge cafeterias, the Governor and the 42nd Street Cafeteria that stretched through a city block.
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Marcia’s right; cafeterias used to be hugely popular. Their rise began in 1898 when the Childs brothers opened Childs’ Lunch Room, New York’s first self-service restaurant outfitted with trays and a tray line. The concept took root in cities all over the country, and by 1920, nearly a thousand cafeterias made New York their home. But after World War II, it became too expensive to keep operations cheap and spotless, and many cafeteria frequenters turned to upscale locations like Schrafft’s and Chock Full o’ Nuts.
Learn more at our online exhibition. And just for fun, check out this iPhone case with a Childs’ Lunch Room menu printed on it!
