Let me begin by saying that I’m a big fan of the civilized lunch. By civilized I mean any lunch that is not consumed over the keys of my MacBook, with one hand on fork, one hand on phone. I don’t usually treat myself to civilized lunches because (a) I can only afford to eat out once a day (financially and physically), and (b) I usually don’t have the time. It seems whenever I take myself out for lunch I pretty much say goodbye to an entire day of work. But then once in a while I say, “Andrea, you need a break from these four walls. You’ve been working moderately hard. You deserve a nice lunch out on the town.” And I treat myself. And last week was one of those times. I met a friend for lunch at the front tavern room at Gramercy Tavern to check out what new chef Michael Anthony (formerly of Blue Hill) is up to. I’ll be straight with you. I love what he’s up to. In particular, he’s behind two dishes that are truly life-altering experiences. The first is possibly the greatest meatball known to man (and woman) and second is the best lunch deal ever.
Let’s start with the meatball. Yes, it’s just one meatball ($17). But it’s made from grass-fed beef that’s ground in house, seasoned and fashioned into the shape of a softball. Then it’s stuffed with a center core of spinach and fontina cheese and fried and simmered, and served balanced on a hill of creamy potato puree crowned with a luscious tangle of caramelized onions. The lone meatball (it’s okay to sing On Top of Old Smoky) is presented sliced in half, so its molten cheese center just sort of oozes out into a hot puddle on the plate. It’s big and fat and silly and seems like something you might find at Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory if he made meatballs. It’s amazing and it just makes you happy. (Or maybe it’s just me? I am a strange one, I know.)

The next great thing I discovered at GT was a braised short rib sandwich—the creation of one of Michael’s sous chefs, Joe Papach. He braises the short ribs in red wine and veal stock, seasons them with caramelized onions and red wine vinegar and then pulls the beef and tops the whole mess with caramelized fennel. (Both the meatballs and short ribs come from whole sides of Red Devon and Piemontese beef from Bev Eggleston of Eco Friendly Farms located in southern Virginia (http://www.ecofriendly.com/index.html). Michael buys the beef is whole sides which weigh in at about 800 pounds each, and it takes about 4 guys to carry them into the restaurant, where they break them down in house.

Anyway, the shredded ribs get tucked into a soft rustic Balthazar potato roll, and the sandwich comes with a bowl of hearty white bean soup with bacon and croutons. I almost cried when I took that first bite of the sandwich, it was so good. The total cost of said sandwich and soup combo? Not $25, not $20, not $15. Are you sitting down? Twelve bucks! Yes, for less than you spend at the corner deli, you can dig into a massive short rib sandwich and a bowl of soup at Gramercy Tavern. I almost fell off my bar chair. I may even bring my laptop and work at the bar once a week for that combo. It’s nuts. It’s so cheap and so good.

While I’m at it, I guess I might also mention the pulled pork sandwich ($16) topped with Savoy cabbage salad with walnuts and apples that’s made by slow roasting shoulders from Ossabaw pigs (also from Eco Friendly Farms) for eight hours. The pork sauce is finished with jalapeno, pickled carrots and cipollini onions that, taken together, just do unspeakably great things to your taste buds. I learned that a guest who recently had the sandwich filled out a comment card promising he would “walk through hell in a gasoline suit to get another bite of that sandwich.” Okay, he might need some help, but honestly, I might follow him.

But there’s more. Trout is packaged in a full body bacon wrapper and sent off to the wood-fired grill to roast, then served with lentils and Tuscan kale ($17). And how ‘bout this spinach salad ($12)—tender baby greens, shaved Pecorino, wedges of roasted sweet acorn squash and coins of meaty house-made Merguez that’s got a soft spicy heat that grows deeper with every bite. Oh, and I should also let you know about the marinated calamari ($12), so delicate you’d think it was spun from silk, tossed with lemon zest, and pine nuts; it’s the womanly yin to that meatball’s masculine yang.

For the most part, Michael has pulled the Tavern menu more to the rustic, hearty, almost muscular side of eating. But his a la carte and tasting menus in the main dining room show off his more refined, delicate, almost feminine approach to food. I’ll get there too, but for now I’m hanging in the front room, where the wood smoke gives the air the taste of winter in New England, and short ribs, pulled pork and giant stuffed meatballs bring joy to all those who enter. Do yourself a favor. Take a trip to GT for lunch. You’ve got twelve bucks to spare.

Gramercy Tavern is located at 42 East 20th Street, just off Park Avenue South, 212-477-0777.

Andrea Strong