Day 29
Cucina Bene
41 Exchange Pl.
Jan. 22, 2007

It lurks behind construction
weirdly lit, almost dingy
seats 20
No menu to let you know
Pizza is not their only business

They seemed puzzled by my request
for lentil soup
Chicken? no, lentil
Chicken? no, lentil
Here's the lentil soup
Here's the Chicken soup!
I would like the lentil
Lentil?
yes please

And the royal treatment began:
two rolls specially toasted in the pizza oven
a ketchup condiment container full of lemon juice
a cup of pureed spicy amazing lentil soup for 3 bucks

smiles, gratitude, warm winter soup cheer.
Cucina Bene turned out to be the gem in the construction forest.

Day 28
Corner Gourmet
84 William St.
Jan. 17, 2007

A unique layout - looking in thru the door it appears to be a hole-in-the-wall that sells sodas and coffee. All the action is to the left, up a couple of steps and around a corner. Decent sized deli, with a tossed salad station, pizza bar, sandwich bar, and hot food area. The $6.50 chicken cordon bleu was decent, but they forgot to give me plastic utensils. Nothing outstanding about the Corner Gourmet, but then again, nothing outstandingly wrong, either.

Day 27
Cordato's New York
94 Greenwich St
Jan. 3, 2007

Dingy veggie burger, dingy ambiance. The sign out front says it's also a bar, but inside there was no trace of a bar. I asked while paying for my dingy veggie burger and found out that behind the dingy door at the back of the deli area with the funny black-and-white poster on it is a bar area that stays open until 4am! Fascinating. Would be worth a visit and at the very least a guaranteed full evening of dingitainment.

Day 26
Corbet & Conley
132 Greenwich St
Jan. 2, 2007

Wood paneling on the outside; no-nonsense luncheonette vibe on the inside. No line whatsoever at 12:30 on the first Tuesday of 2007. I opted for the turkey and vegetables over rice, which ended up being lots of food (which turned out to be good!) for $6.46. Pleasantly surprised.