Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City
I find it very ironic that the best of the four dishes I tasted at Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors was one of their vegetarian sides. The meat sandwiches weren’t bad, but none served were as unique and surprising as a plate of polenta sticks.
Pat LaFrieda is the city’s preminent meat man, supplying most of the city’s best restaurants with cuts and blends from his butcher facility in New Jersey. When The Pennsy, the city’s newest hipster food court opened near Penn Station, Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors was one of the celebrity-helmed vendors.
Previous to that, the only other place LaFrieda branded his own menu was at CitiField and unless you have tickets to a Mets game, you can’t wander in to try his roast beef and steak sandwiches.
The sandwiches were pretty good – filled with meat on nice toasted bread, but nothing amazing. I’m actually shocked they don’t offer a burger, but instead focus on roast beef, chicken, turkey, etc.
A burger would be the perfect thing to pair with a side order of their polenta sticks. These thick fingers of cornmeal held together nicely and provided a slightly sweet and rustic flavor. The texture was incredibly soft and fluffy. When dipped into the provided parmesan and black pepper dressing, they had a unique smoky, peppery bite.
While the sandwiches were to be expected, these were quite unexpected. In some ways, I would order a sandwich to pair with these guys rather than the other way around.
| PAT LAFRIEDA MEAT PURVEYORS at THE PENNSY |
| 2 Pennsylvania Plaza (at West 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue), Midtown West |
| thepennsy.nyc/pat-lafrieda |
