Food Parc

When one of the creative minds behind iconic films such as Tron and Blade Runner teams up with some of the city's top culinary talents you get Food Parc. Located only a few blocks from Penn Station, this modern take on a food court is perfect for Midtown Westers such as myself. I've made two visits so far, the second one with my wife, and I've tried to cover as much as I could, but there are still many more trips needed to cover everything. So consider this posting as Part 1 and stay tuned for future endeavors to this land of deliciousness.

Food Court?!
Food Parc is made up of 4 different restaurants: Red Farm Stand, Bacon Burgers Beer (3Bs), Fornetti & The Press.

Ordering
If you want to get the full experience of Food Parc, you need to pay with your credit card. Don't worry, if you can't or don't want to you can pay cash but you do miss out on the fun of playing with touch screens. They are almost impossible to miss. Besides the one wall dedicated to these monitors, there are also a couple randomly placed through the room. Just walk up, say how many people you have in your party, and start scrolling through the full menus for all 4 locations. When, you're done, simply swipe your credit card, get your receipts and watch your order come to life. If you are paying cash, you can just walk up to the place of your choosing and place your order with a real person behind the counter. But really, where is the fun in that?! Along the back of the room, you will see a few more tv screens. These will show you your order status. Just locate your order number on your receipt and ind the corresponding number on the monitor. You will see a gray circle under the name of each place you ordered from. When that circle turns orange, head to the counter and pick up your order. Done! And possibly without any human interaction to mess up your food. As somewhat of a picky eater, I find there is nothing worse than getting food that is not as you ordered it. If this while experience seems a little overwhelming or intimidating, don't worry. There are many helpful and friendly staff members walking around to ease you through the process of getting food into your stomach.

Bacon Burgers Beer (3Bs)
How could you expect anything bad from a name such as this? My first trip to 3Bs led me straight to a sandwich that had my mouth watering before even seeing it: Pastrami Bacon Reuben on pumpernickel bread. Note- that is not a Pastrami with Bacon sandwich but a Pastrami Bacon sandwich.


I'll give you a minute to let that sink in…Okay. This layering of pastrami bacon with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing is unbelievable. The salty, sour and tangy ingredients have been assembled with such delicate care that every bite is as amazing as the one prior. (Personal note: my mouth is endlessly watering as I'm writing this.) As soon as I finished my sandwich, which I have since named Pumpernickel Heaven, I craved more. 3Bs…I Love You!


When my wife joined me to Food Parc, she also ordered from 3Bs; a Classic BLT with a side of fried green tomatoes. We stood and watched the chefs construct the sandwich. There is so much care and love when putting everything together that really makes you as a customer proud to eat their food. A single slice of bread is laid out and each piece of iceberg lettuce is folded and strategically placed on top. There is no handful of shredded lettuce that has been sitting out for who knows how long. Everything is clean and fresh. Next the grill master walks over and drops off a fee pieces of bacon, right off the grill. Gingerly arranging the tomatoes and bacon so that you get a little bit of everything with each bite. An then it happened…my wife watched as they spread a coating of mayonnaise on the bread. Didn't I just mention this? She specifically ordered no mayo. But before my wife could say anything, the girl making the BLT realized the error she had made. She neatly finished the sandwich's construction while calling for new bacon. She started over! So this time she was probably going to just hurry and throw everything into a messy pile right? NOPE! the very same care and attention went into making the new BLT. I was, and still am, very impressed by that. So how did it taste? She would have liked a little more tomato and lettuce and the bread was a little too buttery but overall, very good.


Unfortunately, the fried green tomatoes did not match the standard set before it. They were very greasy and sour. My wife also felt like they could have been better seasoned.

Red Farm Stand
From the first time I saw the Red Farm menu, I knew this was a place I had to eat. Offering up a variety of Asian food but with a twist. My first sampling was of the spicy beef wontons.


I'm going to cut straight to the chase, these were probably the best wontons I have ever eaten. The wrapper was slightly thick which had a chewy bite to it. Each wonton was covered with ground black pepper and swimming in a spicy broth with peppers and onions. The heat is strong but not overpowering at all and accentuates the wonton's flavor.





Next up was the Beef shortrib bun. Although this is technically not a nun, I loved it just the same. The beef was slightly tough but in a good way. It made for a good bite; something to really sink your teeth into. The "bun" was light and sweet and didn't get soggy from the food resting on it. That was an initial worry of mine. The only regret I had with this nun was that it isn't very big. A few normal Corbo-sized bites and it was gone.




Last, I had the Bacon Egg Roll. This was my least liked dish from Food Parc so far. The egg roll wrapped was very crispy. Not like most egg rolls and that would probably have been good…and I can't believe I'm saying this…if it wasn't for the bacon. It was way too smokey and not cooked enough for me. It was chewy to the point that I had to make sure it was actually cooked at all. On an up side, the dipping sauce was a tasty duck sauce.

Food Parc also offers up various (and delicious-looking) salads, sandwiches, pastas, coffees, cookies, milkshakes, egg creams and even a bar in the back that will all have to be tried at some point.

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Food Parc
851 W. 6th Ave. (btwn 29th & 30th)
Website: www.FoodParc.com