Review: Gram and Papas

Gram and Papas

Their Tuna salad sandwich is made from freshly poached tuna. View Slideshow >

By Linda Kim

You'd expect to see a place like this in the Financial District, where office workers flood sandwich shops regularly for a quick bite during the day. However, nestled serenely between Mexican hot dog stands in the Fashion District, a small bistro aspires to be more than just another sandwich joint.

Their tagline is "slow food, fast." They serve freshly prepared salads and sandwiches, using quality ingredients and cooking methods normally found in "slower" sit-down restaurants.

Owner Mike Ilic calls it "high-end quick-service food." Gram and Papas is built around the belief of food served fast doesn't have to lack quality or freshness. Their tuna salad is made from freshly poached tuna not from a can. The turkey breast is seasoned with Mike's own special rub then roasted right in the restaurant. However, not everything is made in-house; Mike gets his bread delivered fresh daily from neighborhood bakeries including ciabatta from Breadbar and pretzel buns from Rockenwagner.

At first glance, their food is nothing exotic. The menu features all-American lunch fare, but extra care and attention makes these otherwise simple foods a thrill to eat. One forkful of Gram and Papas' "Arugula Farm" salad bombards the mouth with a flurry of flavors: the crunch of charred kernels of corn followed by spongy slices of sauteed shiitake mushrooms, soft red bliss potatoes dance around crumbly ricotta salata, the sharp bite of the cheese and the zing of crispy red onions providing a fine finish to the arugula's aromatic bitterness.

Gram and Papas reminds us what good food really is about: the food. This is enforced by the clean, well-lit decor and simple wooden furniture. The exposed brick wall is interrupted only by an unobtrusive magazine rack. Their open air kitchen is central to the space, drawing customers to watch their lunch come to life.

Food is a personal passion of Mike's. Although never a chef, he has years of experience in the restaurant business, working in a variety of positions. Originally from Chicago, Mike fell in love with the restaurant world while working under award-winning chef Rick Bayless at Frontera Grill. There he learned the ins and outs of the restaurant business, but more importantly developed an astute appreciation for food.

From Chicago, Mike moved to New York, where he worked for Danny Meyer at Union Square Cafe, one of Manhattan's most popular eateries. The biggest lesson Mike took from Meyer was the idea of hospitality as more than just competent service. Getting an order right and out in a timely fashion is important, but it won't make diners feel welcome – true hospitality makes the act of eating out an experience. How this is done is difficult to pinpoint, but Mike asking a wavering customer if she wants to taste the soup of the day before committing to it certainly has something to do with creating an "experience." Mike believes hospitality is what makes people want to come back to Gram and Papas again and again.

Quality ingredients, careful preparation, and attentive service constitute the pillars upon which Gram and Papas is built. They're able to tap into that elusive, intangible quality of dining (even if it's quick) that turns food into a meal.

Gram and Papas is located at 227 East Ninth Street. For more details, please visit gramandpapas.com.

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