Cafe Water & Zeytuna Market

I work in the Financial District, as an equity research analyst. This means that I analyze a company's financial performance, forecast its economic development, and recommend an action on its stock. Basically, when I sneeze, the market needs a Kleenex.

As anyone that's ever visited the financial district can attest to, it is one of New York City's gastronomical wastelands (along with Murray Hill, which happens to be where I live!). I try to take my own breakfast and lunch to work, partly to save money, but mostly because the food that is being prepared in this part of town places below my standards. The times I do step out of the office to buy a meal, my breakfast and lunches have been purchased at the following gems:

• Au Bon Pain - which serves terrible breakfast sandwiches and unfortunate pastries


• Starbucks - where $3.95 finally gets you a decent breakfast, although I'm a fan of the parfait


• Hale and Hearty Soups - which makes one of the most delicious soups you'll try from a deli-style or fast-food eatery


• Chipotle - as a Mexican, I was once appalled at the sight of a Chipotle burrito, but now I enjoy the freshness and the quantity of ingredients in everything that they serve


• Dunkin Donuts - some people say that DD's coffee is great, but I don't agree as I believe that it's too sweet; although I advise against the tots, the crossaint breakfast sandwich is decent


• Subway - "wheat, foot long, cold cut, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, olives, jalapeños, mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper, olive oil, and vinegar," is one of my "favorite quotations" on Facebook


• Oriental Express (on Cedar St.) - this is a buffet-style place where the food is probably full of MSG, but it's not terrible; it's good, stinky Chinese food


• Cafe Water - surprisingly good-quality food


• Zeytuna Market - diverse selection of food for a reasonable price

These last two restaurants are, by far, my favorite weekday lunch spots. There's something very "hidden treasur-y" about Zeytuna, which is a gourmet market upstairs that doubles as a food court downstairs. The food court includes a taco station, sushi "bar", Italian food, Indian food, and a salad bar (with a varied international selection). The price for the food here is lower than it is at competing delis, and it seems as if it's prepared with better care. I've yet to try the food at each station, but I've been satisfied with what I've had: spicy tuna sushi, chicken parm sandwich, and a mix of food from the salad bar.

As for Cafe Water, there seems to be nothing special about this deli as viewed from the outside. Hell, there doesn't seem to be anything special about it as viewed from the inside, either. But their salad bar, which includes some hot food options, manages to surpass the flavor of almost any other deli that I've eaten at. For breakfast, Santi makes me a crossaint filled with egg, cheese, and sausage. In spite of the microwave that is involved in heating my crossaint, it still tastes buttery and it fills my tummy with morning goodness.

It should be noted that neither of these places are good for anything but a quick meal, and you should never attempt to take anyone who you may want to impress. However, living with the reality of eating five meals per week at your desk means that sometimes you want delicious, cheap, and quirky - and Cafe Water and Zeytuna Market are appropriately named hidden treasures because of it.

59 Maiden Lane Manhattan NY 10038 http://www.zeytunamarket.com/

130 Water Street New York, NY 10005 http://cafewater.net/