All’s forgiven, Hale and Hearty. Sure, your once-excellent soups now all taste alike and have gotten increasingly starchy and fattening.
But when I blasted the chain in November over its 825-calorie “simmers” and soups and how heavy they’d become, I wouldn’t have guessed they’d soon come up with a great new product.
But it isn’t a soup. Their new, disarmingly named “Murray’s cheddar with sweet and spicy pickles and beer mustard” sandwich tickled my Big Apple-bred taste buds and satisfied my voracious lunchtime appetite with just 270 calories.
The adorable little (only 4 inches long) treat is the sexiest new sandwich in town, and just $3.95. It’s more fun than a Popsicle and easier to nosh while on the run than a slice of pizza or bulky heroes and wraps.
It’s a little bit French, a little bit Jewish and a little bit German — but the combination’s all New York.
Elements from high-end purveyors are assembled daily in-house. A slightly sharp cheddar slab from local cheese master Murray’s anchors piquant tugs of McClure’s pickle slices and spicy, grainy beer mustard. A seeded, pretzel-bread croissant from Tom Cat Bakery holds the whole mouthfeel masterpiece together.
Alas, it’s available so far only at four of Hale and Hearty’s 29 Manhattan locations (745 Seventh Ave., enter on 49th Street; Chelsea Market; 110 Maiden Lane; and 350 Hudson St.).
Mariama Massaly, manager of the West 49th Street branch, says they sell upward of 60 a day. “We began ordering more [ingredients] so we wouldn’t run out at lunchtime,” she says.
Blame me: I’ve bought as many as five at a time. Get there early!