Fleeting Lunch with a Flight Attendant

Monday evening, while I was snuggled into my couch watching Everybody Loves Raymond reruns, my phone buzzed.

I had received an Instagram Direct.

I've only ever received THREE Instagram Directs in my life and all three have been from equally surprising (but nonetheless welcome) visitors.

My flight attendant friend, Taylor, had fallen out of the sky and into Manhattan and was wondering if I fancied a night on the town.

There are few things that can successfully pull me away from an Everybody Loves Raymond binge and Taylor is not one of them (sorry T) - so I declined politely (I was already in my pajamas, after all) and suggested lunch the next day before she took off instead.

Having never seen Lincoln Center, she heartily agreed and we ended the Insta-back-and-forth with plans to meet at the office around 1:30.

As jaw-droppingly stunning as Lincoln Center is, it's a real buzzkill to find a decent lunch. Everything is sit-down, high-priced, much-fancier-than-me tourist traps. A wonderful fit for a fancy dinner before a fancy night at the Opera, but not as welcoming for a girl on a budget with a quick lunch break.

Luckily for me, there's a cute little cafe called Indie right around the corner. It's located inside the Film Society of Lincoln Center which is just a quick skip from my office desk.

I've been a huge fan of their coffee and iced lattes since I started this job, but I only just realized that they are well known as a wine bar as well! Top on an excellent selection of the 4 staple S's - Soup, Salads, Sandwiches & Sides - Indie seems like a much more desirable lunch destination than the bigwigs across the plaza.

Unfortunately, my colleagues were right around the corner and Taylor can't drink for 12 hours before a flight as part of her work stipulations so we shook our heads sadly no to the giant wine glasses beckoning to us with open arms.

We took a seat at the bar before diving into a bit of catch up as we waited for our plates to arrive.

I met Taylor this past summer at a concert at the beach club on Governor's Island. She is a flight attendant for Emirates Airline and lives in Dubai. Could you have any cooler of a job??! She travels the world and keeps her friends-in-far-off-places up to date through her impressive instagram. In town for just one night, she was heading off to Milan after dinner and I'm so thrilled that I could grab her for lunch.

We both opted for the 1/2 salad, 1/2 sandwich option.

I went with the Italian Salad and the Hummus and Avocado Sandwich.

The salad was good. The sandwich was meh. I've heard it's an extremely popular option but I wasn't sold. Avocado and Hummus can't make up the entire body of a sandwich. They're too soft together. You need something to form the base and then have the soft, mushy stuff on top. I'm also not the biggest fan of sprouts but I was giving it all a try because the cafe is called INDIE, okay? I was trying to play it cool.

Taylor went with the Greenmarket Chopped Salad and the Apricot Jam & Camambert Baguette.

I forgot to taste any of it since our conversation carried through the entire sit-down but it looked delicious. You can never go wrong with a good cheese, as I'm prone to say.

We licked our plates clean and headed back into the sunlight. I will most definitely be returning to Indie to try some different food and taste the wines. It seems like the perfect place for a low-key yet wonderfully wine-induced romantic date. But for now, it was the perfect pit stop for two friends having a bite before parting ways. Arrivederci Taylor! Enjoy Milan!