It’s worth taking an entire lunch hour to venture downtown to three new places with some of the best things since, and on, sliced bread.

Brad Blum has a talent for unusual ideas. After he became the vice chairman of Darden Restaurants, which runs the Olive Garden chain, he decided to take coals to Newcastle and open an Olive Garden in Tuscany.

A panini grill is an easy way to prepare eggplant slices, whether or not you use them in a grilled sandwich.

Several shops in Brooklyn serve the sandwiches of fried chicken cutlet on baguette that Israelis, and many Jewish New Yorkers, call schnitzel.

Answers to the question: Where do I take a vegetarian for lunch?

Croque-monsieur, which once seemed a lazy way to dispense with stale bread and not too much ham and cheese, actually goes great with drinks.

Sophie’s Cuban Cuisine may not be authentic (its owners are Peruvian), but authenticity can be overrated.

New to the American market are pumpkin seed pestos from Austria, the country that has already given us pumpkin seed oil for flavorful drizzling.

McDonald’s has just introduced a Southern Style Chicken Sandwich — one that looks suspiciously like the signature sandwich of the Chick-fil-A chain.

Bold macaroons at the Macaron Cafe, in the garment district.