Ace in the Hotel: Part I

By [Nancy J. Brandwein](../?s=Nancy+J.+Brandwein) The Ace Hotel has two tiny, almost hidden eateries, both of which serve noteworthy snacks: No. 7 Sub (a spin-off of Chef Tyler Kord?s Ft. Greene No.7) and Stumptown Coffee Roasters. The unifying theme to Kord?s wacky, wonderful hoagies ($9) seems to be pickles?from the pickled rhubarb in General Tso?s Tofu to pickled jalapeños in the Eggplant parm. When No. 7 Sub started serving breakfast,* pickles were part of their wake-up call. I was dubious when I saw the cucumber peanut butter sandwich ($3) featuring ?pickled bananas.? Yet the tangy bananas and the cucumbers, pureed into the PB, work with honey and PB?s natural sweetness to create a sweet/sour effect. The crusty bread?baked at Crown Heights Bun Panthers?accommodates oozy innards without getting soggy. Sometimes weirdness works. Sometimes it?s just weird, as in the corned beef hash ($5) with scallion cream cheese, zucchini and poppy seeds. Corned beef this good deserves a starring role, not schmeary scene stealers. A bonus to any order is entrée into the Ace Hotel?s lobby, which is like the NYPL reading room albeit with food, coffee and chatting. At a long table in pools of dim light from brass lamps, a line of patrons, bloggers, no doubt, sat tapping at their laptops?all, except for one man (to be continued). ? No. 7 Sub 1188 Broadway (near 29th Street, ground floor of The Ace Hotel) 212-532-1680 Got a snack attack to share? Contact NBrand@aol.com