At 10:24 p.m. on Tuesday night, I got a text from one of my coworkers: “2 p.m. lunch at Aldo Sohm.” I immediately hearted it, a nonverbal “yes” to her suggestion. Another coworker promptly replied, “Down. I said 2026 is the year of the power lunch.”
And that’s exactly what we did on Wednesday: walked across the promenade to Aldo Sohm Wine Bar, which offers a Panera-style “you pick two” lunch special for $16, an absolute steal considering that “slop bowls” from places like Chopt, Sweetgreen and Cava cost the same or more. After that hour away, I returned to my desk refreshed and didn’t get the dreaded bleary-eyed exhaustion at 4 p.m. that comes from staring at a computer screen all day. And although it wasn’t a “power lunch” in the standard sense — no big business deals were made in that 60 minutes — it gave me the idea for this piece and got my mind right for the rest of the afternoon.
I don’t know how it is where you live, but in New York City, most people eat at their desk, hunched over some mediocre meal that costs a small fortune. Sure, sometimes a working lunch is necessary if you have a deadline to meet or a particularly busy week. But more often than not, it’s easy to spare an hour to actually sit in a restaurant, away from your screens, and socialize or just enjoy a solo moment before getting back to the grind.
This Dinnertime Is Good for Your Health — and Beloved by Gen Z
The sleep science and shifting work habits behind the early-supper crazeAnd it’s not just me — science agrees. In a 2024 report by ezCater (which happens to be the platform we use at InsideHook for our in-office lunch orders), 94% of workers surveyed said that taking a lunch break improves their performance, and 50% said taking one makes them happier. Eating while distracted can also wreak havoc on your digestion.
Besides having a better, more nutritious food supply, it’s one of the many culinary things the European lifestyle has right: They actually take a lunch, one that often lasts a couple of hours, to really savor their meal and connect with family or friends. Some people are living that romantic life, sitting at sidewalk tables while enjoying a nice meal and glass of wine. Others are simply going home to eat a home-cooked meal and maybe take a nap before returning to work (something my uncle in Italy did for nearly his whole career).
New York runs at a very different speed than Rome or Paris — it’s the kind of place you’re always expected to be “on,” to constantly have new ideas, to be more successful than this person and that. But in order to be immersed, to have those great ideas, you have to get out and actually experience life because you’re not going to find it doom scrolling your socials while chowing down on an overpriced, underwhelming wilty salad.
The ladies of InsideHook decided to make 2026 the year of the lunch, whether we’re throwing around ideas or simply socializing face-to-face, which is also ridiculously good for you. It won’t be every day, but we’re trying to commit to it once a week, which is a huge difference from doing it barely at all in 2025. I challenge you to do the same. Whether you’re indulging in a restaurant’s lunch special or simply eating home cooking on a bench outside, it will do wonders for your mental and physical health.
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