Where Everybody Knows Your Name
"Please take steamed milk in your coffee," Jimmy instructs customers in the Gourmet Deli next to the entrance to 5 Tudor City Place. Though the small deli is definitely not "gourmet," there is a charming air to its tables, counter window seats, and pastel painted walls. What makes it even more charming is that Jimmy (his real name is Mutaher-Ali) knows many of his customers by name.

"He's French! How do you say croissant in French?," Jimmy laughingly asks a man walking through the door. A woman sits at a table, gently rolling a stroller back and forth. "He's the best," she tells us, and Jimmy grins broadly without a hint of embarrassment. "It's true."

It's a small world in Tudor City and Jimmy and his family own part of it, running two of the the three delis in the three-block neighborhood; their other one is the deli just inside the lobby of 5 Tudor City Place, steps from his.

Pictured: Jimmy at work in the Gourmet Deli.