It's Nice Out! Time to Picnic with These Packed Lunches

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A-tisket a-tasket , a lovely wicker picnic basket

The weather might be wonky, fluctuating from cold to hot like a menopausal gal, but that just means you need to take advantage of a sunny day while you can. And the best way to do that would be with a picnic. Now that Fork in the Road has highlighted the city's best spots for picnicking, all you need is a basketful of food. Lucky for you, we've got suggestions for that, too.

Blue Ribbon's bakery offers two types of picnic baskets, the fried chicken feast ($200, or $165 without the canvas tote), which feeds four with its Cajun fried chicken, gazpacho, egg shooters, hummus, couscous salad, breads, sweet tea, and cookies and apples. The Francophile in you, meanwhile, can nosh on country pâté and pork rillettes, aged Manchego, smoked trout, apples, bread, and maple yogurt for $175, or $145 minus the bag. But you won't be able to enjoy it today -- the bakery needs 24 hours notice. But maybe it'll be nice tomorrow, too.

Don't want to break the bank or wait until tomorrow? North Square, the restaurant adjacent to the Washington Square Hotel, offers more affordable, $15 lunch boxes, featuring a chicken club, lamb burger, crab and pear salad, or a veggie burger, plus an apple, cookie, and limonata -- perfect for enjoying in the recently renovated Greenwich Village Park. And if you're closer to Central Park, AQ Kafé has just this week launched its own picnic lunches. For $15.28, customers can pick any sandwich except for the gravlax or salmon salad (including egg salad, meatball, turkey breast, or roast chicken), any drink, and any of the Scandinavian-inspired pastries.

You, however, will have to provide the excuse to your office as to why you missed the afternoon meetings (and have cookie crumbs in your hair).

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