During our annual Passover Pilgrimage to New York, my MIL, one of the cousins, and I journeyed down to New York City for our own version of a food tour. We got a late start, but we packed a lot of sights and smells into the day.
Our first stop was the Chelsea Market. The food-themed concourse and television studio is located in the old National Biscuit Company building in Manhattan. In the space where bakers used to churn out Oreos and saltines crackers, foodies now browse through a unique collection of restaurants and food stores. One of Dave's relatives operates a kitchen supply store there.
You can find shops with interesting names like the Fat Witch Bakery, Lucy's Whey, and the Cleaver Company. You can eat gelato, thai food, soups in a soup-only restaurant, and what I did--a bacon sandwich in a Jewish deli. The Food Network and a few other cable shows tape segments in the spaces above the shops and restaurants, which only makes the place a bit more interesting.
Little did we know, we were only a few blocks away from an Italian food-lovers delight. Eataly is a european open-air market and food concept operated by an italian and promoted by some of the biggest names in America's Italian Cuisine business. Mario Batali and Linda & Joe Bastianich have cookbooks offered in several corners of the huge complex.
In the marketplace, you could buy fresh pasta, cheese & sausage, coffee, bakery items, fish....you name it. All had gourmet prices to go with the fancy names, but it was enjoyable to look while elbowing through the crowds. And we weren't the only tourists scoping out the area....on the way out, we maneuvered around a group of women hauling trash bags filled with big items around. One explained to me they had watched the Nate Berkus show that morning and been surprised to win a vacuum cleaner and several cleaning products. They didn't let that stand in the way of a day touring the city, vacuum cleaners and all. The women had just gotten through the line, so obviously some people deemed it mandatory to buy some cheese...... to go with their Windex.
You can find shops with interesting names like the Fat Witch Bakery, Lucy's Whey, and the Cleaver Company. You can eat gelato, thai food, soups in a soup-only restaurant, and what I did--a bacon sandwich in a Jewish deli. The Food Network and a few other cable shows tape segments in the spaces above the shops and restaurants, which only makes the place a bit more interesting.
I walked away from a few hours there with a few poster prints that I bought at a rock-bottom price, and plan to frame for the house. I also picked up some gourmet olive oil as a gift in an Italian grocery.
Little did we know, we were only a few blocks away from an Italian food-lovers delight. Eataly is a european open-air market and food concept operated by an italian and promoted by some of the biggest names in America's Italian Cuisine business. Mario Batali and Linda & Joe Bastianich have cookbooks offered in several corners of the huge complex.
We watched this fellow make fresh mozzarella. One of the reasons why he was wearing gloves is because the water was so hot it was steaming. He pinched off a small piece for us to eat and it was the best mozzarella I've ever tasted. You could taste the milk in the cheese, and it had a smooth and creamy taste that lingered on the tongue. My MIL was going to buy one a container for us to share, but after actually finding the end of the line and realizing it snaked all the way around the building, we decided having a bit of cheese wasn't worth waiting in line for an hour.
In the marketplace, you could buy fresh pasta, cheese & sausage, coffee, bakery items, fish....you name it. All had gourmet prices to go with the fancy names, but it was enjoyable to look while elbowing through the crowds. And we weren't the only tourists scoping out the area....on the way out, we maneuvered around a group of women hauling trash bags filled with big items around. One explained to me they had watched the Nate Berkus show that morning and been surprised to win a vacuum cleaner and several cleaning products. They didn't let that stand in the way of a day touring the city, vacuum cleaners and all. The women had just gotten through the line, so obviously some people deemed it mandatory to buy some cheese...... to go with their Windex.
No comments:
Post a Comment