NYC Markets

[NYC Mike]

I tried to search around the NY forum before posting but had no luck.

I am in search of a few great markets 1. to get specialty items my local market doesn't carry and 2. avoid the real estate tax I get at places like fairway, citronella etc.

I live uptown where there is the best stores for Dominican/PR/Cuban cooking in the city but there is literally nothing else. I will drive to queens, bx, downtown, even for just a local corner store where I can find these things. Here are the ones I'm looking for.

1. Mexican Grocery/Market- Dried and fresh chiles, pastes, piloncillo etc.

2. Thai/Asian Grocery/Market- Kafir lime leaves, lemon grass, more chiles.

3. Italian Pork Store (arthur ave maybe?)- Homemade pasta, solid butcher etc.

-Mike

Edited April 20, 2006 by NYC Mike (log)

[H. du Bois]

I've never seen a pork store where they make their own pasta. Mozzarella sometimes, but not pasta. Don't know if it still holds true, but the A&S pork store in Park Slope (5th Ave. between Garfield and 1st St.) used to be good. I'd think the outer boroughs, particularly Bronx & Brooklyn, would be good sources for them.

[raji]

I tried to search around the NY forum before posting but had no luck.

I am in search of a few great markets 1. to get specialty items my local market doesn't carry and 2. avoid the real estate tax I get at places like fairway, citronella etc.

I live uptown where there is the best stores for Dominican/PR/Cuban cooking in the city but there is literally nothing else.  I will drive to queens, bx, downtown, even for just a local corner store where I can find these things.  Here are the ones I'm looking for.

1.  Mexican Grocery/Market- Dried and fresh chiles, pastes, piloncillo etc.

2.  Thai/Asian Grocery/Market- Kafir lime leaves, lemon grass, more chiles.

3.  Italian Pork Store (arthur ave maybe?)- Homemade pasta, solid butcher etc.

-Mike

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1. You'd think Alphabet City and spanish harlem would have bette, but I've had great luck buying at the grouping of Mexican groceries aound 47-50th on 10th avenue, that double as takeout joints as well. I've spent at Kitchen Market in Chelsea, but gotten better stuff, super cheap in the Kitchen. Great dried stuff, salsas, and the most amazing carnitas

2. Chinatown. However, there IS a Thai place at 44th and 10th but I think it's wholesale only, which would be stupid because it's got everything you need for Thai cooking there....

3. Italian Pork - Esposito's @ 37th and 9th, I'm partial to, they have amazing sausages there, and great pork cheap, and the butcher's are all good guys. There's several butcher's right there - Cuzin's, and of course Big Apple if you need a lot, cheap

[NYC Mike]

I've never seen a pork store where they make their own pasta.  Mozzarella sometimes, but not pasta.  Don't know if it still holds true, but the A&S pork store in Park Slope (5th Ave. between Garfield and 1st St.) used to be good.  I'd think the outer boroughs, particularly Bronx & Brooklyn, would be good sources for them.

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Yea, there is a place off 86th in Bensonhurst and a few on Staten Island that we used to be able to get homemade but that is a serious hike from where I am, complete other side of the city.

Thanks Raji for the recs too, I will check them out.

Anyone buy fresh pasta, I haven't got the time (or aptitude ) to make it. Fairway 125 has a section for it but its not that fresh and the price ain't right either.

-mike

[raji]

I've never seen a pork store where they make their own pasta. Mozzarella sometimes, but not pasta. Don't know if it still holds true, but the A&S pork store in Park Slope (5th Ave. between Garfield and 1st St.) used to be good. I'd think the outer boroughs, particularly Bronx & Brooklyn, would be good sources for them.

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[/quote

Thanks Raji for the recs too, I will check them out.

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Yeah, let me put it to you this way, i've lived in half a dozen or so neighborhoods in NYC and none more than hell's kitchen brought out the closet chef in me. You have everything in the neighborhood I've mentioned, easy subway access to Chinatown for Asian cooking, and easy access to the Mitsuwa across the hudson for all Japanese - I think this really helps with the strength of the neighborhood's restaurants, not to mention oh so many chefs living in the neighborhood...

[Pan]

[...]

2.  Thai/Asian Grocery/Market- Kafir lime leaves, lemon grass, more chiles.[...]

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Udom's Thai-Indonesian store on Bayard St. between Mott and Mulberry or the Thai store on the corner of Mosco and Mulberry, right across the street from Columbus Park. Various other stores in Chinatown have some of the ingredients you're looking for.

[Bux]

Try the large round green spinach/ricotta ravioli at DiPalo, 208 Grand Street, Manhattan. It's a cheese shop/Italian deli, not a butcher shop, and they are experts in Italian cheeses and olive oils among other specialties. They also have top quality prosciutto, speck and other cured meats and sausages, both imported and domestic. All at rather good prices as well. They import and distribute a lot of their Italian stuff. It can get crowded as hell on a weekend or even late in the day on a weekday. Service is slow with lots of old world interaction with each customer, so it's worth the wait.

The ravioli are made fresh, but go directly into the freezer chest. They also carry some interesting dried imported pasta and a bit of fresh pasta. For a larger selection of fresh pasta, go up the street to Piemonte, which specializes in fresh pasta. You can have it cut to any width you want.

[Dryden]

For Mexican ingredients, I second Kitchen Market, hands down. It'll have everything you need.

For Thai, there are a ton of places in Chinatown... there's even a place on Mulberry that carries whole kaffir limes.

There's a great Italian butcher on Sullivan just south of Houston... but I forget the name. No idea if they have fresh pasta, though.

[NYC Mike]

Thanks everyone, great stuff. Looks like I'm going foraging this weekend!

-Mike

[Pumpkin Lover]

If you live uptown, you could go to Arthur Avenue--the Bx12 stops at 207th and Broadway. Grab the bus there, and you're good to go. Pasta at Teitel Bros, everything else at Mike's Deli...good times.

[rich]

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but since we're talking about Thai ingredients, I have a couple a recipes that call for fresh (not brined) green peppercorns. Does anyone know a good source?

[raji]

For Mexican ingredients, I second Kitchen Market, hands down.  It'll have everything you need.

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I like Kitchen Market too, but I actually meant in the kitchen, as in, hell's kitchen... it's a lot cheaper and in some cases better stuff...

[Eatmywords]

For Mexican ingredients, I second Kitchen Market, hands down.  It'll have everything you need.

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I like Kitchen Market too, but I actually meant in the kitchen, as in, hell's kitchen... it's a lot cheaper and in some cases better stuff...

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And just to add to Raji's HK mention, specifically Tehuitzingo (a popular taco joint on 10th 47/48th st) is maybe the most dedicated to Mexican ingredients including pork, poultry, beef and offal. (Don't forget to have a pig's ear taco while you browse)

Now, if we could only get a decent sushi bar in the hood

[Pan]

[...]For Thai, there are a ton of places in Chinatown...  there's even a place on Mulberry that carries whole kaffir limes.[...]

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Between Bayard and Canal, I reckon?

[Transparent]

There's a thai place on bayard, like a block away from the Chinatown Ice Cream factory. There's also one on Mosco street called Bangkok Center Grocery ( http://www.thai-grocery.com/ )

[Pan]

There's a thai place on bayard, like a block away from the Chinatown Ice Cream factory. There's also one on Mosco street called Bangkok Center Grocery ( http://www.thai-grocery.com/ )

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Thanks for the name of the one on Mosco St. As previously mentioned, the Thai-Indonesian store on Bayard is Udom's.