Chelsea Market

 

CHELSEA MARKET

75 Ninth Avenue bet. West 15th & West 16th Streets
212.243.6005


I enjoy walking to work in the morning. If I walk swiftly, it'll take me about 30 minutes—that's from Greenwich Village to West Chelsea. To the average stroller, I probably look like I'm power walking, but there's one part of my route that allows me to relax my stride: when I cut through Chelsea Market to get to Tenth Avenue. It's like walking through a wonderland of food. (The building also appropriately houses Food Network's headquarters.)

At most places here, you can shop and eat their offerings. I love popping into The Lobster Place for lunch: oysters on the half-shell, sushi, New England clam chowder and more. If you're looking for seafood, they carry hard-to-find treasures like calamaretti, Maine sweet shrimp, and shad roe. You can also find the biggest and best lobsters in town, which they'll steam on-site.

Across the way, there's Buon Italia where I go to stock up on Italian goodies, like little cans of Flott tuna, La Valle canned tomatoes, fresh pasta, and guanciale. For lunch, they have this really tasty prosciutto, mozzarella and basil panini that I just adore. Sounds run-of-the mill, but the bread is what makes it special. I have to remember to ask about it next time, but, anyway, there's a whole glass case of Italian specialties that have been prepared in the store's kitchen: eggplant parmigiana, fettuccine with mushrooms, and chicken Milanese, to name a few.

I've been to Chelsea Market countless times and there's still so much more to explore! Ronnybrook Dairy, Tuck Shop, and that new pasta place Rana are definitely on my list... I don't have too much time to browse in the mornings, but there's always a 5-minute window that allows me to pick up a freshly baked baguette from Amy's Bread to bring to the studio. There's nothing quite like breaking bread with your colleagues first thing in the morning.

 

Citarella

 

CITARELL

424 Sixth Avenue at West 9th Street
212.874.038


I feel inspired every time I shop at Citarella. There's always something new to discover, which is why it's my favorite grocery store. They prefer to be called a "gourmet market," but that sounds place you'd only visit for special items whereas I come here once or twice a week to stock up with necessities. You'd be surprised how many departments they've managed to fit in this relatively small space: Cheese, Deli/Prepared Foods, Specialty, Bakery, Meat, Seafood, Produce & Salad Bar, Dairy, Groceries, and Frozen Foods/Desserts. (They have the best seafood selection in the neighborhood.) And, contrary to what you might think, it's not unbearably expensive if you shop efficiently. For about $40 or so, I can buy enough ingredients for four meals. My top three Citarella items are the rotisserie chicken, tartar sauce, and truffled mushroom mix.