Looking For A Great Specialty Food Store.......

[Littleman]

I went to Zabars and Balducci's but it's been quite a long time. Are there any similar stores that carry specialty imported items as well as all kinds of food, cooking items, etc. Thanks.

[rae305]

Garden of Eden - they hae 3 stores; 2 in Manhattan & 1 in Brooklyn. Great produce, cheeses.

[RGR]

Garden of Eden has 3 stores in Manhattan: Chelsea, Union Sq., and UWS. There used to be one in the Gramercy Park area, but it closed when the building came down to make way for a new condo. :-( There was talk at the time that they might re-open in the condo's street level rental space. For those of us in that nabe who sorely miss it, that would be a wish fulfilled!

http://www.edengourmet.com/content/vi...

[MaxAvery]

i really like the selection at chelsea market.

[rose water]

In addition to Chelsea Market, and the incredible greenmarkets all over town, I have to recommend Arthur Ave in the Bronx for incredible Italian wares at incredible prices, and Sahadi's on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn for Middle Eastern foods, dried fruits and nuts, and my favorite pickles in the universe: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/372533 . Though Kalustyans offers most of the stuff you can find at Sahadi's, everything is much cheaper and the staff is much much warmer at Sahadi's.

[MMRuth]

Here are a couple of threads that might help you:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/391696
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/309363
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/357475
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/423413
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/441050
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/439954

[abud]

I really like Agata and Valentina's--the quality of pretty much everything they sell is superb.

[kathryn]

Have you been to Essex Street Market or Chelsea Market lately?

What about Kalustyans?

And dont' forget to support the Greenmarkets!

[Littleman]

What days does the Union Square GM open. Thanks.

[MMRuth]

I think it is Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat. I second the DiPalo rec for great Italian speciality foods, as well as Kalustyans.

[financialdistrictresident]

mmruth it is M-W-F-S.

Saturday is the best day and if you go early around 8AM you see staff from NYC's top restaurants shopping. Tompkins Square Park (A and 7th) has a small Greenmarket year round on Sundays. The Greenmarket website is www.cenyc.org.
The Essex Street Market is CLOSED on Sundays.
Chinatown can be fun (and cheap) - restaurant supply stores on Bowery, Kam Man on Canal, Hong Kong Supermarket, fresh fruits/vegetables all over.

[financialdistrictresident]

Second Chelsea and Essex. Essex now has an artisanal cheese shop. I also like Grand and Mulberry Street for Alleva and DiPaolo shops. If you like to walk you could go to Essex Market and Economy Candy on the LES and just walk over to Little Italy.