The Lower East Side is a place where traditional New York and cutting-edge New York converge. This mingling of the old and new can be seen throughout the neighborhood — in its food markets, restaurants, shops, and street life. It’s a place that will inspire you to host dinner parties featuring whole fish and spices from the best stores in Chinatown, and to cook your meals with the abundance of organic and local produce you will find at foodie-friendly markets like Essex Street Market and Jubilee Market Place. When you live in the One Manhattan Square condos, food shopping is a tactile and visual pleasure, and a journey of constant discovery where you will find all the ingredients you’ve been looking for, and others you didn’t even know you needed.
Perhaps there’s no better example of a place that bridges the past and present of the neighborhood than Essex Street Market. Made up of a number of vendors, it has the feel of an old-world market where you buy from merchants who are experts in their specialty. And, it offers the comfort and convenience of a bright, modern shop. This is the kind of place where buying meat, cheese, and fish is a personal interaction. You will come to know the purveyors here by name, like Peter Longo, the owner of the Porto Rico Importing Co., or Gene Davidovich, whose Davidovich Bakery sells bagels made from a recipe from Davidovich’s native Ukraine. You will also find freshly baked European-inspired breads at Pain D’Avignon and fresh, unique cheeses and charcuterie at Formaggio Kitchen Essex.
Another market that features expert vendors and remarkable variety is City Acres Market, a place that offers New Yorkers the perfect combination of high-quality prepared foods, as well as fresh, organic, and local produce, meat, and fish — all under one roof. City Acres turns on its head the old saying that you should never shop hungry. This is a place where you can fill your stomach with delectables from Vanessa’s Dumpling House and Artichoke Basille’s Pizza so you can shop fully satisfied and free to explore the expansive options. City Acres features an extensive bulk section where you can stock up on staples like cashews, granola, and garbanzo beans. The market also features a wide selection of organic and local produce.
Other markets for top-quality shopping (and eating) include 55 Fulton Market, where you can find a colorful array of pre-cut vegetables to save you time when cooking, in addition to generous prepared-food bars, a cafe where you can sit and eat, and every flavor of kombucha you can imagine. There is also Jubilee Market Place, which features a host of organic and natural options, including dietary supplements and hydroponic lettuce.
Then, of course, there are the shops that have defined the neighborhood, like Hong Kong Supermarket, where you can find Asian specialities, and Russ & Daughters, a New York legend famously lauded by Anthony Bourdain: “Russ & Daughters occupies that rare and tiny place on the mountaintop reserved for those who are not just the oldest and the last — but also the best.” It’s one of the joys of living in an Extell Development on the Lower East Side that you can call a foodie destination like Russ & Daughters your local bagel place.