NYC Markets – Union Square Green Market

I am a huge fan of the Serious Eats site… because it’s based in NYC, many people talk about the wonderful Union Square Green Market.  I’ve seen sooooooo many pictures and read so many blog posts about it that I knew I wanted to visit the instant I planned my trip to NYC. 

The market is located at Union Square Park on Broadway between 17^th and 14^th Streets and it’s active every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.   Just take the Subway – 4, 5, 6 – to Union Square Park station.  I’ll be honest, that even when I lived in NYC I did not frequent that area much and on this trip I went 3 times to Union Square and the East Side of 14^th street.  It just “reeled me in”. 

The market is beautiful…  it includes stands for organic vegetables, organic fruits, organic  breads and many other baked goods, organic dairy and cheeses, honey, jellies, pretzels made by singing Mennonites…

I was enthralled by the varieties of heirloom tomatoes.  We just can’t get them here like that…

Look at the wonderful colors of eggplants, squashes and baby artichokes.  They even have flowers…

Check out all the varieties of lettuces and salad greens.  We are lucky here if you get a few varieties of lettuces besides American and Romaine.  Although…  I did buy 2 heads of Boston Bib lettuce the other day at Costco for under $4.  I was in shock and I hope they keep bringing them.

I liked that all the stands were identified with a sign giving you information of the farm, where they are located and some of their philosophy and culture.  Also, I was amazed to know that as part of the food stamps program, people in NYC get Farmer’s Market Checks to encourage lower income people to buy fresh produce at locally sponsored farmer’s markets instead of just buying canned and processed foods.  I believe this is a great initiative and should be adopted by many more states, including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

You know I HAD to buy myself something.  I could not leave empty handed… so I bought myself JELLIES – A Garlic and Rosemary Jelly and a Horseradish Jelly.  You’ll definitely see those in upcoming recipes.  All made naturally with sugar, pectin and whatever the jelly tastes like.  I am planning on making a bruschetta or a salad dressing with the jelly… among many others.  All these were ideas given to me by the wonderful lady in the photo from Beth’s Farm Kitchen who makes the Garlic Rosemary Jelly.   She is at the market on Friday’s and Saturday’s.  When I looked for her on Wednesday, she was not there… just in case.

I had read that many restaurant chefs, including celebrities Mario Batali and Bobby Flay, visit the market frequently to make purchases for their restaurants.  Well, I saw a photo of Mario at the Pink Himalayan Salt stand, where the guy told me Mario is a regular client of his.  I did not see Bobby Flay, but I did see several chefs of Tom Colicchio’s restaurant Craft purchasing cart-loads of produce there.  So now you know when the menu reads “market fresh vegetables” or something similar, they were probably at this market making their purchases that same morning.

I am telling you – If you live near NYC or just go for a short trip, you need to visit Union Square Market.  These are the things that make me want to move back into NYC again. I only wished I would stay longer and had facilities to cook so I could buy some of that wonderful produce.   One can only wish and hope…