I couldn’t resist picking up some cherries since the price was so reasonable at the local Asian grocery store. I bought a pound of them and when I got them home, I noticed that they had appendages. These pictures might be a little self incriminating in the sense that I may have had a little too much time on my hands…inspired by Joost Elffer’s book Play With Your Food.
Union Square Greenmarket
It was storming for a while so my friend and I decided to take cover at Barnes & Noble at Union Square since we were meeting another friend for dinner at Max Brenner later. There was a break in the weather so I had to walk her through the farmer’s market. By the time we walked the block, it started raining again. There were flowers, fruits, vegetables, fresh baked breads. I didn’t realize that there was a fish vendor until I smelled it. At about 6pm there was a bakery that was selling their goods for the reduced price of $1. We tasted the local honey but I was more fascinated by the piece of the hive they had on display, complete with bees and enclosed in a plastic case. I couldn’t resist taking a picture of the vegetables as they looked so vibrant, nutritious, and delicious!
The market is a source for many of the surrounding restaurants. My friend told me, “I saw Mario Batali a few years ago at Union Square—he was with an underling, or so it appeared, and they were picking out produce. He is not a small man, and looks just like his photos.”
I’ve been reading Danny Meyers’ Setting the Table and he talks about the experience of opening his first restaurant, Union Square Cafe, in the mid 80′s.”I had just been to Union Square once or twice since I began living in New York, so I was only vaguely aware of its green-market–then a small twice-a-week outdoor gathering of cash-crop farmers and a specialist in heirloom apples…The farmer’s market was intriguing, and according to Ellen Giddins, the real estate executive who first urged me to follow my instinct on Union Square, this was precisely where the advertising and publishing industries would soon be relocating to escape the escalating rents in midtown…I was no expert in New York real estate , but I understood on a gut level that if I handicapped the location correctly, and could successfully play a role in transforming the neighborhood, my restaurant, with its long-term lease locked in at a low rent, could offer excellence and value. This combination would attract smart, adventurous, loyal customers, in turn giving other restaurants and businesses the confidence to move into the neighborhood until a critical mass had been reached and the neighborhood itself changed for the better.”
I often see protests and rallies being held at Union Square Park. There’s a lot free stuff being offered there, as well, with signs that read, “Free tickets,” “Free Newspaper,” “Free Hugs,” and “Free Tibet.” The free samples at the Greenmarket are pretty darn good.
