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Essex Street Market

This historic New York City venue has been reborn as a destination for food lovers and chefs—while maintaining its neighborhood charm and customer base.

By Nicole Potenza Denis

In 1940, the streets of New York City’s Lower East Side were filled with pushcarts and street merchants selling just about anything a person could need—including produce, flowers, meat and clothing. The streets were so packed and so difficult to navigate due to the booming commerce and number of customers that Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia came up with a solution—the Essex Street Market. Shaped by the abundance of working-class Jewish and Italian immigrants who served as both the merchants and customers, the indoor space, located at Essex and Delancey Streets, was a place average consumers visited for personalized service. The market served not only as a popular shopping destination, but also a meeting place where residents came to connect and share stories of their homeland and current life and challenges in America.

CHANGING TIMES

In the 1950s, a new Puerto Rican population shifted the demographics. The Market grew quickly as these new shoppers came in with different needs and desires. The late 60s to the mid 90s, however, were not good years for the area—or the Market—as crime and poverty took its toll. During this time, the Market changed from being a merchant co-op to a private business to a government-subsidized venue. Amazingly, through all these changes, the Market stayed open.

In 1995 the Market was reorganized when New York City’s Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), the current owner, began a $1.5 million renovation to consolidate tenants that were scattered between two connecting buildings. According to the NYCEDC, the renovation created the critical mass of vendors needed and, currently, the Market is at capacity with merchants.

A MARKET OVERVIEW

Today, the 21,000-square-foot indoor space has become a destination for consumers far beyond the neighborhood. The Market has metamorphosed into a food lovers haven, drawing customers who include New York City chefs and Manhattan’s home cooks who crave all kinds of ethnic as well as locally produced, hard-to-find specialty foods sold from vendors who care deeply about their products. From historic butcher shops to tiny artisan cheese stores with lines out the door, the 22 vendors that make up the heart of the Market may be diverse but all have one mission in common: to offer personalized service and high-quality products at a price range that is complementary to all walks of life.

The Lower East Side is now home to an eclectic group of residents consisting of local artists, actors, professionals, students and affluent families with children. The ethnic mix is diverse with strong representation from Hispanics, Jews and Arabs—adding a rich cultural component to the neighborhood. The vendors that make up the Essex Street Market are as interesting and charismatic as the neighborhood itself. A heavy Hispanic influence can be seen in the Market, particularly in stores such as the Essex Farm Grocery and Essex Farm Fruits and Vegetables. The offerings within those stores include produce such as yucca, tomatillos, aloe, plantains, cactus, chayote and yampi, a root vegetable native to the Caribbean, and an abundance of Goya products including beans, rice, rendered pork fat and huitlacoche, a fungus that grows on the ears of corn. While Coconut soda, pork rinds and guava marmalade are abundant, they all sit comfortably on shelves next to regular staples such as milk, (soy, almond and cow) and up-and-coming fermented drinks such as Kombucha.

VENDOR HIGHLIGHTS

Here is a brief tour of several of the vendors currently in the Market—ranging from the longest-term merchants to new outposts of out-of-town specialty shops.

Jeffrey’s Meat Market

Serving New York’s Lower East Side since the late 1800s, Jeffery’s Meat Market moved into the Essex Street Market on the first day it opened in 1940. At the time, the neighborhood butcher shop, known for its personal service, was run by David Ruhalter and his son Allen. Today Allen’s son Jeffrey is in charge.

Ruhalter has seen the market evolve and customers change, and has tailored his product and services to the changes. “I was brought up and weaned on a ‘poor man’s butcher shop,’ seeing things sold like pork stomach, lamb’s neck, blood sausage, pig’s feet, tripe and cracklings—it was like a biology class,” recalls Ruhalter. Then, about 15 years ago, the neighborhood started to change. “A woman came in a mink stole and diamond earrings and asked for a filet mignon. I asked her what she was doing in the neighborhood. She replied, ‘I live here.’ That was when I knew were going from a poor man’s butcher shop to a chef’s butcher shop.”

Today, Jeffrey’s draws customers from all over Manhattan ranging from famous chefs who ask for foie gras and organic meats to everyday customers who want trendy hanger steak ground for burgers. Ruhalter credits the revitalization and gentrification of the Market’s surrounding area and the fact that people are falling in love with cooking for making his job more interesting. Due to the demand of his customers, he now sources more obscure game meats like wild boar and kangaroo and works directly with farmers for hormone-free items like lamb. He prides himself on doing business the same way his dad, grandfather and great-grandfather did. “I’m not just a butcher and chef, I’m here for customers to talk to,” says Ruhalter, who makes his business not only about meat but also about education around food. He helps customers with recipes and offers suggestions for alternative, less expensive cuts of meats to customers who are shopping for a specific recipe. “A butcher used to be someone people would go to for cooking advice—I’m trying to bring back that lost art,” he says.

Aside from offering top cuts of meat (like beef short ribs for $4.99 a pound or prime, dry aged steak) Jeffery’s Meats has partnered with importer Cheese Works, Ltd. to offer a selection of cheeses such as Manchego, Grana Padano and a triple cream with King Island Milk from Australia. He also offers a ‘Butchery School,’ where students can watch the breakdown of pork, beef, lamb or fowl. Ruhalter’s most popular class is the Pig Class for $75. Attendees leave with generous samples and tastings.

Even with all this success, Ruhalter has no intention of expanding beyond the one store. “I would not know how to be in two places at the same time! I sure do not want to become anonymous.” jeffreysmeatmarket.com

Formaggio Essex

Tucked along the perimeter of the Market in 200 square feet sits Formaggio Essex. It is the sister store of Formaggio Kitchen, a 30-year-old Cambridge, Mass., gourmet grocer known for its high-end specialty items like elusive jams, honeys, cured meats, salts and oils as well as its obscure imported cheeses.

The owners of Formaggio Kitchen, Ihsan and Valerie Gurdal, had already expanded with a second location in Boston’s South End but were drawn to Essex Street Market because, explains daughter Ayse Gurdal, the manager of Formaggio Essex, her parents wanted to recreate the “market experience they enjoy on their epicurean journeys.”

Gurdal says her customer base changes from month to month at the Market—from students and local artists to more well-off families—and she offers a range of prices to suit them. “I make it a point to truly understand the community,” she says. “I’m not here to shove fancy items down peoples’ throats. This is a shop for everyone and we have many affordable items.”

Formaggio Essex has become popular for its bulk olive oil selections that change monthly. Customers can bring in their own bottles or purchase one for $1. Bottles of Sicilian olive oil can be filled for $15.95/750 milliliters or $8.95 for a smaller 375-milliliter bottle. Formaggio Essex also offers Jamon Serrano, which has become popular for its relatively low $22.95 per pound price. Customers on average will spend about $25-$30, says Gurdal, but many come in and spend less on a special item like Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans from an eco-conscious farm in Napa, California ($7.95). Formaggio Essex also offers bulk mixed olives at $10.95/pound as well as local products such as Butternut Squash Seed oil from a company in Stonybrook, N.Y., and locally sourced honey.

In honor of the store’s heritage, the cheese selection is a priority; Formaggio Essex stocks approximately 50 cheeses each day. Popular and rare selections include an Italian semi-soft goat with a touch of honey (Caprino Tronchetto Miele $16.95/small log) and a French Bleu de Basques Sheep’s Milk Blue from the Pyreneese Mountains for $25/pound.

To keep merchandising in a small space under control, Gurdal edits her selections carefully. “I make sure to have a nice variety to broaden customers’ palates, but not too much. I’ll have five salami that are really good, instead of stocking ten that I’m not thrilled about.” Dried Salami Toscano is a customer favorite. Formaggio Essex uses Facebook and Twitter to advertise its tastings and classes, and in May it offered its first wine-and-cheese-pairing class, held in an art gallery space in the area. formaggioessex.com

Pain D’Avignon

Recently opened in the Essex Street Market, Pain D’Avignon has become well known for its affordable mini loaves such as 7-Grain ($2.25/mini loaf) and mini rolls such as Cranberry Pecan ($0.85). The Cape Cod, Mass., company, founded in 1992, has been selling wholesale in New York for more than ten years to restaurants and specialty shops like Dean & Deluca. breadinthecity.com

Saxelby

Known for its American Farmstead cheeses, Saxelby sources from more than 30 farms, many on the East Coast. Cheeses come from Vermont (Lazy Lady Farm, which creates different cheeses weekly such as Crumb Cake, a French-type goat), and Pennsylvania where Pipe Dream Farms creates an ashed goat cheese. Saxelby offers a Cheesemonger of the Month Club starting at $150 for three months, and it also organizes day trips to farms and dairies. saxelbycheese.com

Roni-Sue

A 20-year chocolate-making veteran, Rhonda Kave, a.k.a. Roni-Sue, has been in the Market for two-and-a-half-years. The company recently moved to a bigger spot, almost quadrupling its space, in order to accommodate production. From signature Buttercrunch ($26/pound) and Buttercrunch with Bacon, to more than 30 types of hand-rolled truffles, Roni-Sue is known for her flavor-layering techniques. Truffles come in flavors such as Mojito, Absinthe, Pistachio Sour Cherry, Beer and Pretzels and Fig and Banana. Roni-Sue also offers lollipops, pies and ice cream. roni-sue.com

Batista Mini Market/Batista Grocery

A vendor since the late 1990s, Batista Mini Market offers more than 100 spices and herbs such as flax, eucalyptus leaves, adobo and tilo leaves, used to make a Sleepy-Time tea. Batista Grocery offers Hispanic and Latin products such as cornhusks and dried beans as well as organic coffee, alfalfa honey and jams. 212.257.0796

Rainbo’s Fish

This shop features tuna steaks, local lemon sole and Chilean sea bass and offers local free delivery on Wednesdays. Sister vendors include Rainbo’s And… (offering muffins, pies, tarts and custom cakes) and Tra La La Juice bar (which concocts freshly made smoothies and sells its famous Carrot Pistachio Walnut muffins). 212.982.8585

La Tiendita

Founded by the Lower East Side Girls Club in 1998 as a baking company and job-training program, La Tiendita offers cupcakes, pies and granola. It has recently partnered with Breezy Hill Orchards in New York’s Hudson Valley to offer fruit pies, apples, tamales and fresh pasta under the name Fresco del Rancho. girlsclub.org

Porto Rico Importing Co.

A sister location to this Greenwich Village institution, which has offered freshly roasted coffee since the early 1900s, the Porto Rico Importing Co. offers daily roasted coffees and more than 150 varieties of tea. A variety of Fair Trade, organic and shade-grown coffees are available. portorico.com

In addition to other food stalls, the Essex Restaurant offers a popular weekend brunch with lively bar scene and DJ (essexnyc.com) and Shopsin’s General Store (shopsins.com), offers Tex-Mex specialties and other ethnic eats that range from Jewish to Jamaican to Middle Eastern. And, although it may seem unusual, Aminova’s (a one-man barber shop) and Santa Lucia Religious (a Hispanic store offering incense, herbs and dream catchers) do not seem out of place in the Market’s mix. |SFM|

Nicole Potenza Denis is a contributing editor to Specialty Food Magazine.