Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
New York City may never sleep, but it sure knows how to eat. The big apple has an endless
array of delicious food. We tried navigating solo, but New York's food scene can be overwhelming.
With so much to taste and so little time, we turned to Foods of New York Tours for a
crash course on the best eats in Chelsea. "We have goals today, ladies and gentleman!"
Everyone is famous in Chelsea market. We ate cupcakes from Elenies, the same shop that
makes cookies for the academy awards. The cupcake was washed down with the dom peringnon
of dairy, a thick, creamy chocolate milk from Ronnie Brook Dairy Farm.
Darrel says that Chelsea Market doesn't just have celebrity shops, but celebrity shoppers,
too. The Food Network just so happens to be the buildings biggest tenant. Much of what
appears on their show was bought right here. But who cares about celebrities, I'm focused
on taste. We munched on a juicy, salty artichoke quiche at Bon Italia, then dug into some of
the best clothbound cheddar I've tasted at Lucy's Whey. She also makes a mean grilled
cheese. Then more candies, and melt in your mouth
meats, and flavoured salts, and Sara Beth's buttermilk biscuits and marmalade.
We walked, and talked, and ate, and learned a lot about the history of the Chelsea Market
and the Meatpacking District. The Chelsea Market building was built in 1898
and was once home to Nabisco. The Meatpacking district was a rough area up until the last
20 years. The Chelsea Market opened in 1997, transforming this neighbourhood. But two people
changed the face of this neighbourhood, I mention them quite a bit. One is a man named
Keith McNally. If you read the New York Times, you'll have heard of Keith McNally he owns
a number of restaurants in Manhattan. A lot of people thought the man was frankly coo
coo ka choo for opening this restaurant when he did about 16 years ago because of the seediness
of the area. But he's quoted as saying "Well that just adds to the Parisian flair!" and
now there's several multi-ethnic restaurants in this area owned by chefs you've heard of.
Once we'd had our fill of the market, we walked off our treats on the High Line, a former
elevated railroad that was saved by members of the community and turned into this beautiful
elevated walkway and green space. I left feeling like I had eaten New York, but knowing I'd
only scratched the surface.