Results tagged “greenmarket”

Last time we checked in on the McCarren Greenmarket, it was begrudgingly moving to a concrete-heavy spot on Union Avenue between Bayard and Driggs, but now the NY Post reports that the market got a little upgrade, and will be moving to Driggs and North 12th this October. The move is being made after the Parks Department was concerned about how damaged the grass was becoming at their current location of Bedford Avenue and Lorimer Street. CB1 Parks Committee member Dewey Thompson told the paper, “It is a terrific transition step towards permanently demapping Union between Driggs and North 12th and a perfectly suitable use for the street, especially considering the fact that, for years, the Greenmarket, while offering the community much-needed fresh greens has been crushing some of the highly endangered green grass in the park." Some vendors are concerned with losing money due to less pedestrian traffic, so everyone go buy some apple cider donuts and pumpkins this fall!

The Greenmarket held at McCarren Park is about to get a lot less green. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the the Parks Department will be relocating it from the park to the concrete of Union Avenue. Holding it at the park has caused damage to the grounds, with the farmers’ set-ups, as well as the high traffic of customers, turning grass into dirt. A Parks Department spokesman told the paper, “The grass is in very bad condition over there—very brown and compacted—so we’d like to spruce up that area by re-seeding the park’s entrance." The sellers are not enthused, however, saying, “We’re located at the most-trafficked area in this park. Moving us would disconnect the market from the rest of the park. It may be the end of this market." However, the new proposed location of Union Avenue between Bayard and Driggs isn't really that far away from their current locale.

Spotted at a Morningside Heights Greenmarket: Possibly the most obscene parsnip(s) ever. See the money shot after the jump; unfortunately, it's not the Ron Jeremy of parsnips--or fortunately, depending on your perspective.

A week ago the Times reported on Jay Dines, an upstate farmer banished from the city’s Greenmarkets for selling meat he had not raised himself. Today the paper follows up with a look at these complicated Greenmarket rules that have many farmers chafing. Alfred Milanese, co-owner of Martin’s Pretzels, is in his 26th year at the Greenmarket. But he says other vendors resent him because he’s allowed to bypass the “producer-only” rule and sell pretzels made by Mennonites in Pennsylvania: “Over the years people have pointed fingers. They say, what about the pretzel man? He doesn’t have his hands in the dough.”

Today the Times takes a long, hard look at Jay Dines, an upstate farmer who was banished from the city’s Greenmarkets only to get thrown out of the Brooklyn Flea as well. Inspectors from the Greenmarket – who visit vendors’ farms to verify they’re personally growing or making everything they sell at the markets – have accused Dines of making his all-beef hot dogs and bacon from animals obtained elsewhere. Dines says he’s just “trying to keep from losing the farm,” but the reporter totally catches him in a lie about his hot dogs.

No surprise here, but skyrocketing fuel costs have not spared farmers who sell produce at Greenmarkets, the AP finds. Upstate strawberry grower Franca Tantillo estimates that roughly half the money she earns at a Manhattan Greenmarket is spent on transportation costs. And it’s not just getting back and forth from the city that’s more expensive; fuel costs have driven up the price of fertilizers and animal feed, and plastic supplies for greenhouses cost more. As the costs are passed on to their urban customers, farmers like Elly Hushour, who sells goat cheese that she drives in from her farm in Pennsylvania, predict that "local soon will not be that important.” And maybe Union Square soon will not be that mobbed?

20 years ago this summer, Fabio Trabocchi started his culinary career in the Marche region of Italy. The chef-to-be was fourteen at the time, and found himself occupied with odd jobs such as shucking mussels, cutting vegetables, and even serving as ad hoc valet at a small restaurant close to the beach. Next month marks Trabocchi’s one-year anniversary at SoHo restaurant Fiamma, where, with a kitchen staff of 12, he serves plates like Burrata di Andria with olive oil and radish salad, and black mission figs with pea tendrils and sautéed porcini mushrooms. Fabio Trabocchi won a Best Chef award from the James Beard Foundation in 2006 for his work at the McLean, Virginia restaurant Maestro, and also won a Best New Chef award from Food & Wine in 2002. The chef spoke with Gothamist last Friday morning at Fiamma, on Spring Street.

Chef Justin Smillie, who took over the helm at E.U. after Akhtar Nawab's departure, was recently fired by owner Jason Hennings. According to Grub Street, Hennings blamed Smillie's unwillingness to cut costs by forgoing Greenmarket shopping: “After six months of 45 percent food costs in a recession, Justin paid more respect to the Greenmarket than to the restaurant.” Smillie reportedly took his entire crew with him. In the meantime, Hennings has put a replacement team in place and hasn't yet named a new chef. As for Smillie, you'll likely find him shopping at a Greenmarket near you.