The City of Infinite Possibilities

New York City is truly the city of infinite possibilities especially when it comes to food. New England has chowder and lobster, New Orleans has Creole and Cajun, San Francisco has sour dough bread and dungeness crab, but New York City has it all and more. There are more restaurants within a few blocks than most towns have within a few miles.  If you can dream about eating it, some body is serving it in the Big Apple.  That is one of the two main reasons I get so excited about visiting NYC.  The other I will share with you today.

As I have disclosed, I love to cook and as all good cooks know the difference between preparing a good meal and a great meal is the quality, variety and freshness of the ingredients you are able to find in your local market.  The city is full of wonderful markets and the food you will find in them is as varied as the restaurants. The following is a list of some of the markets I visited on my holiday trip:

• Chelsea Market (I really love the fish market)
• Dean & Deluca (full of specialty items)
• Trader Joe's (good prices and variety of stable items)
• Whole Foods Market (natural and organic foods)
• Westside Market (good cheese and produce selection)
• Zabar's (mind blowing but crowded)
• Numerous Small Ethic Markets (name the country and you will likely find a market)

 While I enjoy just walking around the markets in the city, the most enjoyable part of going to a good market is buying fresh produce and specialty items and going back to the apartment and cooking for love ones.
The dish in the picture, I prepared in Michelle's apartment (the Rabbit Hole) with fresh vegetables, Italian sausage, kalamata olives and gnocchi in a tomato vodka broth topped with caramelized shallots and wild mushrooms.  A simple meal shared with two beautiful ladies and paired with a bottle of red wine before the theater on a blistery Sunday evening in the city of infinite possibilities.