Sponsored Post: What is your favorite specialty food shop in the City?

With the holidays just around the corner, ’tis the season for entertaining. Whether it’s a get-together for friends and family, coworkers or kids, good food is essential to making it a memorable celebration. And New York City has no shortage of places to stock up on everything from cheeses and meats to pastries and pies. But we want to know what you think are the best specialty shops throughout the five boroughs. Do you hit up Addeo Bakers in the Bronx for authentic Italian bread and biscotti, or do you lust after the royal raviolis at Bruno the King of Ravioli? Perhaps you head to BabyCakes NYC for vegan sweets, or celebrate more than 100 years of good eats at Caffe Roma Pastry in Little Italy. Maybe you opt for the well-edited selection of all things dinner-party-perfect at Dean & DeLuca, or perhaps you consider yourself a Zabar’s loyalist. Wherever it is you go to put an impressive spread on the table, let us know.

In the comments section, let us know about your favorite specialty food shops in NYC and we ll put the top 10 responses on the map for all to see.

Want even more insider advice on where to go and what to do in NYC? Find out Tom Colicchio’s and Padma Lakshmi’s picks for the City’s best burgers and Cynthia Nixon’s favorite place for sushi. Find out where Tim Gunn and Cynthia Rowley shop for bargains and where Debbie Harry goes to listen to live music. Plus, offer up your own NYC tips and enter the Just Ask The Locals™ Challenge to become the next Official NYC Local. So go ahead, get a tip, give a tip and enter to win at nycgo.com.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Sponsor in Miscellaneous on December 10, 2008 4:00 PM

Comments [rss]

Jen Chung

I also love Grandaisy Bakery--they have locations on Sullivan and on W 72nd--for their flat breads and hazelnut cake with chocolate ganache.

hazenyc

Garden of Eden .. there are a few located in the city .. and they carry MIRACLE FRUIT!

NannyState

Murrays, Gourmet Garage, and Petrossian

aveB4life

bagel: david's bagels, 19th and 1st

cupcake: sugar sweet sunshine, rivington

sandwich: tiny's giant, rivington

pastrami: katz's, houston

dumpling: tasty dumpling, mulberry

soup dumpling: joe's shanghai, pell

yakitori: oh! taisho, st. marks

cheese: murray's, bleeker (more than 5 days), east village cheese shop, 10th and 3rd (less than 5 days)

challah: odessa, 8th and ave A

Candy: economy candy, rivington

Dude69

Jack's 99cents for all budget foodstuff.

catatonina

Stinky on Smith for cheese in brooklyn, and then corresponding wine at Smith & Vine across the street.

Then, for decadent occasions, pie from Sweet Melissa on Court Street.

Toby von Meistersinger

Meyer's of Keswick on Hudson Street in the West Village for all sorts of British groceries, pasties, pies, cheeses, and for those who eat meat - sausages. Plus they have all sorts of British candy and crisps for those who love junk food!

You can get a pastie heated up for you, grab a bag of crisps (which is English for potato chips) and a British beverage (non-alcoholic) and if it is a nice day, sit in Corporal John A. Seravalli Playground in the next block and have an only New York moment eating British food while looking at the Empire State Building.

LinkMan

Great places from Lower East to Upper West:

Doughnut Plant on Grand

North Dumpling on Essex

Saxelby Cheese in the Essex Market

Guss Pickles on Orchard (sorry Pickle Guys, I like Guss better)

Russ & Daughters on Houston (one of the best specialty food shops anywhere!)

Kalustyans on Lex

Absolute Bagels on Broadway

Bad places that should under no circumstances make the list:

Magnolia (there are at least a dozen better cupcake bakeries in the city)

Max Brenner (like the TGI Friday's of chocolatiers)

schizofriendly

Sahadi's!

zoydwheeler

Bangkok Center Grocery on Mosco Street. Best Thai store in all the land -- fresh kaffir lime and tons of other Southeast Asian delights.

starstuff

Dipalo's on Grand in Little Italy for Italian specialties - cheeses, meats & pasta and more!

ides_of_march

The Butcher's Block in Sunnyside for Irish and UK specialty foods, teas, confectioneries etc.

virgil

The cheese biscuits at Amy's Bread.

The Ajvar (red pepper and eggplant spread) from the Lebanese grocery in Sunnyside.

Tamales from street vendors. Does that count as specialty food?

GastroGirls

Thuper fun question:

Sahadi's in Brooklyn for specialty goods (homemade hummus, candies, nuts, dried fruits, breads, prepared foods).

Murray's Cheese in the West Vill for, um, cheese.

Momofuku Milk Bar for specialty bakery items to bring to holiday parties

Joyce Bakery in Brooklyn for French baked items (macarons, croissants, cakes, tarts, cookies)

John Del Signore

Sahadi's for me too, please.

SP

I've just discovered the Chelsea MArket. Best Produce I've ever seen at Manhattan Fruit Exchange, and the Italian specialty shop there (can't remember the name) is out of control amazing. Not sharing my secrets for other stuff, sorry.

cucarachita

I don't know why I feel kind of ashamed of it, but I go to Citarella for fancy stuff that I would never buy if it weren't for people needing to be impressed by what I bring along to their dinners and parties I go to out of a sense of obligation. I guess it makes me feel like a sell-out. But it's got the goods.

On the other hand, when I'm hanging with my real friends, all I need is Fairway's, for nearly anything, from a can of duck confit to organic everything.

kad2105

Roti Roll, near the Columbia campus.

foglub

bierkraft! 5th ave. park slope

melonade

I just came back from my annual holiday visit to Sweet Life, the adorable and well-stocked vintage candy store on Hester Street: www.sweetlifeny.com.

Favorites: Hopjes coffee candy from Holland, licorice caramels, hand-dipped chocolate pears and apricots, large swirly peppermint lollipops, rock candy, hot chocolate, silver-coated almonds -- they have everything new and old. Makes for sweet, beautiful stocking- stuffers and nostalgic little holiday gifts.

Also good: the bigger, messier Economy Candy up the block, featuring gobstoppers, charleston chews, huge pez dispensers, everything and anything from bulk to chocolates to movie candy.

Laren Spirer

I love Murray's Cheese and the Calabria Pork Store (Arthur Ave).

nomnomnom

Sahadi's in Brooklyn.

jackdonaghy

dessert/pastries - Financier (FiDi)

Italian pastries - Ferrara's on Grand

cheese and bread - Zabar's or Barzini's (UWS)

meat - Citarella

produce - Fairway (obviously)

chocolate - Max Brenner

pasta - Bruno