With the holidays just around the corner, ’tis the season for entertaining. And here in New York City, there’s no shortage of places to stock up on everything from breads to cheeses to meats, spices and sauces. But what are the best specialty food shops throughout the five boroughs? To find out, we decided to Just Ask The Locals.™ Mario Batali hits up Aphrodisia, Despaña, Faicco’s and Murray’s. Tom Colicchio recommends Amy’s Bread and credits Joe’s Dairy for having the best mozzarella, bar none. Meanwhile, Padma Lakshmi and Marcus Samuelsson head to Kalustyan’s for their impressive selection of spices.

And earlier this week, we asked you to tell us your favorite places to get all the ingredients for a meal to remember. We got lots of great responses, but the top 10 specialty food shops according to Gothamist readers are:

     Murray's Cheese
     Sahadi Importing Co
     Citarella
     Economy Candy Market
     Fairway Market
     Zabar's & Co Inc
     Bangkok Center Grocery
     Myers of Keswick
     Gourmet Garage
     Guss Pickles

Want even more insider advice on where to eat, shop, go out and more? Find out Cynthia Nixon’s favorite spot for sushi and Eric Ripert’s picks for the most romantic restaurants. 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.