I am thrilled to announce that my new guidebook, Markets of New York City: A Guide to the Best Artisan, Farmer, Food, and Flea Markets, is launching at the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Spring Food and Craft Market on May 1 and 2! I will be there with the wonderful people from my publisher The Little Bookroom all weekend, so please stop by and say hello!
Tasty and zingy Pecorino Stagionato from Dancing Ewe Farm. Dancing Ewe owners Jody and and Luisa and their team are “truly dedicated to preserving the art, technique and cultural surrounding of Tuscan Style cheesemaking.” Their flock is carefully tended on a beautiful farm, and they are proof that the best cheese comes from happy sheep. You can find their cheeses at the Greenmarkets, or have Mario Batali serve them to you at Lupa, Babbo, Del Posto or Otto!
Brew your own beer with a kit from the Brooklyn Brew Shop, guaranteed to fit nicely into any New York apartment. Kits include either a 1 or a 5-gallon glass bottle, with the tubing and the stoppers, and one of their amazing flavor mixes, including “Grapefruit Honey Ale,” “Chocolate Maple Porter,” and “Bel-Gin Strong.” At the Brooklyn Flea last weekend, they told me about their intriguing new floral beer mixes, “Rose Cheeked & Blonde,” and a lavender (as yet to be named). Get one of these jugs brewing, order a pizza, and you may never have to leave your apartment again. Except to go get your next mix at the Brooklyn Flea, obviously.
It’s a typical weekend day at Union Square, where artisans and other creative types can set up shop and provide goods and services to the good people of New York City. I regret not stopping to kick off my shoes, grab a stool, and talk some things over at this open air counseling center. Next time I definitely will because I have several big ideas to go over.
Markets of New York City is an official sponsor of the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Spring Food and Craft Market (May 1 & 2). This week’s Vendor Spotlight is on Meow Meow Tweet!
This morning I finished up the last teensy sliver of Fennel Orange Oats soap from Meow Meow Tweet. I bought a whole stack of their great smelling soaps over the holidays at the Makers Market at the Old American Can Factory, thinking I would put them in people’s Christmas stockings. But I didn’t. I used a Black Tea and Honey bar and decided that everyone else would be getting jellybeans. Yes, I totally gave the soaps to myself.
Meow Meow Tweet proprietors Jeff Kurosaki and Tara Pelletier set out to create healthful, natural inspiring soaps, and I am happy to report that they have succeeded! The soaps are made from “an all-organic base of olive, palm, castor, and coconut oils with an addition of shea or coco butter.” They are vegan and never tested on animals other than humans.
The soaps are inspired by flavors, like Grapefruit Mint, and Lavender with Lemon Peel. The Cinnamon Coffee is like a breakfast appetizer in your shower. The ingredients are widely known to nurture your skin, such as tea tree oil, oats, kelp, and honey, and coffee grounds and black walnut powder are natural exfoliants.
I also save the labels because they are tiny works of art in and of themselves, each one drawn and printed by hand by Jeff or Tara on 25% hemp and 75% post-consumer recycled paper. I love that the images don’t necessarily have to do with the ingredients in the soap, except for the Yeti and raccoon in a pine forest on the bar of Citronella Fir (this bar is actually designed for campers).
You can buy your bars of Meow Meow Tweet soaps on their website, or you can meet Jeff and Tara in person on Sundays at the Makers Market at the Old American Can Factory. Meow Meow Tweet will also be participating in the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Spring Food and Crafts Market on May 1 & 2, 2010!
When I was a kid, paper dolls had paper clothes with paper tabs, and nothing ever stayed put. Well, thanks to Wacky Magnets at the Greenflea, this problem is solved – with handmade magnetic dolls and clothes! They are brilliant! And very easy to store once the paper dolls’ runway shows and tea parties are over. Wacky Magnets also sells funny refrigerator magnets (”Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder” tickles me every time). Look for the bright yellow Wacky Magnets signs at the market.
Shaya NYC ’s beautiful geometric jewelry is just the touch you need for any occasion. Light and airy, these earrings, necklaces and rings are perfect for a casual weekend or for a meeting with your biggest clients. You can meet designer Shay Mehubad at the Makers Market at the Old American Can Factory and at the Old Cathedral Market on Prince Street (between Mulberry and Mott).
Sweet and chewy black and white cookies, and small loaves of fresh zucchini bread from Meredith’s Bakery at the Abingdon Square Farmers Market. You can find Meredith’s Bread at 44 farmers market each week in Manhattan, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, and Albany Counties.
Perfect tiny Bonsai trees and kits from Mr. Tam at the Park Slope Flea. Mr. Tam will also revive those Bonsais you know you have been neglecting.
Yoga inspires many things: enlightenment, awareness, dialog, understanding, inner peace, music, and exceptional flexibility. And it also inspires designers to create beautiful objects, which you can find in the markets of New York City.
I first saw Astrid Schumacher’s delicate and colorful yoga-inspired jewelry at the Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral Market on Prince Street (between Mott and Mulberry). Her necklaces have tiny gold or silver yoga and Buddhist symbol charms, including ohms, mandalas, Buddhas, Ganeshas, infinite circles and more. She combines them with coral colored and turquoise beads, as well as garnets, jasper, agates, pearls, and other semi-precious stones. I’ve been wearing the beautiful little silver Ganesha with deep purple amethyst accent beads pretty much every day since I gave it to myself for Christmas. Sienna Miller and Tyra Banks are repeat customers.
Schumacher also designs handbags and belts decorated with brass studs and made from synthetic, animal-friendly suede. Her Hippie Bags come in large and medium. The 3-pocket belts are stylish and perfect for to carrying your ID, credit card, lipstick and keys. They all come in rich yet subtle colors.
A Swiss native, Schumacher has experience in the fashion world, starting with modeling and then working in the flagship boutique of Rubin Chapelle in the Meatpacking District. Through her travels to India, she became interested in yoga and found that she felt extraordinarily good because of it. During her travels to Indonesia, she met a talented artisan who would hand make small batches of her charm designs. She also works with a woman from Bangladesh, who lives near JFK airport and assembles the gemstones and beads for each piece of jewelry. So not only is Schumacher an entrepreneur herself, but she also supports other talented microentrepreneurs in New York and Indonesia by incorporating them into her production process.
Schumacher spends part of the year living in Temecula, California, and the rest of it in New York City. When she first came to New York, she sold some of the clothes from her modeling jobs on the sidewalks of Astor Place to pay her rent. Years later, she is back on the streets, this time selling her wonderful designs. And she absolutely loves it.
She will be back on Prince Street when the weather gets warm. For now, you can visit her online shop: http://www.astridschumacher.com
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