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  • Writer's pictureKaren Seiger

Weekend Market Picks October 22-23, 2011: Samurai Sharpening Service

My best advice to you: Get your Thanksgiving carving knives sharpened this weekend!  I always plan to do it early, and yet there I am, every year, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, racing with my butter-knife dull blades to see Margery Cohen of Samurai Sharpening Service at Chelsea Market.

Margery sets up shop every Wednesday and Saturday at a table outside Bowery Kitchen Supply in the Chelsea Market.  Her technique is impeccable.  She sharpens the knives of some of the finest and best-known chefs in the city.  I love to watch her work each blade studiously, and the best part is when she tests it by artfully slicing cleanly through a piece of paper.  She carefully wraps up the dangerously sharp knives in your kitchen towel, or in a thick, safe newspaper bundle with rubber bands.

You may be tempted to pull out your knives as you squeeze your way through the Saturday market crowds, but I advise against it.  Strongly.

It is going to be a glorious weekend, especially on Sunday!  So grab your tote and go to the markets!

Saturday and Sunday

NewNew Artisan Assembly at Dekalb Market: The NewNew is an Etsy Street Team and a handmade powerhouse of craft and design.  They are one talented bunch, and now you can see their work in one place all week long at their new shop at the Dekalb Market!  There’s a party Friday night too!  Definitely a must-stop shopping spot for amazing gifts.

Saturday

Essex Street Market: There have been a lot of new developments at the Essex Street Market in the last year.  Pain d’Avignon and the Heritage Meat Shop moved in, and now Brooklyn Taco and has a space, in addition to the other wonderful and important shops there, like Saxelby Cheesemongers, Roni Sue’s Chocolates, and LES Girls Club’s La Tiendita.  We miss Jeffrey’s Meats, but I’m sure we have not heard the last from him!

Sunday

Grub Street Food Festival and Beer Garden at Hester Street Fair:  All I can say is GET HERE EARLY!  Last year’s event was a fun, delicious mob scene.  Plan out what you want to eat, and go there first.  The rest will be an adventure in eating and mob maneuvering.  The great news is that it is expanded to four times the space and added a beer garden!  It’s going to be another amazing event, and it’s Hester Street Fair’s last big event of the season!

Steampunk 2011:  The founder of the former and beloved Brooklyn Indie Market is sponsoring the Steampunk 2011 at the DUMBO Loft in Brooklyn, “a puzzlement of perception, a grand sally-ho! into realms of obscurity and possibility! We invite you to come with us to experience MAGIA ET MYSTERIUM!”

Vegan Shop Up:  There’s a market for everyone, and everything in this bi-monthly market at Pine Box Rock Shop is for the vegans!  Lots of great sounding foods and baked goods, plus soaps, candles, tinctures, and more!  Definitely check it out!

Support local and handmade!  Occupy The Markets!

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