Classing Up South Street at the New Amsterdam Market

Today, lower Manhattan was blessed with a rare occurrence: the semiannual appearance of the New Amsterdam Market at the South Street Seaport. Just as my dad used to wake us up in the middle of the night to see lunar eclipses when we were young, I had to see this uncommon sight. So I trekked down to the old Fulton Fish Market in the blistering sun to scope the sitch.

And the crowd descends...

And what a sitch it was-- to put it simply, the New Amsterdam Market ROCKED. They're trying to make it a permanent, indoor, year-round market in the old Fish Market building, and good lord I hope they succeed. The Market was just a hyper-crowded frenzy of food and people, with good things being sold and consumed left and right. Sure, it was a little ghetto, with the hastily-assembled stalls crouching under a dingy underpass, but the sheer food joy that exuded from the rows of vendors more than made up for any atmospheric lapses. Below is a photo tour of the Market, in hopes that when it next comes around you'll be inspired to pay a visit.

The first booth to greet you: fresh oysters

Ronnybrook's outpost

Pika's, providing soups 'n' salsas

Lovely produce from Red Jacket Orchards... I bought a container of dried apples, which were incredibly flavorful and sweet

All types of goodies at Marlow & Sons

More of Marlow's offerings

A selection of raw milk cheeses up for sampling

There was SO MUCH CHEESE... I wish I had been hungrier. Seriously.

More cheese. Chee-EEEEE-eeez.

Beautiful breads from Baltahazar

More incredible carbs, from the FCI

Sullivan Street's offerings. There were bread samples everywhere also... I could have eaten about a thousand mini bread-and-cheese sandwiches

So yeah, there was also some meat. Whatever.

Milk & Cookies bakery offered cookie crumbs to the crowd

Glorious, tempting foccaccia from Hot Bread Kitchen

This was one of the most popular booths-- people were wandering around everywhere with little dishes of salad and frittata. I'm pretty sure this was the Green Brown Orange booth, but my pocket Market map may be failing me...

Risers of jams from Paumanok Preserves

And finally... the petition to make the market permanent! (That's the petition on the long scroll down there...I hope it's successful!)

Till next time, New Amsterdam... here's to your glorious return!