<p>I was waiting this far but got to go and can’t post till later, cheat few posts and do
forty-one hundread epic snack and yogurt for switters ( THE real Cooper paretnt) or NYU SVA Parsons lurkers</p>
<p>SNACK FOR MOMS
There used to be this “must have” cream puff place but gone now. people go thru stages: fashion, hair-dos, food all the same. I think most “now” thing in NY is fancy french-y macaroons. Here are some stuff I like to get when I feel somewhat deserving during spy mission or doing errands around Cooper.</p>
<p>dessert club Chikalicious - E 10th street between 2nd and 1st Ave- funky name come from Japanese (what else?) dessert chef/owner. cakes, cookies, everything is teeny tiny and tad expensive but seriously worth your money. my love so far is s’more cupcake and salt caramel sandwiched macaroon about $2-$2.50 each. I do not have the luxury to try every item yet.
its sister joint, sit-down fancy “dessert bar Chikalicious” is across the street, if you got much money to burn.</p>
<p>Stogo - on the E 10th street near fork into Styvesant street, around the corner from 2nd Ave - organic, dairy-free, no refined sugar, no preservatives, no artificial flavor, kosher- and you can have an ice cream that actually taste good. fruity, coconutty or chocolatey, really refreshing and feel good about eating. cute plastic cup to be reused. bit more than $4 for small serving, oh well.</p>
<p>Mud coffee - orange truck is parked in front of Astor place subway station on 4th Ave- better than starbucks because 1. cup design is better 2. baristas are all cute cool hip NY-ky as if it is a requirement for the job( maybe it is) 3. bit cheaper 4. dog friendly 5. pretty good coffee with good caffeine kick
if truck is not there, there is a shop on E 9th street between 2nd and 1st Avenue but it is not the same as waiting and getting it from the groovy truck.</p>
<p>FRUITS GUY
You will see many stands with umbrella on sidewalk of the NYC streets. it usually consists cart full of fruits, some veggies, dried nuts and manned by midleastern looking guy carrying on mystery tongued conversation on the headset while serving customers half heartedly.
Have no fear, they are legit food. wash vigorously if you are worried about city grime but I can bet you in few months, you’d be biting an apple right off the cart.
What happening is at food distribution center in the city where wholesales are done, there are borderline goods that too ripen to sell to the middleman who would then sell to the retailers. These “fruits guy” would snatch up those ready-to- eat- now-or- rot goods directly and set up stands, sell them for better price than retail stores ever could.
3 to 6 bananas ( depending on the location, ripeness, size) or 2 or 3 peaches, pears, apples, oranges are about one dollar. during summer, quart of strawberries or pint of blueberries are either two for $5 or $3 each, a pound of grapes $1.50 to $2
Assuming you’d eat them right away, it is real bargain compare to supermarkets which sell everything about twice as high.
fruits guys have their own agreed turf either thru city regulation or within their fruits mafia ring, I don’t know. You’d see same guy on the same corner most of the time.
Near Cooper on Astor Place ( segment of E 8th street between Broadway and 3rd Ave), there are two guys on each end of the block. I like the guy on the left because he is more consistent.
If you get to know and patronize your " fruits guy" he will remember you. gives extra banana or plum, if you are 5, 10 cents short, he’d say "its OK, take it " remember next time to pay him back. then he is yours forever.</p>
<p>YOGURT AND SUCH
There are countless foodmarkets around Cooper.
the ones most do-you-good would be Wholefoods either on Union Square 14th street or on Bowery and Houston corner.
I have not timed yet but either one is about same distance from Cooper, 10-15 min leisurely walk.
Bowery one is newer, bigger, less crowded and has big eat in area on the second floor with sushi-go-around ( do you know what it is? it was in Pokemon bonus video game. No? ok, it is this belt conveyer carrying small dishes with sushi pieces on it, going around in circle in front of diners as they pick out what they want from the moving belt ) Bowery shoppers seem all moneyed and clean, living/working in those gentrified glass-concrete buildings around, gotten one digit more income than regular folks.
At Union Square, hassle and bassle of 14th street make you feel like you are still young and got future ( well, Cooper kids does not need this assurance) and there is also Trader Joe’s on the same street between 4th and 3rd Avenue.
plus Union Square hosts farmers market every Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat morning to 6PM -sh. You can get alley of good local green stuff but rather expensive and there are hit and miss, it is not exactly student friendly ( muddy new potatoes or brussel sprouts on the stem, stinging nettles dinosaur kale and heirloom tomatoes)
all in all, if you head for 14th street Wholefoods, you’d get a lot more done than head downtown toward Bowery.</p>
<p>The other area supermarkets are roughly categorized in three groups.
- High society
Food emporium - 14th street Union Square East
D’Agostino- University Place (this street starts from Union Square, runs between Broadway and 5th Ave and end in NYU campus ) between E 10th and 11th street - this one particular is kind of shabby, other D.Ags are bigger and nicer. - Regular
Morton Williams Associated - Laguardia place ( street that eventually become West Broadway) and Bleecker street ( is in between W 3rd and Houston then bend at 6 Ave, it is confusing in West village) if you go, check out mayor LaGuardia’s statue around the corner. it is demented scary! but that’s exactly how he looked and acted…
Gristedes - University Place near E 9th street -this one particular is quite nice, got to be NYU trickle $$$$$$$ effect. - Scary
Key Food - Avenue A East 4th
Met Food - 2nd Avenue East 6th </p>
<p>The city conducted research on how supermarkets are doing recently and found out that poor neighborhood are the most sloppy; miss-pricing, miss-scanning, taxing on non tax items etc. Around Cooper is not that any bad, especially going toward West to NYU turf. It is safe to buy anything but fish in any supermarket. If you can avoid, do not buy produce or meat at category 3. Though, dry goods ( rice beans canned goods) are usually least expensive as you go down the caste system.
Pay attention to the store brand items, cream cheese, milk, mac cheese etc students friendly items are so much cheaper if you shop around. i.e. the cheapest milk could be Wholefoods 365 store brand during milk price crises in the past.
Yogurt would be in this " shop around and see" category. I did some spying for the occasion. Dannon’s 6 oz fruit on the bottom sells for
$1.15 @ D’Agostino and Gristedes
$1.09 @ Met Food
$1.05 @ Food emporium (uncharacteristically low price, could be site specific NYU special deal, need further investigation)
$99 @Key Food, and get this!! St Marks Market.
^ this means, going to St Marks Market is the cheapest, easiest way to get this particular yogurt. ( could be Cooper special deal, LOL) actually, their price for other items aren’t bad either, open 24/7, lots of easy-to-fix-ethnic food, vegan, party prep goods ( bread, chips, dips, cheese, bubbly drinks) cut flower bouquet and let’s not forget those Happy Hippos.
owwww another giant post… guess “weird stuff” and legendary dumplings have to wait…</p>