Last week we sang the praises of Arthur Avenue, that bastion of authentic Italian food in the Bronx. Today, an option for those of us living a little farther south. Buon Italia is just one small store, but it can fill quite a few Italian culinary needs, starting with these huge cans of San Marzano tomatoes. You can see the normal, 14-ounce cans to the left...
NYC Store Review: Buon Italia in Chelsea Market
Buon Italia is located in Chelsea Market and has a wholesale business, which explains things like $250 boulders of parmesan near the kitchen in the back of the store.
For the home cook, the store offers several types of imported olive oil and balsamic vinegar, including one little squeeze bottle we noticed, labeled Balsamic Cream, that was filled with something the consistency of maple syrup. It looked decadent.
Above are bags of lentils, nuts, and almond flour. Refrigerated cases are full of fresh pastas and cheeses, and there are more little fish preserved in oil than we knew existed (our favorite: the bianchetti, which look like bean sprouts with eyes).
We came home with a wedge of Strachitunt, a meaty cow's milk cheese, some fresh-sliced speck, and spinach gnocchi. All in all, these aren't terribly rare ingredients you couldn't find in other stores, but it's nice when the man slicing the speck is actually speaking Italian. If you're shopping in Chelsea Market, Buon Italia is a worthwhile stop. They also sell a few non-Italian things like Himalayan pink salt and French cheeses.
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• And if you don't live in New York, you can shop online at www.buonitalia.com.
(All images: Elizabeth Passarella)
Buon Italia in Chelsea Market
| Location: |
75 9th Avenue
New York,
NY
|
|---|---|
| Phone: |
(212) 633-9090
|
| Website: | www.buonitalia.com |
| Categories: | dairy & cheese, fish & seafood, grocery & pantry, meat & poultry |
|---|
Tags
Dairy & Cheese, Online, NYC - Downtown, speck, Buon Italia, ItalianShare
Comments (7)
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San Marzanos are over-rated. All the Italian women in my family-- and in Jersey-- use Red Pack.
view stuzzeo's profile
i used to work in Chelsea market and would shop here regularly. though some products are overpriced, i found lots of items that i couldn't find anywhere else - like sanbitter.
view montague's profile
I love this store! We live in Baltimore and try to go when ever we are in NYC.
view rachel's profile
This marvelous store is also a great source of Sardinian products, should you find yourself needing Sardinian products (which I often do). They offer several varieties of malloreddus, a shell-like dried pasta. They also have "music bread," a.k.a. pane carasau, which is a delicious, thin, crispy bread. Now, if they could just start carrying bottarga and dolce sardo cheese!
view DK10's profile
To DK10, they do sell bottarga...to the left of the cash register next to the truffle products. This was another stop on my culinary tour of NYC last October and it was not disappointing. I tried the Setaro dried pasta and thought it was an excellent product and very handy in 2 pound packages. More will be going into my suitcases on our next trip.
For my money, the frozen porcini were a real find, and their dried porcini were in great condition, very light in color and extremely fragrant. Most stores do not know how to store these properly, resulting in an oxidized, dark, less fragrant product. All they need is refrigeration.
view justafoodie's profile
Justafoodie, thank you!! I will be sure to pick some up...this is excellent news.
view DK10's profile
WORMS!!!!
I went in 2 days before Christmas and picked up a few things -- among them a fresh black winter truffle for almost $80. I brought it home and immediately stored in in a jar of uncooked rice as instructed. Two days later when we went to use it, upon slicing it in half, we discovered it was FULL OF WHITE WORMS!!!! I called to tell them this and that I wanted to bring the truffle back for store credit at the very least and was told that they would not be able to help me. My husband then went to the store with the wormy truffle and the owner refused to even look at it or offer any compensation. Due to the owner's complete refusal to even work with us, I will NEVER SHOP HERE AGAIN and will post this story as many places as I can. Thanks for nothing.
view mstangonyc's profile