Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/523050
store tour MAILLE MUSTARD This Upper West Side shop has a mustard sommelier on staff. Launched in December 2014, this jewel-box boutique is the first American outpost for Maille, which has been producing Dijon and other mustards since 1747. With such a long history, it's no sur- prise that Maille takes the condiment seriously. The store features a mustard bar with several types on tap; select one to purchase, and store staffers will provide a stoneware container to fill. There's even an in-house mustard sommelier, who guides customers through all the options. Top sellers include a white wine mustard, the classic Dijon, a parmesan and basil mustard, and mustard infused with fig and coriander, says Pierette Huttner, Maille's in-store sommelier. Other varieties include a blue cheese mustard and mustard with Chablis and morels. Maille also stocks a house olive oil, nut oils, and vinegar. But mustard is the star of the store, sold at price points from $9 for a 3.8-ounce jar of Dijon to $90 for 19 ounces of a high-end variety on tap. Gift packs of mini-jars are also available. maille.com THE MEADOW Salts of all shapes, colors, and origins can be found in the West Village. Bottled like wine, the 110 varieties of specialty salts on the shelves of this charming store are contained in small glass jars topped with cork. They hail from such far-flung locations as Hawaii, Iceland, and France, some in fine powders and others in larger crumbles, and their colors range from white and pink to magenta and gold. Some are finishing salts designed to enhance a dish; others are meant to be used during cooking. "Unlike most supermarket salts, all are natural and unpro- cessed, so they retain their natural minerals," says Jaime Lee Newman, manager of the 5-year-old store. Prices range from $4 for a 1.2-ounce jar to $28 for 8 ounces. While salt is in the spotlight at The Meadow, the shop (and its COMING SOON: A NEW COOKBOOK DESTINATION P aige Lipari has two passions: cooking and books. And with the August opening of her first cookbook store, Archestratus Books, she's found a way to combine them. The 1,000-square-foot space in Brooklyn's up-and-coming Greenpoint neighborhood will stock hundreds of new and vintage cookbooks, including some rare and obscure picks. Lipari also plans to sell tomes that may not offer recipes but still have something to contribute to culinary culture. "All the books will focus on viewing the world through food," says Lipari. The New York native was partly inspired to open a store by her Sicily-born grandparents, who ran a Sicilian food shop in nearby Bushwick. The store will allow Lipari to showcase her love of Sicily and traditional Sicilian cooking, especially the recipes she's learned from her grandmother. She plans to host food-related events in the shop, from cooking classes to food-themed films to ticketed dinner parties with guest chefs. "I'd love to have the Polish grandmas from the neighborhood teach a Polish cooking class, host dinner theater—anything food-related that can inspire people in the kitchen," she says. Lipari also plans to open an in-store cafe serving sweet and savory Sicilian-inspired food, including creative favorites she'll bake herself such as cannolis, saffron buttermilk biscuits, and mortadella pistachio pinwheels. The warm, intimate space just might make Greenpoint the city's next foodie destination. The Meadow Archestratus Books 118 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com