Zabar’s In-and-Out

It was early Monday morning, and we were on our way back to DC from Sharon, CT.  I asked Robin if she felt the same need I had for special NYC food.  She agreed, and since our Manhattan ETA was 10:30 a.m., we concluded that it would be too early for a pastrami sandwich at Katz’s followed by selective purchases at Russ & Daughters next door.

We hadn’t been to Zabar’s for some time, so that became our destination. We found parking on Broadway a block from the store; and though limited to an hour by the NYC parking meter, we thought we had enough time for targeted purchasing, but not the “museum tour” we had been planning.

A quick visit to the second floor, which is filled with kitchen and other home wares, enabled Robin to pick up some pastry gadgets which would be useful for pottery molds. We scanned the Zabar’s memorabilia shelf, and decided to pass on branded bags, oven mitts, baseball hats and the like.  On to the main floor.

We passed by the extensive cheese counter to the prepared foods section and were very impressed by the offerings. (Should Whole Foods send their chefs to NYC for take-home food training?)  Zabar’s “gourmet stuffed cabbage” is a favorite of ours.  We combined this with their tabbouleh salad, stuffed grape leaves and a tomato and basil tart.  Next we moved to the smoked fish environment and watched the countermen carving paper-thin slices of smoked salmon.  

We selected whitefish salad and chopped liver and moved to the bread counter where a loudspeaker had just told us that fresh rye bread was coming out of the oven.  Surprisingly, no tastes were offered, so no bread was purchased although we could not resist the cinnamon rugalah.  

As we passed the hot sauce, salsa and salad dressing shelf, Robin spotted a new brand of Japanese ginger dressing, which we added to our basket.  We ended by picking out two sandwiches for the trip home made with two different Eli Zabar’s breads (ciabatta and walnut/raisin bread).  We headed for the check-out counter quite pleased with our efficient effort.

All of this adventure for less than $100, and the meter had ten minutes left.