Sometimes, the idea of taking the Metro North train into New York city from Connecticut or upstate New York, can seem daunting. If you aren’t familiar with the city, or the weather is bad, the whole idea of trip in to town sounds like a big deal. At least that’s the impression I get from many visiting friends and relatives and parents of small children who would like to come to the city once in a while but don’t want to deal with the hassles of hailing a cab, etc.

However, did you ever think of taking the train in and never leaving Grand Central Station? There are tons of shops and a few good restaurants (Cipriani Dolci is my favorite, but there’s also Metrazur and Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse) and an entire food court on the lower level. However, my favorite thing about GCS is The Market. This was added a few years ago when GCS was renovated and it has become a true source of food shopping pleasure. Most of the shops in The Market are of the highest quality otherwise they wouldn’t have lasted. The rent can’t be cheap and although there are massive amounts of people passing through, you won’t get return customers if the products are not good. Some retailers have disappeared over time, but some, such as Murray’s Cheese Shop, have expanded-Murray’s now has a salumeria of sorts, focused mostly on sausages.

Murray’s “real salami” station

You can see the prosciutto hanging above the glass cabinets, and you’ll find a variety of local and other high grade cured meats-salami, pepperoni, bacon and even cold cuts. At this station they don’t carry too many cheeses and other items that you would find at the original cheese stall, but there are enough side products, like crackers and dips that you could venture no further. I am presently enjoying a Vermont smoked pepperoni.

You can get other kinds of meats at Murray’s now including smoked turkey and mortadella.

Next to Murray’s salami station is Corrado breads, which is one of my favorite places to stop. They sell products from some of the greatest bread bakeries in NYC. So you might find a baguette from Red Cat or a Brioche from Balthazaar, but you will always find good dinner rolls, pullmans, and various pastries. They aren’t baking there in Grand Central, but they do have fresh products.

Corrado Breads

Across from the breads is a produce market called Greenwich Produce and the products are really hit or miss. It’s fun to find tiny bananas or Asian pears-things you might not find at your regular grocery store, but for the most part, the fruits and veggies there are way overpriced and the quality is okay. I have no idea if they have organic products because I haven’t noticed any. I do love to go there for flowers and for mixed nuts and wasabi peas and other snackies like that. They have another stall on the opposite end of the market as well.

Article continues below...

I love Oren’s coffee. I think as far as chains go, it’s my favorite. Don’t get me started on coffee and where to get the best cup in NYC (it’s hard to find), but for a commuter, Oren’s is pretty good and I do take their beans homes with me.

Oren’s Coffee

There’s another Oren’s in GCS but outside of The Market that is just as good and always has a line but the guy behind the register is so nice that I tolerate the wait most mornings.

Now, I can’t mention The Market without talking about one of my favorite shops in NYC. It’s called Wild Edibles and I just love it. You can get all kinds of fresh seafood here and everything I have ever had has been of the highest quality.

Wild Edibles

I love the people who work here and the guy who owns the place too-they know what they are talking about and can make smart recommendations based on what you want. Those have to be the most important qualities a shop owner can have in my book-know what you are talking about regarding your product and be able to answer my questions when I might ask how to cook it, etc. I’m not going to lie to you-it ain’t cheap. But it’s good. They have prepared and semi-prepared foods too, but I like the fresh stuff the best.

seasoned fillets at Wild Edibles

Another place I like is Ceriello Meats, which is a real butcher but also has other Italian specialties as well, like their own pastas and sauces but a variety of imported items too, like tonno and olive oils.

The meats are very fresh and you can get them prepared in several ways. They have dry aged steaks too, which is a plus. They have a prepared foods counter, which most of these stations do-afterall, many folks are on their way home from work and want to pick something up that is ready to go right into the oven. Only those of us who are a bit crazy like to cook when we get home! So there’s something for everyone.

I’m only neglecting to mention a few other shops-a Zarro’s Bakery, another fish store, a great German sausage market that I adore for the imported delicacies like chocolates and dried meats. But you get the idea of what goes on here and you could easily spend an hour just walking around and picking up items here and there, maybe having a bite to eat at the food court (Junior’s or Two Boots would be my vote) and then go home and still feel like you had a trip to the big apple.

• 2 Comments
• More by this Author

This entry was posted on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 4:17 pm and is filed under Friends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.