one of the best things to do on a beautiful NYC weekend is to scavenge around at a local farmer’s market for some good eats. i’m not alone in this opinion – new yorkers are becoming flea and food market crazed, and for good reason. they are fun.  

the other day i biked my way over to this season’s debut of  the New Amsterdam Market, located in the quietly fantastic South Street Seaport neighborhood. aside from the things that draw tourists but rarely draw locals (some bad restaurants, the TKTS booth, the chain retail stores), there is a lot to love down here – a great wine shop, a pet boutique, some restaurants that are actually good, cobblestone streets. and with all those boats, a reminder that manhattan is actually an island. (i think we tend to forget!)

this market differs from the hester street fair and the brooklyn flea (more on that to come) in that there are no beaded necklaces, stuffed animals, or mismatched china sets for sale. it’s all about food, both of the eat it now and take it home and cook it variety.

the only thing i didn’t eat on the spot was a tiny jar of smoked pork rillettes from Brooklyn Cured. i had a sample on a small piece of toast and was hooked. but there’s more. ohhh… much more.

these little pies on a stick were the highlight of the day. savory option was bacon jam, sweet option was grapefruit. am i nuts? i got the grapefruit, and it was fab. never had a grapefruit-marmelade style pie filling before. tough choice, though. next sunday i may have to bike back for that bacon jam version.