Our store is stocked with many new, inspired and tasteful ideas for Easter

Easter is all about BASKETS and we have a large assortment, which includes pastel painted baskets, large and small. Our antique washed with Patina lined basket also has a timeless yet springy look. We also sell grass, the legal kind in NYC. Just $2.50 a bag, in many Easter colors, yellow, purple, green, pink.

What says Easter more than CHOCOLATE. We have selected a wide range of Belgian chocolate that we bought at a great value. Including Chocolate eggs and Rabbit for $6 each and 2 for $10.  Store favorites include pralines filled eggs, which are both pretty to look at and great to eat.
Read the rest of this entry »

Made in Montana Bequet Caramels are artisanally made by hand in small batches using all natural ingredients. The dark rich colors of the caramels come from the use of brown sugar instead of white.  When unwrapped you instantly smell the sweet buttery flavors you are about to taste.  The caramels are soft and easy to chew, while the complex flavors of the rich caramels unfold in your mouth.



Using the soft caramel recipe as a base, the Bequet Master Caramel chef adds different flavors. Celtic Sea Salt, our most popular flavor at CMB, the salt crystals are mixed with a vanilla butter caramel.  The saltiness and the sweetness of the caramel truly complement one another. Other flavors include chipotle, a butter caramel infused with a smokey chipotle flavor; chocolate, a butter caramel with dark chocolate overtones; and Espresso, a butter caramel with a robust espresso accent.

Bacon Peanut Brittles is a new product in our store.

Made my the Redhead restaurant in NYC, Bacon Peanut Brittles is a delicious concoction of peanuts, maple syrup, bacon and spices. This item has been very popular in our store – so popular that we have included it in a few gift baskets.

The flavor do all meld together but the strong flavors might turn a few people off. They make the peanut brittle with just the right amount of cayenne so that it finishes with a little heat – enough to make you want to try some more. It is the perfect snacking food for watching a game or drinking with friends.

The 4oz brown bags retails for $5.95

The San Francisco Fancy Food Show (January 17-19) was filled with lots of new products and was well attended and there was plenty of optimism about specialty food. There seemed to be a good bit of Chocolate happening, particularly upscale and maybe more west-coast based. Dovetailing with high season in chocolate in February, we ordered the following, that should be in store in very early February.

TCHO Chocolate which is colorfully packaged and does mainly four “varietals” of chocolate, or a “fruity,” a “nutty,” a “Citrus” and a “Chocolatey.” Each variety comes from a different geographic location where the cocoa beans are roasted and the cocoa mass is shipped to San Francisco and turned into covertures and then in to bars and smaller tasting bars. Each place the beans come from contribute a different taste profile which is marketed with different color packaging.  We have a gift box assortment that has a Valentine’s graphic.  www.TCHO.com

Poco Dolce – Sea Salt Bittersweet Chocolate Tiles is a line that I have admired for at least a year, choose to hold off because it is pricey but I succumb at the fancy food show this year.  I do like this stuff, interesting combinations of dark chocolate with burnt caramel, or Aztec Chile to name few in simple handsome packaging.  New for them are the tins and bags of Toffee Squares with similar flavors also including a “Popcorn” flavor. Not heart shaped nor red but these products would make a perfect valentine for someone who like great chocolate! They are also based in San Francisco. www.Pocodolce.com

Read the rest of this entry »

Pumpkin Pickles from A Taste of the North Shore

This is a new item that is great holiday addition to any table.

Florence Fabricant of the New York Times likes it as well.

A savory and sweet combination of fresh Long Island grown “cheese” pumpkin along with spices and vinegar. Perfect next to the cranberry sauce as a condiment to turkey or ham, helps cut the riches and provides lots of flavor.

During the last week of September our store in Chelsea Market was closed for 1 week while we quickly worked to give it a fresh look – see the photos below. These were the most dramatic changes we have made to our store since opening in 1997 – everybody should be entitled to a face lift every 10 years or so!

Among the exciting changes we made was adding a beautiful raised wood floor that allows our customers to walk right off the concourse into the store.  In addition we removed all the glass from the front of the store, which added another entrance to make it more inviting to browse.  The front half of the store is all about chocolate and speciality foods.

We moved the Leonidas Chocolate display and cheese case upfront for easy access.   In the back of the store we have a dedicated area for basket production and pickup. Don’t worry we might look different but we still carry the same product and at the same great prices. Come see what we have done.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Chelsea Market Baskets retail shop will be closed from Monday, Sept 21 to Saturday, Sept 26 for construction. We plan to reopen on Sunday, September 27 with a renovated space and rearranged store.

During this time our mail-order and website business will operate normally.

We apologize for any inconvenience, if there is something you desperately need give us a call at 212 727-1111.   We look forward to seeing you soon after our “work” is done and our appearance is invigorated.

New to Chelsea Market Baskets

Well Dressed Food company was developed out of the love of entertaining and sharing food with others.  Local producers from the Adirondacks have come together to develop a brand of products that showcase the high quality of ingredients and food that are developed in New York State’s North Country.

These products include:  Oatmeal Pancake mix, Maple Syrup, Granola, Apple Butter and Jams.

Words from our staff after a taste test of the Oatmeal Pancake, Apple Butter and Maple Syrup-

“..North Country Oatmeal is a hearty pancake mix.  I love the apple butter because it has the perfect blend of spices that put me right back into my mom’s kitchen, it not overly sweet, and it has a rich mahogany color…I could actually sit at my desk and eat the whole jar…yummmy.” ~Tiffany

“The maple syrup is sweet but not over powering, you can really taste the many tones of maple definitely complements the hardiness of the pancake.”  ~Christina