Battery Place Market is not your average neighborhood deli.  At first glance, it looks like any other New York City deli with your small produce section, prepared foods, and packaged food aisles.  You look closely and you see Stumpton coffee, Debragga Meats, Van Leeuwen ice cream, and the list goes on.  I was invited to visit Battery Place Market by Frank Gelman, the store’s food sourcer.  Frank has the enviable job of tasting and finding the best foods from around the world for the store.  He’s obviously doing something right.  There are products at this market that you cannot find anywhere else in New York.  The organic produce comes from local farms around New Jersey and New York.  What I found very interesting was the balance of high end products and your everyday brands like Heinz and Hellmans.  I think it’s merchandising at it’s best.

I chatted with Frank and Chef Robert, who oversees a staff of 12, about the food and their mission.  Their mission is to provide the highest quality food to New York neighborhoods.  All the prepared foods are made from scratch, never processed, and have the highest quality ingredients.  The turkey sandwich is made with turkey that was brined by Chef Robert himself.  The bread is from Orwashers which might the best artisan bread in the city.  You will never taste sandwiches like these, trust me!  Contrary to what you might have thought, the food won’t leave you broke.  I don’t really know how they accomplish that.  Chef Robert is known for his crab cakes and I had the privilege of tasting one of them.  It was the best crab cake I’ve ever had.  I also got to taste his pear tart which was also the best I’ve ever had.  The crust was perfectly buttery and flaky while the pear was perfectly sweet but not too sweet and not overly soft.

While I was eating my sublime pear tart and drinking my gorgeous stumpton coffee,  I couldn’t believe I was in a deli-type place.  I felt like I found a hidden gem.  I couldn’t believe all the effort they put in to ensure that the quality is the highest.  I couldn’t believe the vast selection of food you can take home with you for dinner or take it to go and have a picnic at Battery Park.  I’ve never seen anything like Battery Place Market before.  Now, if only there was one closer to my apartment!

{Left: Freshly cut fruits and vegetables | Right: Gourmet cheeses}

{Top: Prepared foods | Bottom: Desserts}

{Top: Crab cake with tartar sauce | Bottom: Smoked chicken sandwich}

{Pear tart}