We went to a grand opening of the Grand Bazaar NYC, weekly market located on the Upper West Side. The great thing about this market is that the profits from the market donates 100% of its net revenue to four neighborhood public schools, benefiting over 4,000 children by providing them with art enrichment programs, books, supplies, teaching assistants, sports and chess programs. So you can feel good about spending money here, since your money will be going towards the great cause!
This market will be held every Sunday from 10:00 am – 5:30 pm, all year-round, where you can find some “antique” or something simply “old” (based on the customer judgement…), some creative handmade jewelry, arts, furniture, and of course, some yummy food.
This market was originally started by a group of parents in 1982, who wanted to supplement the school fund with a weekend ‘yard sale.’ The market was a big success, and became “GreenFlea Market” in 1985 so that it can continue to operate. This Summer (2016), it has become “Grand Bazaar NYC” with a new and bigger goals.
This market has both indoor and outdoor space, which is great for a rainy day or super hot/cold day. The value of the items goes from very affordable to a bit over-priced, as most of this type of bazaar or flea market type would offer.
We went back outside to check out some of the food vendors. Unfortunately, they didn’t have many of them, or at least not as many as I expected. The first one that caught my eyes were these tiny, cute little Gnomes. They are The Hungry Gnomes, and were selling scones, and they looked pretty good. We decided to get some. They were $3.75 each or three for $10. So, naturally, we got three to go. I wanted to know where their store was located, but then I found out that they are an off-premise catering and baked goods company… The owner/chef was really nice and friendly, and she also told me that she named her company Hungry Gnome because her sister loves Gnomes. How cute and sweet!
They already had few flavors that were crossed out, so we chose from the remaining flavors: Cherry Vanilla Bean, Blissful Blueberry, and Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip. We could not wait to get home to eat them! The Cherry one and Blueberry ones were really great. Soft, fluffy, sweet, lots of berries, and super delicious! One of the best scones I’ve ever had… They were such delights! It was baked perfectly so that they had beautiful golden crust on the outside, but yet airy and moist in the inside.
The chocolate was my favorite. It had lots and lots of chocolate chunks, without it becoming overly sweet. This was also happened to be the freshest, since they just got them fresh out of the oven when we were making the purchase. It was soooo good, and I believe it completely when they say this is what they are famous for. I wish if they had a physical store location so I can go back for more…
We also bought a cookie from Bruffin. I didn’t know what “Bruffin” was, but when I read the description, it seemed like a breakfast in a muffin??? The female staff there explained to me that it is made with croissant-type pastry, swirled into a shape of muffing with savory filling in it. What I found out later is that they come in all sorts of international flavors like Japanese, French, Swedish, Indian…the list goes on. I am so going to go back to try them!!!
So, the cookie. It is not just any cookie. it is a Jumbo Lava Chocolate Chip Cookie ($6). When she handed me the cookie, I said “Wow, it is heavy!” and the girl said “Yes, and it is worth the $6!” I carried that enormous, warm, heavy cookie like a precious gold. Carefully wrapped around to keep it warm until we got home. When we cut them in half, a nice amount of chocolate was seeping out from the center. So it had chocolate in every bite, from the chocolate chips and the flowing lava chocolate in the middle. It was really good and tasty, although it is very sweet too, so best share it with someone not to get too much of the sweetness.
The last thing we bought was a German Butter Cake ($3) from Yona’s Gourmet Delights. The funny thing was, I asked the female staff “what makes this ‘German’ Butter Cake?” and her response was “I don’t know”……. She kept saying that it is a butter cake, and that it taste like butter. She did not do a good job at selling it, but since we were already planning on buying one, that didn’t make us stop from buying it.
It had a nice sugary crust, and was very moist. It did NOT taste like a stick of butter, as the staff was (kind of) implying, thank goodness. It was a buttery cake, and was tasty, but not something that I would go back to get more of, it was simply not that memorable.
Overall, we had a fun trip to the Grand Bazaar NYC, I am glad we visit them on their opening day. They also will going to have some themed markets on special dates, like a “Grand Holiday Bazaar” in the month of December. So it will bring something different and interesting items based on the season, which will be fun. Something extra to keep everyone coming back to. I wish them a continuous success, and I will be visiting them again on those special themed Bazaar days!
Grand Bazaar NYC – 100 West 77th St, New York, NY 10024
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