ONE STOP FOR ONE-OF-A-KIND

November 8th, 2011

 When artist and entrepreneur Karen Berelowitz visited her friends in Kingston’s Rondout, she thought it would make a great place to open the first retail store to sell her unique line of Karmabee products. Unlike other areas she had considered, she found Rondout to be, “A village.  It is a community in the middle of a larger city.  It has all the conveniences of city living but it has the feeling of a small town.”   When she saw the space at 73A Broadway, with its original tin ceilings above a lofty storefront, Karen knew that she had found the perfect home for her “new” store.

The storefront location is new, but Karen has been retailing her unique line of  Karmabee products since 1997.  If the simple, yet evocative, black drawings on t shirts and note cards seem very familiar, it is probably because we have seen them at the Kingston Farmers’ Market Craft Fair (and over 100 other craft fairs), at the Omega Institute, at the Cornell Studios” “Wild About Butterflies” exhibition, and on line on Etsy and at Karen’s on-line sites at karmabee.com.

People who attended the jam-packed November 5th opening got to see the wide range of available Karmabee products. The storefront features original black & white drawings printed on clothing for babies, kids and adults, as well as notecards, dog tees, winter hats, framed prints, jewelry, and other unique gifts. There are coloring books that are just the right size for tucking into a stocking, with Karen’s bold drawings to inspire original coloring combinations from young artists. For those who would like to send a holiday card that did not come in a pack of 25 identical cards from the department store, Karen’s most popular holiday themes are available in a specially priced packet.  There are also stocking caps and home decorative items.

Now that she has a retail space, Karen is also going to feature framed works and crafts by other carefully selected artists.  The shop will also feature classes, workshops, and special events.  Visitors to the store’s website can sign up for a monthly newsletter listing all the upcoming events.

Karen was born in South Africa and has traveled around the globe, and has lived in California, Costa Rica, and Washington DC before settling in the Hudson Valley, NY.  She received her Master’s Degree and spent 12 years in the field of International Development, with emphasis on development in Central America.  In 2006, she took a “short vacation” to the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck…and she never left!   In fact, she lives at the Institute during its open season!  It was at the Institute that she was finally convinced that her intricate and expressive “doodles” that she’s been doing since her school days might have a commercial future.  As an experiment, she printed a few designs on postcards, and was amazed when they sold out, at the Institute’s craft events.  Karen began retailing on Etsy in 2007.

While some designs, like a gleefully ornate elephant and a festively howling coyote, have become customer favorites, Karen is unlikely to ever run out of new designs, or new ideas for products.  Having a retail store as a “home base” is a new experience she is relishing–her operation has been developed to be portable, since she has been living at Omega from April through October, and then moving to a temporary studio, or traveling around the United States from craft fair to craft fair.  As long as she has music, and “coffee in the morning, chocolate in the afternoon, and wine at night,” she can “doodle” a seemingly endless stream of her unique images of the world around her.  Fortunately she also enjoys the production part of the business, scoring note cards, silk-screening stocking caps, and  filling computer orders.

Shoppers in the Rondout can now have the instant gratification of stocking up on Karmabee originals for the holidays without having to boot up the computer or visit a craft fair.  Karen can even accommodate special orders, for those whose gifts have to be absolutely unique!  Karmabee will be open  Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to 7pm for the holiday season!

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Businesses and Architecture Find a Happy Balance at the Millard Building

April 18th, 2011

Built in 1899 and operated as a Chevrolet showroom in the 1920s, the Millard Building is a Midtown gem with its Beaux-Art limestone façade and large windows. Set at an angle to Broadway, it is fronted by a small park, interrupting the straight ranks of buildings with a burst of green that offers rest to pedestrians.

The current owners, five partners based in Newburgh, have done a complete gut rehab, including new plumbing, electric, insulation, and re-fabricated storefronts, since acquiring the building five years ago. Their efforts landed them an award from Friends of Historic Kingston in 2008, and despite a very difficult economy, the building operates in the black, with all but one of the row of shops running along Grand Street occupied by commercial tenants; Planned Parenthood is about to move into a 4,500-square-foot space on the second floor.

Thanks to his involvement in the Millard Building, part-owner Joe Flynn, owner, with several of his partners, of Commercial Industrial Construction Corp., has gotten into the retail business. When the restaurant supply business located on the ground floor went out of business, he and his wife, Jayme, bought up the inventory at auction and reopened the store as the Culinary Warehouse three years ago. Because the front of the building is now occupied by the pizzeria and the Kingston Pharmacy, the store is now located at the back of the building; some former customers don’t realize all they have to do is walk down Grand to browse once again the great kitchenware.

Compared to the old store, a greater portion of the business is retail, with the remaining  60 to 70 percent derived from restaurants. The store stocks everything a restaurateur or serious home cook needs, from gadgets to cookware to silverware to stoves and convection ovens. Flynn said in late spring the store plans to restart its program of  cooking classes (suspended over the winter), which take place in a small kitchen on the premises and are held on Wednesday evenings. A children’s cooking class will be offered, and chefs from local restaurants will be invited to prepare their specialties. Check Culinary Warehouse’s Facebook page for updates.

The Millard Building’s other tenants represent a nice mix of businesses and include Sensational Nails Hair Salon and Hometown Beverages, a distributor of beer and soda, both along Grand Street. One 1,400-square-foot storefront is available, along with 12,000 square feet on the second floor. Flynn said CICC plans to break up the space into 15 smaller offices, unless a large tenant suddenly appears. The second floor also has four well-lit lofts, three of which are occupied. A major advantage is that there’s a large, adjacent parking lot, also owned by CICC, along with several parking spaces in front.

“We’re very lucky. We have very good tenants and are holding our own,” said Flynn. He is appreciative of the city’s support, from the mayor to the building and fire departments. “Everyone’s been wonderful. Kingston is a great place and we enjoy being here.”

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Stockade Tavern’s Special Chemistry

March 29th, 2011

Stockade Tavern, the  Federal-style drinking establishment—“bar” is too crude a term—at 313 Fair Street, is dedicated to restoring the art of the cocktail, which got lost during Prohibition, resulting in too many bland, watery drinks in decades since. Stirring and shaking up a variety of vintage cocktails every night takes brains (bartender and tavern co-owner Paul Maloney noted it’s a challenge remembering each complicated recipe),  brawn (all that shaking), and an ability to multitask (fulfilling three different drink orders at once isn’t easy). Just to give you an idea of what’s involved, here’s Maloney’s description of how he concocts two of his establishment’s killer drinks:

The first is for a Pink Stag, which is a kind of deconstructed Bloody Mary masquerading as a martini:

“I first infuse vodka with horseradish root (which is washed and cut into pieces small enough to fit in a bottle). I fill the bottle almost halfway with horseradish, put in the vodka, let it steep, and within four hours it’s ready. Then I “muddle” (extract the juice) from 5 or 6 cherry tomatoes, add a half ounce of fresh lemon juice and a little bit of simple syrup (water and sugar mixed in equal amounts). I add a basil leaf and use an oak “muddling” stick to crush the ingredients. Then I add a few ounces of horseradish vodka, an ounce of regular vodka and ice cubes and stir. I double strain it through a Hawthorne strainer (which holds back the ice cubes) and tea strainer into a chilled martini glass. I coat the top with a few dashes of ancho chili powder, add a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkling of kosher salt, and top it off with a dilly bean (a green bean that’s pickled with dill).”

Maloney noted that he came up with this recipe as a way to avoid opening a can of tomato juice. “We juice everything ourselves,” he said. “This is a cleaner drink, though it’s hellacious to make if we’re really jammed. You can batch certain drinks, but not this one.”

The second drink is a Ramos Gin Fizz, named after a bartender in New Orleans who invented one of the Big Easy’s most famous cocktails in the late 1800s:

“I crack an egg white into a shaker tin. In the other half of the tin I put an ounce of half of half and half, a half ounce of fresh lemon, a half ounce of fresh lime, an ounce of simple syrup, two ounces of gin, three or four drops of orange flower water and shake for 20 seconds. When you crack the tin it should be nice and foamy. I add a bunch of ice, put the tins back together, and shake for a good minute or so. (Ramos shook his for 12 minutes, using a gaggle of guys who stood behind him.) I pour it into a Collins glass, without any ice, and fill an inch from the top, then add an ounce of club soda and tamp it down, by tapping the glass on the bar top. I pour another ounce of club soda into the tin and strain it into the glass.”

Maloney said he’s constantly adding new drinks to the menu, which insures a visit to the Stockade Tavern is never without novelty. Thanks Paul for sharing! —Lynn Woods

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Keegan Ales’ Crafted Brew Extraordinaire

March 29th, 2011

A century ago, Kingston was home to several breweries, a tradition that continues today with Kingston Ales, located at 20 St. James. Since 2003, after taking over a defunct facility that formerly belonged to the Woodstock Brewery, Tommy Keegan and his 14 employees have been making award-winning specialty brews, sold to distributors from  Saratoga to New York City and Long Island (and, as of this month, northern New Jersey).  Currently the volume is 3,500 barrels (a barrel equals 31 gallons), up substantially from the initial run of 600 barrels and likely to increase to 5,000 to 6,000 barrels this year, according to owner Tommy Keegan, who holds a BS in biochemistry and a masters in brewery science.

Keegan’s produces Old Capital, Mother’s Milk, and Hurricane Kitty, along with seasonal and specialty brews, such as Jo Mama’s Milk, which is flavored with coffee from Monkey Joe Roasting Company. From the get-go, the beers have been lauded for their superior quality: Old Capital won the Best of show and People’s Choice awards at the Hudson Valley Micro-Brew Festival in fall 2003, and in 2009, Jo Mama’s Milk won Best Beer of New York State at the TAP NY competition (Keegan’s also snared the award for Best Brewery).

Locals have the special privilege of being able to stop by the bar and sample a new crafted beer every Tuesday. Keegan’s also is one of the favorite places around town for hearing top musicians, be they jazz, rock or folk, who perform five days a week—and there’s no cover, just lots of free peanuts to snack on.

But it’s in the cavernous space behind a set of doors just past the entrance, which houses four enormous, shiny metal fermenters and other mysterious tanks, where the real action takes place. Two batches of beer will be run through the initial mixing process twice in a nine-hour day. The brewing process starts at the far end of the room, with the delivery of big sacks of malted barley, blended with other grains, according to Keegan’s special instructions.

The grain is thrown into a chute to be milled, then conveyed through a long pipe into the mash tun, where it is crushed and mixed with hot water, a process that leaches out the color and flavor and converts the starches into simple sugars. The mixture is then pumped into the brewing kettle, where the “wort” is boiled. Hops are added to the liquid, to give the beer its distinctive bitterness and other flavors. It then is transferred to the fermenters, where the brew is mixed with yeast and the sugars transformed into alcohol and carbon dioxide (the beer’s fizziness). After fermenting for a total of three weeks, it’s filtered into two tanks and packed into bottles or kegs.

Keegan said the trickiest aspect of making beer is ensuring its consistency. “It’s a matter of making sure every single step is the same each time,” said Keegan. The small amounts of a special home brew that is produced each week for the premises are made in a miniature “pilot” brewery, he said. Come by and have a taste of this unique Kingston product!  —Lynn Woods

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A Piece of Paris on Fair Street

January 18th, 2011

Dining at Le Canard-Enchaine is like visiting Paris without having to take a plane. The maroon walls, topped by mustard-colored tin ceilings and elaborate moldings, are hung with large framed mirrors and photographs of the City of Light (including a striking color shot taken by famous DJ Bruce Morrow). The tables are covered in white linen, and at least one of the suited male waiters has been at the restaurant since it opened, 16 years ago. The atmosphere is comfortable, low key, and elegantly casual.

But it’s when you sample the French onion soup, escargots, or bouquet d’endive, followed by braised lamb shanks, roasted duck, or black-pepper encrusted salmon, and topped off with a crème caramel or lemon tart, that you really begin to feel a sense of immense gratitude and wonder for this French culinary outpost right here in Kingston. (This is the place—the only one in the Hudson Valley, so far as we know, to order  cassoulet, the classic French white-bean stew that’s just the thing on a wintry January evening.) It’s no surprise Le Canard has been reviewed in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, garnering national attention. The restaurant is probably responsible for luring more out-of-towners to our little city than all other destinations combined.

Le Canard also offers one of the region’s best values. It serves a $14.95, two-course Prix Fixe lunch Monday through Friday and offers a three-course, $25 dinner Sunday through Thursday ($30 including a glass of wine). On Saturday night, owner and chef Jean-Jacques Carquillat cooks up five or six specials in addition to the standard fare on the menu (which he daren’t change, not wanting to cause an outcry from his loyal customers).

Carquillat, who was born and raised in the French alps—both his parents and grandfather were hoteliers—opened the restaurant in 1996, following stints at top restaurants in New York City. He apprenticed at the best restaurant in Paris at age 16 and opened his first restaurant in the same city at age 19, later working in London, Singapore, Saudia Arabia and other far-flung locales as an executive chef. Carquillat had been visiting the mid Hudson Valley as a weekender for years. He chose Kingston as the place for his restaurant, which he decided to open because of the dearth of French cuisine in the area, because he liked the architecture and streetscape of Uptown, with its Old World feel. The first year he was very busy, despite being located in what many thought of as a “welfare city,” and his reputation has been growing ever since. He estimates 90 percent of his clientele is based in New York City.

However, the economic downturn has caused a bit of a slowdown, as it has other restaurants. So five months ago he started a side business called French Kiss Bakery, distributing his famous desserts (he was once a pastry chef at a top eatery in the city) to 25 restaurants in Manhattan as well as in Rhinebeck and other places. Carquillat noted the venture was a way to keep his staff—including the pastry chef, who’s been with him from day one—occupied in the downturn.  

He’s also putting the finishing touches on a cooking show, in which he visits neighboring farms and cooks on the premises. The show would be a way of promoting Ulster County, he said. And he’s planning to open a soup kiosk in Manhattan—similar to the Midtown Manhattan “soup nazi” made famous in Seinfeld—preparing all the soups in his Kingston kitchen and donating 10 percent of the proceeds to a good cause. (In the meantime, he’s selling his soups at Terry’s Market in Kingston).  Other extracurricular activities include the design of a restaurant in Argentina three years ago. 

Carquillat, who owns his building as well as the one next door, said attracting more tourists is key to the economic prosperity of New York’s first capital. He said the city leadership needs to do a better job of promoting Kingston’s cultural appeal, and he believes every business should be open on Sunday, to take advantage of the flood of weekenders. Another reform the city desperately needs is relief from the extraordinary high taxes, he said. (Carquillat also owns a home in the city, so he understands the burden both on businesses and residents.)  Despite the problems, the city is still a great place to live and do business. The continual migration of artists to the city, the beautiful museums, and the addition of more cafes and restaurants are all positive developments, broadening Kingston’s appeal, he said.

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Fleisher’s Prepares for Thanksgiving

November 9th, 2010

Jessica & Joshua Applestone

With Thanksgiving around the corner, it’s a particularly busy time for Fleisher’s Grass-fed and Organic Meats. The old-fashioned butcher shop at 307 Wall Street has not only been pleasing palettes with its healthy and locally raised natural meats but also resurrecting the art of butchery through its apprenticeships and classes—and in the meantime generated articles in the national media as well as being featured in the high-profile memoir, Cleaving: a Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession by Julie Powell (author of Julie & Julia, which inspired the popular film).

Co-owner Josh Applegate appeared on The Martha Stewart Show last spring—he showed her how to break down a pig—and will be participating on Iron Chef on December 12, as one of the judges rating the dishes participants will concoct from a secret ingredient. (Fleisher’s will also be contributing the ingredient; it provided the veal featured on the show last month). Clearly this small Kingston business is making waves far beyond the confines of Wall Street.

Right now, it’s taking orders for its free-range turkeys—free of antibiotics and hormones, of course–which are raised on Dutchess County farms. As of Monday, already half of its orders had been filled, so don’t delay in ordering your delicious bird. The cost is $8.99 per pound, and the gobblers range from eight to 30 pounds—the store recommends allowing for a four-pound margin. Fleisher’s is also offering 10-pound capons (a castrated rooster, with extra-tender meat).

The next upcoming workshop, “Steer to Beef,” is on November 14, followed by “Pig to Pork,” on December 5 (which is also the start of a five-day Butchery 101 Class, which covers knife skills, breaking down animals, and sanitation). The one-day workshops are $300, which includes three meals and a visit to the farm to pick up the slaughtered animal. The longer class is $2,000, plus $100 for knives (which students keep). Employee Lindsay Pugnali said a couple of Martha Stewart’s assistants as well as a few employees from the Food Network were planning to attend one of the one-day workshops.

As mentioned, Fleisher’s also offers apprenticeships. Currently a young man from New Jersey and a woman from Portland, Oregon, are participating in eight-week programs,  and a recent Bard grad is serving a two-week stint, concentrating on pork. Fleisher’s employs eight employees, including the owners, Josh and his wife, Jessica.

Fleisher’s makes 12 deliveries a week of whole animals to restaurants in New York City, with some piggyback orders going to Westchester County. But the owners are equally focused on their retail business: they’ve purchased the former Neko’s luncheonette and are meeting with an architect to redesign the space, with plans for an upstairs teaching arena and downstairs retail store, perhaps including a restaurant. Fleisher’s is open on Thursday and Friday from 11 to 7 and from Saturday 10-6; Tuesdays and Wednesdays are devoted to its wholesale business.

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Gargoyles Sets Up Shop in Kingston

October 26th, 2010

Perhaps the best publicity a city can get is an article about it in the New York Times. An article appeared in the summer of 2009 that profiled a Brooklyn couple who bought a house on Abeel Street now the One Mile Gallery, has resulted in at least one newcomer relocating to Kingston. Hadassah Zuberi Ben-Dor, a resident of Philadelphia for over 40 years and owner of Gargoyles, read the article and was instantly intrigued. Having never been to the Hudson Valley before, she visited Kingston and fell in love with the architecture, arts community, fabulous restaurants, and relatively reasonable real estate prices.

She subsequently bought the former Coffey Gallery building on Wall Street, closing the deal in June and moving in at the end of August. Ben-Dor operates her retail shop and wholesale business on the ground floor and lives upstairs. “It’s just perfect,” she said, noting that the gallery nicely complements her other business, which is selling and renting props to department stores, restaurants, movies, fashion houses, photographers and other clients seeking high-quality vintage goods. She also has a side business producing vintage-style graphics for stores and restaurants.

Quality of life was an important factor in her decision to move to Kingston: “I will not make the millions I made ten years ago, but what I cherish is the serenity, beauty, and art culture of the area,” she said.

Ben-Dor, who was born and raised in Jerusalem, came to the U.S. as a student at the Moore College of Art, located in Philadelphia, where she got her degree in graphic design. She started out in the salvage business and eventually acquired a 10,000-square- foot building in Philly. Realizing that there was a market beyond home renovators, Ben-Dor started targeting restaurants and department stores and eventually became hugely successful, traveling the world for vintage goods. For a while, she was flying once a month to England, because “they have the look…with their old luggage and sports equipment.” She has made shipments as far as Japan, and her clients include such specialty businesses as a golf club in Maryland. Ben-Dor did more than just provide pieces: she also helped her clients come up with a look and an atmosphere, such as “Maine Fishing Village,” which she would sell as well as supply. “I was loving it,” she said. “It was so creative. The people I deal with are mostly designers.”

After 9/11, however, there was a significant fall-off in business, and eventually Ben-Dor had to sell her building. Finding herself priced out of the Philadelphia market, she was looking for an alternative when she read the Times article about Kingston.

Ben-Dor has already become active in the community, opening her doors on the First Saturday Gallery Walk, participating in the O+ Positive Festival, and becoming a vendor in the antiques show held at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, in Rhinebeck. It’s been a perfect fit: “It feels like I’ve been here forever,” Ben-Dor said. She invites everyone to her “very beautiful show room,” at 330 Wall Street.

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Vintage Kingston

June 8th, 2010

If you’re into vintage stuff and antiques, or just looking for that special item which will transform your house into your own private castle—be it beautifully crafted French doors, crocks for the kitchen, a century-old landscape painting or a sleek mid century coffee table—Kingston’s the place to be, with several outstanding antiques places attracting customers from miles away.

Zaborski Emporium is the king of the vintage/antiques stores, judging by the sheer epic variety and amount of items it stocks. Occupying four floors of a former shirt factory at 27 Hoffman Street, the Emporium attracts movie set people (the film industry represents 10 percent of its business), New Yorkers seeking to decorate their lofts and even celebrities with homes in the area. Restaurants and other businesses come to Stan’s for vintage lights and other fixtures, while the used radiators are a popular item among home owners. Roaming amid the dusty corridors stacked with stuff spanning a century of American material culture–tables, claw-footed bathtubs, mirrors, dressers, columns, signs, doors, Victorian bird cages, rugs, chairs, trunks, vending machines, door knobs—is a trip down Memory Lane. In the basement is an entire room filled with doors.

Stan Zaborski started the business in 1976 and bought the building 13 years ago. The company has four employees and will delivery almost everywhere, for a fee. His prices range from 50 cents to $25,000, for a suite of bedroom furniture that once belonged to Robin Williams and was shipped east in a chartered plane.

“I love Kingston,” said Zaborski, who gets help from his partner, Sandy Balla, who also works as a cruise boat tour guide. “I’ve seen it in its boom times and I’ve seen it depressed. I really enjoy it here.” He is going to put a few tables outside with “really cheap merchandise” for the yard sale. (Stan remembers the first book about yard sales, published in the 1960s, which featured his father, who was a “‘used item business” pioneer.)

Other Kingston businesses that sell antiques are Velsani Arts and Antiques, on Wall Street, and On the Hill Antiques at the Skillypot Antique Center, which features multiple vendors, Mezzanine Antiques Center, and At Home Antiques, all on lower Broadway in the Rondout. Larry Zalinsky, who owns Mezzanine with his wife, B.C. Gee, said his store specializes in “smalls”—vintage items that can at least fit into the back of a Subaru SUV. They include Victorian jewelry, a variety of paintings and prints, and mid-century furniture.

Just up the block, At Home Antiques is the latest entrant, opening six months ago in a capacious, warehouse-like space in a building owned by Judith and James Milne. The Milnes have been in the antiques business for 40 years—they operated a shop on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for many years—and they have an eye, stocking items you’ll see nowhere else, including a coffee table inset with a geometric pattern of linoleum, painted screens from a Parisian café, a deco-painted bedroom set, sturdy farm tables, and a wonderful selection of metal porch chairs, each like a character out of a Gorey cartoon.

Judith said the couple bought the building in 2004 and opened the store after they lost their tenant. “We love Kingston and didn’t want it to have another empty storefront,” she said. “We wanted to help the business community. Kingston needs to become more of a destination.”

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Farmers’ Market Largest in Area

May 25th, 2010

The Kingston Farmers’ Market was started 11 years ago as a way to bring people to Uptown on a day when not much was happening, and it has been a resounding success. As many as 2,000 people attend on a hot summer’s day. “It gives people a chance to discover Uptown, and retailers have an opportunity to tap into the market” by putting up a sign on the premises, said Joe Fitzgerald, a caterer and realtor who serves as the market’s president of the board of directors.

It’s the biggest farm market in the region. This year there will be 32 vendors, including several newcomers: Gadaleto’s Seafood Market, a wholesaler from New Paltz; Chef Ef, who will be serving paella; Keegan Ales; Julia and Isabella, serving prepared foods; Acorn Hill Farm, which sells goat cheese; and Chocolate Revolution, which makes sugar-less chocolate creations. (For traditional artisan chocolates, shoppers can go across the street to Neko’s.)

A booth costs $400 ($300 if the vendor prepays). The proceeds help pay for a publicist and advertisements in the local press. Chronogram is a partial sponsor, and this year, by taking advantage of funds from Pride of New York, a state program that matches funds from the federal government to promote local produce, the market will also be advertised on radio stations WKNY and WKZE.

An adjoining crafts market on John Street will also open on May 29 and be held every first and third Saturdays, strengthening the Farmers Market’s appeal as a destination. Ad hoc musicians liven up the street, and this year, through a program organized by Karen Pillsworth, eight story tellers will be featured. Operation Front Line, sponsored by the Queens Galley, is a six-week program in which small groups of middle school children come to the market to learn culinary skills and nutritional tips from participating farmers. And this season certified nutritionist Holly Anne Shelowitz and Jennifer McKinley, owner of Kingston Natural Foods, will do healthy food demos, alternating each Saturday.

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La Mexicana on Broadway Kingston

March 29th, 2010

La Mexicana, at 638 Broadway, is one of at least two Mexican-American grocers in the city. As such, it’s not really a one-of-a-kind retailer, but, as a representative of Midtown, it does sell numerous one-of-a-kind items. If you haven’t been to Oaxaca, no need to board a jet: just check out La Mexicana’s shelves, which include beautifully crafted straw bags, tortilla baskets, blankets, shawls and clay pots and a wide range of CDs playing salsa, banda and other south of the border musical styles.

The family business, which is owned by Aldegundo and Laura Juarez, sells queso Oaxaca, a large ball of white cheese similar to mozzarella. For a change of taste, check out the fruit sodas, aloe verde drinks, and coconut waters, some of which are relatively low calorie, when the weather gets warm. Raw cane sugar is sold in packets, large cans of hominy are excellent for soup, and Abuelita is chocolate in a can, that’s dissolved in milk in Mexico for the traditional breakfast drink. Small plastic bags of spices include flax seeds, $1.99 each, which are a healthy addition to fruit and yogurt, and cacao beans. On occasion, homemade goodies, such as coconut sweets and rice putting, are for sale.

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