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{Hurricane Sandy Update – I have electricity! Aside from flooding on the FDR drive, the Upper East Side of Manhattan pretty much lucked out in terms of power. I have a feeling my apartment building is on a separate electrical grid because of it’s affiliation with New York Presbyterian Hospital, but it’s hard to be sure. My brother lives in the financial district and did, in fact, lose power (Con Ed shut it preemptively)…,and in all likelihood his street is flooded and he should have just come to stay with me. But we all know he’ll never admit that.  No updates from my mom and sister in Queens yet this morning, but as of last night at around ten pm they still had power and were doing fine!  My thoughts are with everyone who didn’t fare quite as well as I did…hoping for a speedy recovery!}

If you’re looking for a fall-infused version of everyone’s favorite summer stew, then head over to Marcus Samuelsson’s blog to check out my post!

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If you’re from the NYC area, then you’ve undoubtedly heard of the Brooklyn Flea, which is a weekly bazaar in Fort Greene and Williamsburg that showcases a wide variety of vendors selling a wide variety of things. Including food.  Awesome, awesome food.  In fact…the locations in Williamsburg and Brooklyn Bridge Park in DUMBO now have all-food markets that they are calling Smorgasburg.  However, if you’re from NYC then you know that if you live in one of the boroughs that is NOT Brooklyn, then actually getting to Brooklyn to visit the Flea seems to be much more difficult than it actually is. Basically, it’s a mental thing.

So in order to bridge this distance and bring some fabulous food from some up-and-coming local producers to Manhattan, Whole Foods has partnered with the Brooklyn Flea to launch a new in-store venue, featuring one new vendor from Smorgasburg every month, at it’s Bowery location.  The first three months’ worth of vendors has been chosen thus far, with Danny Lyu’s Cemitas running from Oct 22-Nov 20, Keith Klein’s Milk Truck Grilled Cheese running from Nov 26-Dec 23, and Hugh Mangum’s Mighty Quinn’s running from Jan 2-Feb 2.  And after that…well, from what I hear there is a lot of deliciousness still yet to come.

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The fabulous folks over at Whole Foods offered me a chance to taste some of Danny Lyu’s Cemitas this past week to experience this new venue for myself.

But first – what ARE cemitas??  A cemita is kind of like a torta except…it has ten layers.  TEN.AWESOME.LAYERS.

I opted to try out the portobello sandwich, but there are also many meat options.  Biting into this sandwich was basically like biting into an explosion of flavor and at every second I felt like I was discovering a new element of the sandwich, each more delicious than the next.

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The sandwich fillings are also available in taco and salad form.  Since I’m carb loading (always), I decided to try out a taco in addition to the sandwich and, well. It was equally as awesome.

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Brett, the Whole Foods PR guy who I was dining with, opted for the salad version of the cemita and from what I could tell it was light and refreshing while still being extremely satisfying.

I would definitely recommend heading over to the Bowery Whole Foods to check out this new venue if you’re in the area….or going out of your way to get there if you’re not.  I also can’t wait to see what the next few months have in store!  After this fabulous first experience…I’ll definitely be heading back to try out the new vendors as they come in.

Thanks so much to Whole Foods for giving me this great opportunity to eat some delicious food!

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You are reading this post on Eats Well With Others at https://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author and or owner of Eats Well With Others. All rights reserved by Joanne Bruno.
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48 Responses to Autumn Ratatouille…and Smorgasburg Comes to Whole Foods!

  1. Carolyn says:

    Hope all your friends and family are okay. Saw a lot of crazy news this morning! Your ratatouille looks amazing.

  2. Danielle says:

    Im glad you are ok – my sister lost power last night and I am waiting for updates from everyone else this morning.

  3. Karis Ann says:

    Happy to hear that you’re doing ok. Now I want to try a cemita.

  4. MM says:

    Glad you are safe, Joanne!

  5. Danielle says:

    So glad you and family are safe!

  6. Foodycat says:

    Glad you are safe! Thinking of you.

    That portobello sandwich looks so good!

  7. Yay for power! A few blocks from my house, a woman was killed from a (flying) sign that was dislodged from the high winds. Not much rain but obviously the winds have been bad here.

  8. I’m glad you are ok darling. Sorry you’re having to deal with this crazy storm!

    I’ve been wanting to go to the Brooklyn Flea for the longest time. I think the next time I’m down I have to make it my mission to go.

  9. Faith says:

    So, so happy to hear that you’re safe and still have power! Your Ratatouille looks incredible and so do the Cemitas — who could resist 10 delicious layers?!

  10. Sarah says:

    glad you’re all safe! this ratatouille is absolutely beautiful!!!

  11. I love Cemitas. There’s a place here in Brookline – Dorado Tacos – that my co workers and I often visit for lunch 🙂

  12. Mo 'Betta says:

    Glad things are okay your way!

  13. london bakes says:

    Glad to hear that you’re doing okay Joanne. Love the idea of an autumn ratatouille too.

  14. Pam says:

    Yay! So glad you are okay and with power!

  15. I’m glad to hear that you and yours are all doing okay. What a delicious post this is. I had never heard of cemitas before but I really would like to try them – it’s a shame I live so far away 🙂

  16. Gloria says:

    Im happy heard you and yours are all OK Joanne!
    This look really delicious!
    Im glad you have power!

  17. Shannon says:

    glad to hear you are doing ok! lots of crazy photos out there. that ratatouille looks awesome, and pretty much anything with 10 layers has to be awesome 🙂

  18. Glad you are doing OK!! I was definitely thinking about you last night.

    And 10 layers??? OMG this is incredible!

    Sues

  19. Oh goodness, so glad to hear you are doing well!

  20. Oh goodness, that all looks super delicious 🙂

  21. There’s so much good stuff here, where do I begin? I’m gonna run over to mine to see if they have it at my whole foods and I LOVE the festive ratatouille you’ve made. It’s an illustration of Autumn =)

  22. Pam says:

    I was thinking of you last night… I am so glad you are staying safe!

    The sandwich looks AMAZING! You can’t beat 10 layers. The salad also looks tasty.

  23. Beth says:

    You’ve been on my mind ever since last night. What a relief to know that you have power, and that your mom is fine. Thanks for the update!

    (And thanks for the sandwich review. Wow!)

  24. Hotly Spiced says:

    I’m so glad you survived the hurricane and I hope NY recovers swiftly so the marathon can go ahead as planned. The food at the Wholefoods store looks super-delicious xx

  25. Dining Alone says:

    Glad you and your family are ok!! What a scary storm!

  26. Eileen says:

    Super glad to hear you guys weathered the storm ok! All the pictures last night were getting pretty scary. Speaking of the Brooklyn Flea, we used to live right down the street, on the Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill boundary. It was always pretty hard to summon the energy to go into Manhattan (for non-work-related reasons, anyway) from out there!

  27. So glad everyone is ok. We watched the news all last night and this morning. 🙁

  28. Saguna says:

    Happy to hear that you all are doing alright after the storm! The cemitas DO sound awesome. And ten layers? That’s a feat. Ratatouille sounds pretty good right about now too, actually…

  29. Glad you’re doing okay! I hope your mom and sister weren’t anywhere NEAR those fires in queens. The pictures this morning made me cry!

  30. Glad to hear all is well. I would have thought the finance sector had multiple backups – surprised the NYSE was closed.

  31. Donna says:

    This place is now on my Must Visit Bucket List. Meet me there!

  32. Debbie says:

    Glad to hear that you are ok….my cousins on LI are going to be without power for 2 weeks….awful. Thank goodness Sandy didn’t do too much damage here in Va….

  33. I’m glad your safe! I was thinking of you today!! Your autumn ratouille looks delish!!

  34. oh girl you are lucky!
    I hope the bigger whole foods we have in massachusetts (in dedham) gets this added.

  35. Glad you’re ok! I can’t believe how hard NYC got hit. Unreal…

  36. Wow! Those sandwiches look delicious. I would have opted for what you had 🙂 We don’t have a whole foods here but, I wish we did.

  37. Christine says:

    Was thinking of you and hoping you were okay. So happy to hear you’re safe! That sandwich looks amazing! What a nice treat! The ratatouille looks delicious too!

  38. Kari says:

    I’m very glad you’re ok 🙂 Our news footage only showed the parts of NYC that were under water, on fire, or lacking power and sometimes safe buildings. (We’re a bit catastrophic down here.) I hope your family are doing well too and I love the look of those cemitas!

  39. Julie says:

    So glad to hear you are safe!!!

  40. Simply Life says:

    so glad you’re doing okay!

  41. Blond Duck says:

    I’m so glad you’re ok!

  42. Guru Uru says:

    I am so so relieved to hear you are safe my friend! The news was not so reassuring…

    Cheers
    CCU

  43. That Girl says:

    I honestly came here just to check and see how you were doing. My grandmother’s without power, and I’m glad to hear you’re safe.

  44. Joanne, I am so relived to know that you are safe and even have electricity!!
    Ratatouille looks very delicious.

  45. grace says:

    …and now i want a cemita. 🙂

  46. Glad to know you’re safe! And I’m so jealous of your experience with Whole Foods! Amazing. And that ratatouille? TO DIE FOR. Heading over to check out the recipe!

  47. Chris says:

    We are finally getting a Whole Foods in Knoxville in the coming months. Yay.

  48. Very good to see whole foods supporting them that way. Awesome.

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