A Specialty Food Shop in the Village: 2011 Village Awardee

BY SHERYL – JUNE 9, 2011
POSTED IN: SOUTH VILLAGE, WEST VILLAGE

McNulty’s Tea & Coffee Company at 109 Christopher Street is a part of a long tradition of Village specialty shops that hint at a time before grocery stores, when shoppers would buy bread from the bakery, meat from the butcher, and fruits and vegetables from pushcarts or small produce markets. For over 115 years, McNulty’s has been the Village’s source for quality teas and coffees from around the world. We are honored to be giving this longstanding neighborhood staple a Village Award at our Annual Meeting on Monday, June 13^th.

In the twenty years since GVSHP began presenting Village Awards, many nods have gone out to small specialty food markets. Some of these have been Italian shops located in the South Village. Popular cheese shops Murray’s Cheese on Bleecker Street and Joe’s Dairy on Sullivan Street earned Village Awards in 2000 and 2009, respectively (more information about the culture of the South Village can be found in GVSHP’s report The Italians of the South Village). 

The former Zito & Son’s, the venerable Village bakery known for opening their ovens to neighbors wishing to bake their own bread, was a 1997 award winner (Zito’s closed in 2004 after Anthony Zito’s retirement). O. Ottomanelli & Son’s Prime Meat Market (1998 Award Winner), Florence Prime Meat Market (2007), and Faicco’s Pork Store (2008) are all located within a few blocks of one another, indicating the continued importance of real butchers to the Village community. And finally, Porto Rico Importing Co., a fellow coffee purveyor, won a Village Award in 2007. 

McNulty’s Tea & Co. has joined some of the many small, specialty food shops that continue to attract our attention by making the neighborhood special. We look forward to having you help celebrate this and other venerable Village people and places at our Annual Meeting.

http://gvshp.org/blog/2011/06/09/a-specialty-food-shop-in-the-village-2011-village-awardee/