And Then I Died and Went to Kalustyan's....

Spice Trek

Courtesy http://www.kalustyans.com

To explore awesome new stores, seek out new tastes and new preparations, to boldly eat how MANY have eaten before....heh trekkie jokes. Never old. No but seriously, I found myself in need of some specialty spices that no store in my local vicinity seemed to sell. I knew that I needed to journey to a spice market, but didn't quite feel like making the extreme jaunt all the way to Jackson Height's (it's a bit of a full day trip for me.) Enter Kalustyan's. A Specialty goods store and spice market extraodinaire. Located on Lexington between 28th and 29th it's right smack in Curry Row and cater's to just about every kind of Asian, Middle Eastern, Eastern Mediterranean, and North African Cuisine you can think of. Not to mention herbal beauty products, traditional specialty store items like teas/coffees/cocoas/candies/dried fruits/nuts, and all sorts of specialized cooking paraphernalia- woks, masala dabba, bamboo steamers, and beyond, it made me a bit giddy to be truthful. They also have some prepared foods like home made baklava and halva at the front counter, and hot foods upstairs in their deli. If you ever heard of popular candies or snack foods from abroad but didn't know where to find them to try them, look here. Built in 1944, I think it may still occupy the same square footage as when it first opened, which is to say, THERE'S A LOT IN A VERY TINY SPACE. I had to come back home and go online to their website to check out just how much they stock. Definitely one of those stores you could go to ten times and still not fully know the extent of their inventory. I mean they carry over 4000 items.... Fun to play in, though good to sort of know what you want before you go in, as it could be overwhelming otherwise. They ship all over the lower 48 and will quote you an overseas estimate if you live abroad. (Personally, I'll take the 6 train...) They have hours every day of the week and a number of friendly employees to help you find what you're looking for. 

Prices vary according to what you're looking to buy, I bought two 3 oz bags of spices and a pound of organic beans and paid a little over $12. Not horrible. Not dirt cheap, but not horrible, especially if you care enough about spices that you're frequenting a specialty spice market ;)
My one qualm with their site is not enough pictures, so for that check out the Yelp review, where other like minded individuals have taken numerous photos to help a person decide if they want to try going here. My two cents is, if you live in the area, do it. Even if you don't end up buying anything, (which is doubtful) there's nothing like a specialty goods store to lift the spirits :)

BKBTY