Before we go any further, let me just tell you: that fresh peach Greek yogurt is like fluffy clouds of heaven mixed with a dollop of rainbows and sunshine. You really need to eat some...like, as soon as possible. Today? Today.
The place where I bought the yogurt, Nature's Gifts Market (a.k.a. Likitsakos Market), is located just a few blocks from me, over on Lex and 87th. I went in today to check it out on the recommendation of the owner's daughter, Alex, but as it turns out - and I just remembered this moments after stepping through the front door - I've been there before. Probably dozens of times, in fact, because they make turkey pinwheels that were quite the rage back in 1999, when I went to high school two blocks away.
The place is a total throwback to old-school markets, and has been an institution on the UES for the past thirty years...but now it's struggling in the wake of the opening of the brand-new Fairway (yeah, the same one I got all excited about a couple of weeks ago). And...you know, it's so easy to forget - and so heartbreaking - how local, family-run businesses can suffer just because some Barnes & Noble or Starbucks or Food Emporium decided to open its doors a few blocks away. Of course it's OK to patronize chains, and they're great for some things, but it's also important to continue to support local merchants however possible...and there's something about them that you just can't find at a chain. The owner knows your name and what you like when you walk in the door...and what you like is the yogurt that he makes himself, from a recipe passed down through generations of family members.
