RIP Greenmarket Legend

One of my favorite things to do in New York is peruse the Union Square Greenmarket, a wildly popular venue where locals, in-the-know tourists and celebs alike (I saw Julianne Moore there, Rachael Ray is supposedly a regular, uppity restaurants like Union Square Cafe buy their ingredients there) get their produce, baked goods and dairy products fresh from Upstate farmer proprietors.

It's a unique place in the city-- there is an ambiance of community as you look around at the fresh spreads of produce and people, then wander your gaze to the building skyline above.

It's really fun to see the city and countryfolk find common ground in a shared love of food.


But the Greenmarket gem of them all was Joe Ades, who friends and I called the 'vegetable peeler extraordinaire.'

(Photos courtesy NY Serious Eats)

We would always, ALWAYS, stop to listen to his five-minute shtick, and usually buy yet another peeler because we reasoned we probably had an aunt somewhere who would want one ;)

He was once featured in Vanity Fair ("Julia Roberts on the cover, me in the middle") and the NY Daily News: things he proudly showed off to support his selling point- 'You can't survive day after day on the streets of NY unless your product works!'...

And I also spotted him in the opening credits of the movie Definitely, Maybe (just fyi: Ades is the star of it).

Well, Joe died on Sunday. And this tribute to him basically sums up my and many other New Yorkers relationship with him.

I will sorely miss his presence when I return to the city, because he was one of the many reasons why I love NY.