We’ve been raving about Gelateria Primavera’s incredible cardamom, and banana lassi flavoured gelati all summer – if you’re yet to try them, get on that pronto. But there’s a new reason to head to this ice house. And that’s Spring Street Grocery – the adjoining grocer, deli and sandwich bar out the back.
It’s the boutique food store this end of the city has needed forever. Rainbow chard, zucchini flowers and plump tomatoes come in daily from the markets and are stacked up next to tins of duck fat and jars of fancy salt. The walls are lined with salami from Australia and Calabria (you can buy these whole) and the staircase off to one side will soon give you access to a subterranean cheese cave. You mightn’t do your entire weekly shop here, unless your diet calls for massive hunks of San Jose bresaola, but for sprucing up your supermarket supplies it's a winner – and it's open till 9pm.
The deli is doing a roaring trade in substantial things on rye bread a la Katz’s Deli in New York, with a sideline in the fanciest small buns in town. Go for dainty little brioche torpedoes filled with foie gras, crisp watercress and Comté cheese with fresh bursts from orange segments. Those buttery suckers will kill you, but it’s not a bad way to go.
There’s straight pastrami on light rye, or a snackette sized bun rubbed with tomato and lined with oily Ortiz anchovies, but our pick is the California-style egg. Two measures of malty rye precariously hold watercress and a loose mix of soft boiled egg, diced pickles, Dijon mustard and aioli. There’s a chopped liver and caramelized onion number with our name on it too.
Take your sambo at the bright orange counter if you can score one of the three stools, or better yet, load up with a bunch of baggies and have a party in the park before the global warming heat bonanza ends.
