Fairway Underway in Pelham Manor

By Julia Sexton

As we hinted way back in last August, Fairway Market has been scouring Westchester for a building large enough to suit its massive needs. While Dan Glickberg was not committing to anything definite last August, it turns out that EATER was right all along. As reported in The Journal News last week, Fairway Market is planning to open its first Westchester branch in Pelham Manor in 2009.

Frankly, we can’t wait. We’re part of that sad group of Westchesterites who make a weekly schlep into the Harlem store for its excellent Steve Jenkins-curated cheese, every type of meat imaginable and esoteric gourmet items like salt-cured capers and quince paste. As avid cooks, we had high hopes for local shopping at Wholefoods Market—until we actually had to find an unusual cut of pork or even crème fraiche. At Wholefoods, no one even knew what we were asking for. Sriracha? No dice. San Daniele prosciutto? Sorry. Preserved lemons? Preserved what?

Yet with all of our exotic cooking needs, we have never been disappointed at Fairway. English Cadbury Dairy Milks? Got ‘em. Thirty types of panetone—including chocolate filled? They’re there. Squab, poussin and magret? Of course. Unlike Wholefoods—which stresses convenience and prepared foods—Fairway is the market for cooks. When we watch Top Chef (a guilty pleasure), we actually pity those poor contestants who have to do all their shopping at the show’s sponsor, Wholefoods. It must be maddening, though, we admit--the Greenwich store does a nice cinnamon bun.

We spoke to Dan Glickberg’s father, Howie, who told us that the Pelham Fairway will be the largest Fairway Market yet, so not only will it have all the oddball gourmet products that we use, but there will be even more of them. As for a Fairway Café or Fairway Steakhouse—only time will tell. According to H. Glickberg, Fairway is planning some sort of eating venue in Pelham Manor, but the details are up to the zoning board.

Best of all: there is no cold room planned for the Pelham Fairway, which means that you won’t have to don a quilted loaner Fairway jacket, still warm from its previous wearer. While kids are suckers for this, we always found it kind of icky.