by Pat Arnow

Cheesemonger Anne Saxelby Shopsin’s amazing sandwich Butcher Jeffrey Ruhalter Chocolate maker Rhonda Sue Kave

he cashier breaks a yuca in half to show a customer the snowy white inside of the long, brown-skinned root. He nods, and she weighs the vegetable. The transaction is conducted in Spanish. Another customer, wearing a chef's jacket and checked pants, shows the new face of the neighborhood. The sous chef at the brandnew Allen & Delancey fills his basket with striped eggplants and admires the cranberry beans.

Viva Fruits and Vegetables’ manager, Sobeida Delacruz, says her family’s stand specializes in tropical produce for the mainly Spanish clientele. But now, to appeal to the new people, they also carry fennel, leeks, Persian cucumbers and balsamic vinegar.

The new upscale people might not know what to do with the yuca or plantains, and the old customers don’t generally buy fennel, but everyone is finding something they like. The Essex Market, which was opened in 1940 by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, essentially to get pushcart vendors off the streets, is the most successful of the city-run markets, with a waiting list of new tenants and an amazing range of products, prices, places of origin and personalities.

Walk in through the entrance by the subway station stairs on the east side of Essex at Delancey, and the first thing you’ll see is the glass-fronted art gallery Cuchifritos (the name means fried pig and refers to a large variety of Puerto Rican soul food). Foundations, grants and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council support this exhibition space since 2001, and in November a single piece was on display here: A tower of white-painted tables topped with a platter of fruit that you could see reflected in a mirror on the ceiling. From Dec. 8 to Jan. 19, the gallery features imageries of war, including a stained-glass window in a camouflage pattern.

I hesitate to mention the eatery next to Cuchifritos that has been open just a few months. When Calvin Trillin wrote about this place in its old location in the Village for the New Yorker, he had to promise the owner he would reveal neither the name nor location of the restaurant at the risk of banishment for life. I made no such promise, so I’ll take my chances and say that the legendary Shopsin’s General Store has made a home in the Essex Market.

I’ll admit that I didn’t have the nerve to take a picture of the famously curmudgeonly Kenny Shopsin. Smart move, said his son, Zack. “He would have cursed at you.” I did take a picture of my magnificent sandwich, turkey and crispy bacon with avocado, cranberry dressing on a crusty ciabatta. I hope it won’t get me banned for life, as the food was delicious. It’s expensive, however. Two sandwiches and a cup of coffee cost us $30.

Next door to Shopsin’s is one of the most charming of the many charming vendors in the market, Anne Saxelby. She’s always got a smile, a line of customers, a sample of the sublime goods. All the cheeses come from American cheese makers, and I don’t mean Velveeta. Saxelby visits the farms where the cheese is made and selects ones with complex flavors and textures. These are high-end goods, but a quarter pound of a Saxelby is an affordable and satisfying treat. She also sells great bread.

Turning into the next part of the market you feel like you’ve been dropped into Latin America. Spanish predominates at Batista Grocery with plenty of Goya canned and dry goods. Batista specializes in tropical fruits and vegetables. At these markets—and the ever-expanding Essex Farms deeper into the building—you’ll find exotic produce and bargains. A bag of multi-colored peppers for just a dollar; a fennel bulb also for a dollar.

“We get lots of EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer for food stamps) cards,” says Viva manager Sobeida Delacruz, whose family is Dominican. She estimates that 70 percent of the business comes from the food stamp program.

Circle around the back of the market, and you can find other ways to keep life in New York affordable. At JCC Electronics Repair you can still get a television or radio fixed. At Mr. Smith’s Expert Tailoring you can get your pants hemmed or buttons sewn on, Three Brothers Clothing is a tiny booth stacked to the ceiling with jeans and shirts and jogging outfits. In Aminova’s Barber Shop Jakov, who is Russian, is giving a customer a neat trim. This shop, with its collection of clocks and Elvis memorabilia, looks like it’s been in the market forever. Not quite. It’s 10 years old. The prices are from the past, though: A haircut costs $8.

The butcher Ruhalter had a shop on Orchard Street, but moved to Essex Market as soon as it opened. His son, Allen, took over the business, and still works here, though now it’s named Jeffrey’s, after his own son.

Jeffrey Ruhalter grew up in the market. As we’re talking, two older women approach and hug him before they leave. “I’m a fifth generation butcher. I have customers whose great grandparents purchased from my great grandfather,” says Jeffrey.

He’s seen the business change dramatically. “Forty years ago, people didn’t eat the same things. This was a poor neighborhood.” The butcher sold pigs’ feet and roasted pigs’ heads. Ground meat—not hamburger, he emphasizes— everything ground up to make inexpensive food. Customers were mostly Black and Hispanic. The place went from a shop that never sold anything better than a shoulder steak to selling Porterhouse steaks and caribou and ostrich. But they still carry the pigs’ feet.

The other butcher shop, Luis Meat Market, displays a wider range than ever, too, for the wider range of customers. Another business that attests to the changing demographic of the neighborhood is Paradou Marché, an outpost of Paradou restaurant in the meatpacking district. Alex points out a cassoulet ready to take home ($14 a container). This joins the exotic sandwiches like the Delancey with roasted asparagus, mushrooms, fontina cheese and truffle oil served on crusty bread for $6.50. It’s a to-go business for the most part, but chef-manager Shawn will make meals for you to eat at the tables by his counter, too.

Mario’s St. Lucia booth with its Yoruba religious objects has been here for 40 years. The candles, statues, lotions, and plants that he grows from cuttings, and dreamcatchers hanging from above, form a halo around the owner, who came to the US from Cuba in the 1950s.

Signs warn visitors not to take pictures, because Mario has heard thoughtless people mocking the religious figurines. But he welcomes the many people who stop by. He watches fondly his daughter, who is sitting nearby studying for her classes at Baruch College.

Another long-time vendor has expanded in unusual ways. Rainbo Fish Market and TraLaLa Juice Bar and Bakery is probably the only fish and muffin business in the world, says Ira Stolzenberg, who started as a fishmonger here 33 years ago.

The expansion into muffins, sandwiches and juice six years ago was Ira’s partner’s idea. Ronnie Budinas loves to bake. He began mixing up small batches of batter and baking the muffins in a tiny oven. The TraLaLa is filled with carrots and pistachios, there’s Whatta Pear of Walnuts, Corny Corn, and one with chocolate and coconut. They’re filling and a bargain at $1.75.

The business has expanded across the aisle with tables and chairs, and a place for Ira’s elaborate cake decorating. The fish is good, too, with prices much more reasonable than uptown.

The market’s other fishmonger New Star also sells good seafood at reasonable prices. Jaz Suh, originally from Korea, has been selling here for 10 years, and so far he has stayed with fish.

Along the back wall of the market, Formaggio Essex imports cheese from around the world. They've recently added a branch of their big stores in Cambridge and Boston, Mass., and that gives them access to a tremendous variety. They also sell salami, olives, baguettes and coffee. It’s a small store, but cheesemonger Amy McDaniel notes, “We have a remarkable number of products for the space. There are lots of cheeses you won’t find anywhere else.”

Formaggio’s supplies area restaurants and their prices can be high. The scariest to me was the $40.50 for a pound of coffee. But don’t be afraid to go in. Many of the products are in the range of regular working people, and the staff is friendly. They also offer marvelous samples.

Another place offering samples is the newest store, Roni-Sue Shoppe, which opened at the end of October and offers handmade chocolates. Really handmade, right there at the counter with a chocolate melter sending out enticing fumes, and Rhonda Sue Kave, a cheery woman with a long braid down her back rolling chocolate between her palms.

She used to make 400 pounds of chocolate for presents every Christmas, and when she visited the Essex Market “things clicked” when she saw this little space. “I thought it would make a fabulous chocolate spot.” These are fancy treats, but I saw several people coming in to buy a single chocolate for $2.

Around the corner, with its door on Rivington, is the Essex Restaurant. It has a separate entrance and stays open at nights and on Sundays. High ceiling, big windows, big, hearty weekend brunches for $16.

The Essex Market, Northeast corner of Essex and Delancey Streets, open from 8 am to 7 pm, Monday through Saturday, essexstreetmarket.com