Chelsea Market, New York

Chelsea Market is a collection of boutiques and eateries in the midst of the bustling New York hot spot, situated between the Google Headquarters and the Highline.

New York’s Chelsea Market is the home of hip eateries, farm-to-table restaurants, and artisanal fare. Housed in the gut-renovated National Biscuit Company factory (I never realized that is where the name NABISCO came from – duh!), the markets are not as much a market as a stylized mall of sorts.

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Entering the old, narrow red-bricked passages, visitors are greeted by the charming reclaimed materials and old advertising materials of the cookie factory’s glory days. The selection of retailers ranges from boho women’s fashion (Anthropologie) to a makers’ market full of homemade goods. En route, you’ll pass a modern take on a cookie store, with edible (very) short-term mementos of your visit; spice sellers, farm-to-table restaurants, and seafood eateries. Two small food courts offer international flavors, including Aussie meat pies and Japanese-Mexican hybrids with Sushi-burritos.

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A large showroom regularly hosts pop-up shops and sample sales, giving locals an extra reason to keep coming back. There is also a great bookstore with a focus on design, plays, and fashion. In between, there are plenty of rich details like wishing wells and an ornate corridor that has been wrapped in fairy lights.

While not a “must-do,” it’s worth passing through the Chelsea Markets en route to the Highline.