Milking It
You’ve had buffalo mozzarella. You’ve had buffalo ricotta. Now, thanks to the pioneering efforts of a Wharton M.B.A. turned Vermont dairy farmer, you can have buffalo-milk yogurt, a ubiquitous presence in India and Southeast Asia—and, legend has it, on Fidel Castro’s dinner table. (Doesn’t sound very proletarian, does it?) Dr. David Muller bought his 100-head herd and started producing Woodstock Water Buffalo Yogurt at Star Hill Dairy largely in response to the precipitous decline of cow’s-milk prices, attempting a creative solution to Vermont’s dairy-industry woes. Available in plain, maple, and honey flavors, Woodstock yogurt has a richness and creaminess reminiscent of the European-style strained yogurt that’s become so popular on the gourmet-shop circuit. Next up: Vermont-made buffalo mozzarella and ricotta, destined for a pizzeria near you. (Available at Zabar’s, Murray’s Cheese Shop, Garden of Eden, and many other retail locations; for a full list, visit woodstockwaterbuffalo.com.)

Slope Hope
Park Slope gourmets—and is there any other type of Park Sloper these days?—have another reason to shop locally with the arrival of Market, the lovely new neighbor to Bistro St. Marks run by the restaurant’s owners, Johannes Sanzin and Dominique Drevet. A small selection of meats, cheeses, breads from Sullivan Street Bakery and TriBakery, tasty prepared dishes, and soups reprised from the partners’ Souperman days are available, along with organic fruit and freshly cut flowers. It’s enough to make you want to eat in, but you’ll soon have the option of dining in the back, where Sanzin plans to install a 40-seat trattoria serving pastas, risotto, and grilled fish in the fall.
Market
78 St. Marks Avenue, Brooklyn
718-857-0027

Ask Gael
Have I been missing something on Avenue C?
If, like me, you thought the far East Village was no-man’s-land, think again. Gazing out from the bar at Bao 111, I realize that Avenue C is downright gentrified. You could be in Cleveland. And it’s worth an excursion now that chef Michael Huynh is focused on his Vietnam roots—dishing up savory short rib on lemongrass skewers, plump clams in a fragrant beer broth, and wonderful prawn-stuffed calamari with cucumber relish. Don’t miss his fragrant yam soup with tiger shrimp. Huynh plays within a Saigon palette in his lobster-and-lotus-rootlet salad and in splendid pan-fried sea bass—half traditional Vietnam, half an homage to his Saigon mom. Desserts are pure fantasy, both goofy and good. With a major sake protocol, a 2 a.m. closing time, and front-of-the-house veterans Chris Johnson (BondSt, Town) and Chris Andrews (Canteen, Les Célébrités) as partners, Bao 111 angles to be a new late-night chef hangout.
Bao 111
111 Avenue C
212-254-7773