NYC's Mercantile Mayhem: New York Nico, Fermentation Fest, Lotta Challah, Z&Z Manoushe and Brooklyn Seltzer
A newsletter about the survival of independent businesses in New York City with a focus on immigrant-owned, storefront retail and CPG enterprises.
NEW BOOK ALERT! NEW YORK NICO’S GUIDE TO NEW YORK CITY
Nicolas Heller aka NY Nico recently published New York Nico’s Guide to NYC, which features 100 of his favorite mom and pop shops in the five boroughs with a sizable sprinkling of newer establishments. I attended the second book party last week (one of two and I think many more) and it was not only delightful but inspiring.
NY Nico is known as a filmmaker, documentarian and now author. His Instagram chronicles famous city events, from Halloween dog costume contests to the West Indian Day parade, as well as random NYC street moments. (I’m thrilled to appear for 3 seconds in an amusing NY Nico post during Wayne Diamond’s weekend-long run for mayor.)
At his book party Heller was interviewed by another NYC-centric documentarian of sorts, Kareem Rahma of Subway Takes and Keep the Meter Running. They mentioned first working together on the short film Out Of Order about the adventures of a NYC man played by Rahma, who needs to go to the bathroom before his big date.
During the pandemic Heller started visiting several old school shops like Army & Navy Bags on Houston Street and made social media posts highlighting the owners, often with their idiosyncratic entrepreneurial personalities. The exposure from Heller’s posts (at present NY Nico has 1.5 million followers on Instagram) not only helped shops financially survive the pandemic with curious new customers, but meeting these retail rebels was also one of the motivations behind New York Nico’s Guide to NYC.
The book features city gems like La Bonbonniere, NY Hot Dog King (cart in front of the Met) Casa Magazines and Lee Lee’s Rugelach in Harlem, with a few newer establishments like Caffè Panna.
As a chronicler of non-corporate commerce businesses myself, I loved listening to Heller talk about documenting these city treasures. There is a whole community of people who value the culture around independent businesses including the owners, customers, the goings on and what it takes to survive.
I’ll add that The Locavore Guide is coming out with their own guidebook in early November, The Locavore Guide to Shopping NYC, featuring 672 independent shops. I’ll write about it in the next Mercantile Mayhem.
FERMENTATION AT THE UNION SQUARE GREENMARKET
Norwich Meadows Farm has been a bedrock of the Union Square Greenmarket for decades, the upstate farm provides scores of NYC chefs and restaurants with fresh organic greens, gorgeous turnips and all sorts of other seasonal vegetables. Last week the Greenmarket and Norwich Meadows Farms organized their first Fermentation Fest. It was a fermenting jubilee featuring demos and talk by powerhouse chefs, scientists, authors and farmers for curious shoppers who sampled the fermented goods.
I sampled the outstanding kimchi made by Chef Hooni Kim of Little Banchan Shop and Danji (which is just reopening after an 18 month closure due a fire next door) Chef Victoria Blamey of Blanca had her own kombucha and other fermented treats. Chef Abdalrahman Ayyad made soup made with freekeh from the West Bank and jameed (hardened strained yogurt). Haifa Kurdieh of Norwich gave a demonstration as did plant breeder Michael Mazourek of Maz Lab Seeds and Cornell. Lani’s Farm and Norwich had kimchis and pickled items for sale and Archestratus Books sold all sorts of books about fermentation, from pickling to sourdough breads. The one day Fermentation Fest may be over but these independent shops, restaurants and chefs are open for business in New York City.
DO IMMIGRANTS MAKE BETTER ENTREPRENEURS?
Semyon Dukach is the founding partner of One Way Ventures, a $100m venture capital fund for immigrant entrepreneurs. Dukach arrived in the US in 1979 as a child refugee from the then Soviet Union and credits some of his success to the experience of navigating a new country, language and culture as an immigrant. Read his brief first person account.
LOTTA CHALLAH AT HOT BREAD KITCHEN
Hot Bread Kitchen recently had a party to celebrate the relaunch of their challah bread with all sorts of challah-centric treats, from Pastry Chef Caroline Schiff’s exquisite french toast, to various challah sandwiches with the spicy Shaquanda’s Hot Pepper Sauce.
For anyone unfamiliar, Hot Bread Kitchen is a New York City nonprofit that trains people, primarily women, for culinary careers—so far more than 1,700 people since 2008. They have expanded to multiple programs including one specifically for entrepreneurs who have, or want to have, their own food-based business.
In May 2024, HBK launched Culinary Career Pathways for New New Yorkers that helps some of the city’s latest arrivals. At the challah event, CEO Leslie Abbey mentioned a recent participant of this program is a refugee from Venezuela. She was recently hired, quickly promoted and can move out of a shelter, into an apartment with her two daughters. Arun Venugopal reported on the program when it launched in Gothamist/WNYC.
ACCOMPANY CAPITAL’S NEW INSURANCE PROTECTION FOR CLIENTS
Good news from Accompany Capital! They have recently partnered with Resilient to add LifeGuard insurance protection for their new and returning clients, providing insurance protection at no extra cost. The cost of the insurance policies will be covered by Accompany Capital. Of course no one wants to think about accidental dismemberment, never mind death, but trigger warning, accidents happen and it is better to be prepared. The new coverage consists of up to $25,000 of Term Life and $25,000 Accidental Death and and Dismemberment insurance.
Accompany Capital is a CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) that specializes in helping immigrants and refugees in New York City with loans and financial services. They launch creative initiatives to help their clients and community at large, which is why I am beyond thrilled that Accompany Capital is one of Mercantile Mayhem’s sponsors.
Z&Z MANOUSHE MADNESS AT HUDA IN BROOKLYN
There was a line around the block for Z&Z’s insanely delicious manoushe this past Sunday outside Huda New Levantine Bistro in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Z&Z is owned and operated by the Dubbaneh family, based in Rockville, MD, outside Washington DC. Z&Z specializes in the manoushe, a type of flatbread with the glorious za’atar topping, often with labneh. When word got out that there would be a Z&Z pop-up in New York City, complete with a massive saj bred cooking dome, manoushe fans flocked.
I’ve eaten many manoushe before but never hot off the dome-like saj (top middle photo) and it was a whole other experience! The za’atar (thyme-like herb mix) was practically bubbling off the bread. And I never knew about the bread pillow! It’s a balloon-type of item that Danny Dubbaneh pulled the dough over before placing on the saj (I took many photos I’ll post them on my Instagram). The manoushe is a common breakfast item or snack with roots in Lebanon and surrounding countries, a flat bread typically topped with za’atar, labneh, maybe some cucumbers and tomatoes, among other variations. Z&Z served a version called Toum Raider and another the Lebanese Bride (but I had the classic za’atar).
The Dubbaneh family are Palestinian-American, I have wanted to meet them in person ever since 2021 when I first discovered Z&Z. What a warm and lovely family, three generations were present at the Brooklyn pop-up.
Z&Z sells their fresh manoushe at their Rockville, MD location and conduct periodic pop-ups, check the Z&Z Instagram for schedules (and hilarious posts). Z&Z sells frozen manoushe in supermarkets, however NYC residents have to travel to Mom’s Organic in Dobbs Ferry and New Jersey, or some Whole Foods, check locations here. I’ve been a big fan of their za’atar, sourced in Jenin in the West Bank, which you can buy through the website along with sumac, Aleppo pepper and a special Shawarma blend.
I wrote about their manoushe business in 2021 for the Guardian, part of a story about Palestinian businesses in the US at that time because of the awful 2021 circumstances, which can be read here.
UPCOMING WEBINAR: FUNDING OPTIONS FOR FEMALE FOUNDERS
Before donning a Halloween costume this Thursday, founders can take part in a Small Business Majority (yes, one of my marvelous sponsors who advocate for small business owners!) webinar about funding. This webinar is geared for both would-be and seasoned founders. Experts will talk about the steps founders can take when applying for small business loans, grant applications and designing crowdfunding campaigns.
Funding Forward: Innovative Capital Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs
Thursday, October 31, 2024
4:00pm ET
I GOT SPRAYED AT THE SELTZER MUSEUM
The one site I wanted to visit most during the phenomenal Open House New York weekend was the Brooklyn Seltzer Museum. It was just as glorious as I thought it would be, I even got (willingly) sprayed in the face with seltzer. It was a hot day, it was refreshing. There was a gentleman making egg creams, a classic New York City drink (no eggs involved), the old bottling facilities were on display along with the blue and green bottles among other equiptment. The OHNY weekend is over, but anyone interested in the history of seltzer can still book a tour here, typically on Fridays at 1pm.
The museum is part of Brooklyn Seltzer Boys, the actual 70 year old seltzer business that started as Gomberg Seltzer Works, Inc. The business was founded by Moe Gomberg in 1953 and continues today with Kenny and Alex Gomberg at the helm. Brooklyn Seltzer Boys is the last remaining seltzer factory in the city, they still deliver hand-filled bottles of seltzer (no plastic!) throughout New York City for what I think is a very reasonable price, I might add. Read a brief company history or watch this PBS New York Originals by Jamie McDonald.
NOSH NODS, NOMINATIONS STILL OPEN
There is still time to nominate a favorite snack, beverage or marketing campaign that stood out in the past year for Nosh’s Best Of 2024. Nosh covers the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry and have a nomination call for their annual “best of” competition. There are multiple categories: from best new product and packaging, to brand and person of the year. (For product or campaign submissions, they have to have been launched after July 1, 2023.)
Anyone can submit a nomination, deadline for submission(s) is November 1, 2024. All nominations will be published on nosh.com and winners will be announced on December 5, 2024. You can see last year’s Nosh Best Of awards here.
Thank you to Mercantile Mayhem’s sponsor Accompany Capital. Based in New York City, Accompany Capital, a CDFI, helps immigrants and refugees with loans and financial services. Please read about it here.
Thank you to Small Business Majority, Mercantile Mayhem’s sponsor. SBM supports and empowers small businesses across the US with a focus on public policy, its New York City branch was recently opened by Lindsey Vigoda. Please read about SBM here.
OPPORTUNITIES
Applications are open for the Tory Burch Foundation Fellows Program that selects 50 women entrepreneurs to participate in a year long program. Participants have access to workshops, coaching, networks and financial resources. Applications are due November 1, 2024.
The ScaleUp Bronx Business Pitch Challenge is seeking Bronx-based businesses for the pitch challenge on December 4, 2024. The top prize is $10,000; finalists will receive mentoring and business support. This entrepreneurial competition is presented by Accompany Capital (yes, one of Mercantile Mayhem’s wonderful sponsors!) and OceanFirst Bank. Bronx Businesses must meet requirements listed here, application deadline to be considered is October 30, 2024.
Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) is accepting applications for their four month Winter 2025 program starting January 13, 2025. Selected companies will receive an initial investment of $150K in a post-money SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) for 6% of each company and the potential for follow-on funding. Deadline is November 4, 2034, apply here.
Today is the last day to apply for the Food Future Co scale-up food accelerator, Cohort 13. Food Future Co’s primary interests are: consumer products, local food, plant-based food, sustainable seafood, ag tech, food tech and food waste. Click here for details, deadline is today, October 28, 2024.
Applications are open for the prestigious Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans that pays for one to two years of graduate study. It’s open to immigrants or children of immigrants. Deadline: October 31, 2024.
Immigrant founders, find your people and network through the Unshackled Ventures community. Unshackled Ventures is VC fund based out of the Bay Area cofounded by Manan Mehta and Nitin Pachisia, apply here.