Case of the Missing Baba from West Side Market

There is so much talk about the missing Baba that I was compelled to sit down and give it some respect by writing about its disappearance. You see Baba is really short for Baba Ganoush — a traditional Middle Eastern food made from aubergine/ brinjal purée, garlic and tahini. Baba used to live in the West Side Market on 110th and Broadway, until early this month the market closed and caused alarming concerns throughout the neighborhood.

If you go to the market you will see the signs of neighborhood in dispair — messages written all over the wall of once Greek owned store. While we are looking for our Baba, others are looking for their Portuguese sardines and whitefish salad (actually, that salad was pretty good). One of those places that sold good food in outrageously narrow aisles and managed to escape the usual cold feel of most NYC markets. Let me tell you, people went blocks out of their way to buy food at the West Side Market. And yes, we, the Harlem residents, probably did most tracking to get there.

The big sign on the wall says that the market moved to 15th street and 7th avenue but we investigated and, even though we saw the Greek owner (and we made sure he doesn’t see us — how desparate are we!) we didn’t find our Baba.

To all the 110th street West Side Market followers, if you find Baba, let us know!