The last day of our road trip had arrived. The last stop on our three week trip was influenced by three people who I know but have never met. I am confident that you know them also. If you had a chance to dine at one of their tables, you would probably make a stop as well. The three people who I am referring to are famous and most people will know them by their first names…Mario, Lidia and son Joe. Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich and her son Joe Bastianich have made names for themselves as celebrities in the food industry.
If you have followed along, you know that we have stopped in some wonderful and well know tourist destinations and have had some outstanding food. So you are probably asking yourself where we stopped and where we ate that could have anything to do with the above famous three. We stayed at another exclusive and private B&B (our friends home in Connecticut…they had joined us in Ft. Lauderdale earlier on our trip). Our restaurant for our one night stay was 45 minutes away in Port Chester, N.Y. The Tarry Inn, a restaurant that is a partnership of Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, chef Andy Nusser and Nancy Selzer.
I should offer a little history. Last spring we visited our friends in Connecticut and during an outing stopped in Port Chester, N.Y. to buy baked goods at the Kneaded Bread, a fantastic bakery. Afterwards we walked across the street to the Tarry Market.
You are instantly transported to a little corner of Italy right on the streets of Port Chester. Walk inside the Tarry Market, a renovated elevator factory and you feel like you have been transported to a large European food market. Lining one wall are signed cookbooks by both Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich. Walk through an opening and you enter Tarry Wine, where Joe Bastianich has a great choice of wines for sale. Back in the market, it is hard for any foodie to not want to buy out the store. Walk around the corner and you find the Tarry Inn. The restaurant had just opened for the evening and we were able to enjoy a wonderful meal with our friends.
Flash forward to the present and I knew that we had to go back to the Tarry Inn, hence a stop at our friends beautiful home for a one night stay. We arrived before they were home but there was a note to come in and make ourselves comfortable. Soft classic music was playing, and fruit, cheese, olives and crackers were sitting out on the counter along with a note that chilled wine was in the refrigerator.
Now don’t you wish you could have an invitation to this B&B as well.
They arrived home and we shared a glass of wine before heading out to Port Chester. Our first stop was at the Tarry Market.
The choices are wonderful. There are cases of house made pasta such as short rib ravioli and squid ink tagliarini. Cheese counters with artisanal cheeses from the Hudson Valley share space with wonderful cheeses from Italy and the rest of Europe.
Big wheels of cheese line the wall. Fresh baked bread, cured meats, Italian olive oils and vinegars…I could go on and on.
It was time for dinner so we went around the corner to the Tarry Inn. The four of us shared three antipasti…Verdura Mista, Pesca Mista and Grilled Octopus with Potatoes.
We chose pasta as our main course and each dish was wonderful (good friends always share bites after waiting patiently while photos are taken).
We ended the meal with a chocolate cake with bitter orange sauce and pistachio ice cream. Our friends chose the Tarry sundae with sour cherries.
Back to Connecticut for a good nights sleep. The next morning after a lovely breakfast we said goodbye to our friends and headed home. We arrived to see a little snow remaining in the shady parts of the orchard and the pond is still frozen. We had a great trip and I hope you enjoyed following along.
Back Road Journal 
I did indeed enjoy the trip! Oh, the food!! You should weigh 300 pounds! I think I gained following along!
🙂
Welcome home!
Thank you Sue for the welcome home. I’m glad that you enjoyed following along on the trip. I gained four pounds in the three weeks but it was worth every ounce.
Hello! I enjoyed this post, I’ve discovered it through the ‘Read Blogs’ page, & glad I did! 🙂
Amazing post! All of your photos are so delicious.
I don´t want our, sorry…your…trip to end 😦 It´s been so much fun although I have put on a couple of kilos 😉
Hi Tanya, Thank you for your nice comment. I’m really glad that you felt like you were with us. Maybe someday you and big man can join us on a real journey if we get to Spain and your lovely mountain.
What an incredible pedigree of foodie friends you have! So fabulous!!! As for those displays in Tarry Markets, they don’t have anything like that here! If they did, it’d probably be hard to (get me) to leave, come closing hours! 🙂
Hi Alli, Thank you for stopping by for a visit and your nice comment. Tarry Market has such a wonderful array of products. We don’t have anything like it in New Hampshire either.
Not so much in Australia too 🙂
Karen thanks so much for bringing me on a food tour of your latest adventures! I have never in my life been to a deli that looked like that and most likely would go broke trying to buy more cheese than I needed to tote home! Your photographs are inspiring and your words make me feel like I am right there with you!
Thank you Karen, for your very nice comment. I am so happy that you enjoyed our latest adventure. It was fun finding great stops on our trip to Florida and back. The market is just great…our little towns in New Hampshire don’t have anything to compare.
This reminds me of a local place Mike and I found recently. Delicious!
Shame trip is over – you’ve brought us some amazing food and pictures of a few places I know and haven’t visited for a while. I suspect you’ll be cooking up a storm at home though and I’m looking forward to it;-)
Great food in those pictures too – I’ve seen pictures of big octopus and potato towers somewhere recently… – the one in your photo looks amazing!
Thank you Mad Dog. I appreciate you nice compliment. I am happy that you enjoyed the journey. Octopus and potatoes makes such a nice combination of flavors. Recipe posts will be back on the blog before you know it…I’m glad you are looking forward to them.
Amazing bakery/delicatessen etc. And the food, as always, looks delicious.
We have an Italian bakery, deli and grocery store nearby that’s similarly set up, though they don’t have fruits and veggies, thought they DO have pizza, lasagna, panzerotti and a number of other main dishes to take home. 🙂
The closest market that would be similar for us to visit would be in the North End of Boston which is an hour away. The markets there are much smaller as well.
People ask me why I don’t move from the city core and this bakery (a 5 min drive away) is one of the many reasons. 🙂
Life is about choices and we have made many over the years. We used to live in a very cosmopolitan city with everything we could have wished for as far as food choices were concerned only a block or two away. We decided we were ready for a simpler life and so gave up the wonderful conveniences. The one thing I didn’t give up was my love of food…so now I have to travel to markets and restaurants.
The food looks amazing!
I have definitely enjoyed your trip south and then the road back up, and what a lovely welcome in your B&B! The market looks delightful and the food, well I’d order the octopus too. I’ve neve rheard of the foddies you mentioned, so new name to learn. Claire
Hi Claire, I’m so happy that you enjoyed the road trip with us. I guess each country has their own TV food celebrates. I often see names mentioned from all my blogging friends in other countries that aren’t familiar to me either.
Omg, all that food looks wonderful. I’m craving pistachio ice cream right now!
Wow, what a market and that cheese plate. Everything looks fabulous. Glad you guys had such a great trip.
That sounded like absolute heaven, how wonderful to have visited the real thing! all that food, I am, gobsmacked! c
It’s lunchtime and I’m getting very hungry looking at the beautiful pictures! I think this must have been a superb experience. Thank you!
I don’t think I could do Octopus tentacles
Hi Trixfred, If your eyes were closed and someone put a forkful in your mouth, you wouldn’t know you were eating octopus. If properly prepared it has mild taste and texture similar to shrimp.
Enjoyed reading about your trip. This last stop looks fabulous. I love the market and all the food looks delicious.
Yum!
What a wonderful adventure.. I have to get to that Terry Market at some point in my life!! Everything looks so fresh, gourmet and perfectly arranged:) It made my “foodie heart” flutter!
Hi Smidge, We really did have a wonderful adventure. If you are in the Greenwich/Port Chester/New York area it would definitely be a good stop for a foodie. Thank you for your comment.
Ahhh.. some day, we’re snow-bound at the moment… (kid-bound and work-bound too, I guess)
Well, with that title you knew you’d grab my attention but, just to be sure, you drop the names of Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich. It worked and am I glad it did! What a great market and fabulous meal! Each dish looks better that the one before and all look so delicious! I’ve been working on a post about making garganelli by hand, so, seeing it here was a treat. Thanks, Karen, for taking us along — and special thanks to your Husband and dinner companions who, as you stated, wait patiently for pictures to be taken. Welcome home! 🙂
Thank you John, for your very nice comment and the welcome home. I was thinking about you as I walked through Tarry Market. They really did have some wonderful pastas. Several shapes that I don’t think were traditional but would look lovely on a plate and so many flavors. I do have good friends and a wonderful husband. You can’t believe how fast I grabbed their dishes away from them for photos…very understanding to say the least.
This place looks amazing. It’s such a shame it’s so far from here to there *sighs*. You are lucky to have eaten twice at the Tarry Inn. All the food looks wow but my eye is particularly drawn to the chocolate cake with bitter orange sauce and pistachio ice-cream.
Hi B, Thank you for your comment. You have a good eye as far as the cake is concerned. We all agreed it was great. The outside had a very crunchy top but the inside was like eating a soufflé. The bitter orange sauce was perfect and then you had the pistachio gelato for the cool finish. Yum.
Welcome home! Glad you had a wonderful trip with so many wonderful food destinations. Thanks for sharing. Everything looks delicious as usual!
Now, that’s one delicious posting. I will admit to gazing at the cheeses a lot and bookmarking this for inspiration. Going to NYC in a few weeks… wishing I was going to Port Chester.
Hi Claudia, Thank you so very much for your nice compliment. I know that you will certainly have a wonderful time in NYC. Be sure to go to Mario and Joe’s Eataly. It is the mother of Italian markets and makes Tarry Market look tiny. They have so many of their restaurants in the city as well. If you go to any of them or Eataly, I would love to hear back from you.
That citrus display is gorgeous! I love the batali/bastianich empire, wonderful post!
What a fun time with friends! I’d love to stop at the Tarry Market….I’m sure I’d need and extra suitcase to take my purchases home!! Thanks for sharing your adventures with us 🙂
The cheese and bread counters are just wonderful! What a wonderful experience to wrap up your lovely trip! I loved the graciousness of the your hosts with the the fruit, cheese, olives and crackers–and wine, of course. It was such an inviting way to begin! I’m hungry!! Debra
Hi Debra, Thank you for your comment. Our friends are wonderful and always make us feel so welcomed. Friendship is one of the most precious things we have during our life…it is to be treasured.
What a lovely way your friends welcomed you. And oh my, I want to shop at Tarry Market. I call that “soul shopping.”
Hi Marlene, Thank you for your nice comment. Our friends welcome us with open arms and make our stay with them special. Tarry Market is a great place to visit…I like the idea “soul shopping”.
Wow the markets look incredible. all that cheese and small goods. Glad to see that people are still in business!
Oh why do all good things have to come to an end. Here’s to your next brilliant trip.
🙂 Mandy
Thank you Mandy. It is back to the real world now…washing, ironing, cooking, cleaning. Of course, I am always thinking about the next trip.
I love the look of that market. I could spend hours there. How beautifully is everything displayed!
You sure had a great trip and may be glad you decided to drive. As good as the dinner looks, I love the market and would likely have to get a loan to buy my way out.
I enjoyed your trip so very much, Karen. Your dinner looked out of this world, but I’m like Larry, and probably would have spent most of the day in that gorgeous market.
Welcome back … thank you for sharing your movable feast! … Susan
Oh…My..Gosh! I would spend a fortune in that market! Thank you for the tour. The Linguini, clams and chilies looks amazing.
That market looks absolutely FABulous! Man would I love to visit it. Aren’t road trips just the best? and thank you for taking us along. I’ve loved all the photos and food and scenery. I’ve had a Lidia and son chicken cantallano (sp?) recipe bookmarked for over a year now. I really should try to make it.
I’m glad that you enjoyed following along on our road trip, Lea Ann. We had a great time the whole way down to Florida and back to New Hampshire. The market really inspires you to start cooking an Italian meal. It is a good thing that Mario’s restaurant was just around the corner.
Your photos are wonderful…made me think I was right there with you. I’d love that B&B.
Don’t you adore great cheeses and breads??
Hi Barbara, Thank you so much for your nice compliment. Breads and cheeses get me every time. Many a late evening meal has been the two combined with a nice glass of wine.
Wow, Tarry Market looks fabulous. All those meats and cheeses and breads. I’d love to have a place like that nearby me! And that chocolate cate with the pistachio gelato looks amazing!
Karen, throughout this adventure with you and your husband, I’ve been struck by your generosity! Your willingness to have us readers as part of the baggage you schlepped along was Such a gift to all of us, but i can only hope we didn’t get underfoot (or under table) too often! We had such fun…learned a lot, saw beautiful sites, and ate SO well….now it’s definitely time to fire up the treadmill! Thanks again, so much!
Thank you so much Spree, for your very nice compliment. I am always very happy to hear that my readers like to accompany my husband and I on our travels. Yes, we came back with a few pounds as souvenirs. No more appetizers, tasting menus, and pre and post desserts for a while.
What a fabulous market. Part of me would love to have something similar around the corner but the other part knows that it would too tempting to resist being there all the time. Dinner looks fabulous! It’s been fun joining you on your trip- Friends make a trip and yours have just wonderful B&Bs!
Hi Jenny, Thank you for your nice comment. I’m happy that you enjoyed being part of the trip. I know what you mean…I think if the market was around the corner, I would be there all the time as well. We did have two exceptional B&B’s on this trip.
Oh your pictures make me hungry, hungry… mmmmmm… Thanks for taking us along!!
Karen I wish that I could teleport the Tarry Market to my neighborhood! What a wonderful looking market and the food is divine. What a lucky girl you are! Be safe.
Thank you Teresa, for you nice comment. I was lucky to have been on such a nice trip. Staying with friends, the Tarry Market and Inn, were all icing on the cake. A lovely way to end our road trip.
The Terry Market reminds me a little of Batalli’s Eataly emporioum in Manhattan as it had so many good foods to chose from! Your Tarry Inn dinner looked scrumptious!
You have a every enjoyable blog!
Hi Pat, Thank you for stopping by for a visit and your very nice compliment. I think you are right about the Tarry Market being a little version of Mario and Joe’s food emporium Eataly. Our dinner was delicious. I think getting a chance to eat at any of the Batali restaurants would be great.
What an amazing place to visit-you could really get lost in a shop like that! 🙂
Oh my goodness…what wonderful pictures and foods. All I can say is…enjoy your detox. ; ) ~~Bliss
Hi Bliss, Thank you for your compliment. Detox is right…I know my stomach will think that my throat has been cut. No more tasting menus in the near future until the scale says otherwise.
I don’t know where to start! The Tarry Market is just amazing….I could spend a day in there easily. And my, what a trip you have had from a foodie perspective as well as just plain fun places to go, Karen! I’m going to stop thinking how envious I am and just say how much I’ve enjoyed the ride. I feel like I’m gaining weight just seeing all of this beautiful food. You’ll have so much inspiration when you get home. Thanks for the ride, and the drooling! 🙂
Thank you Betsy, for your nice comment. I’m glad you came along for the ride. Virtual weight is so easy to loose. We had a great time and it ended just as nicely as it began.
Terry Market sounds very much like Eataly in Manhattan…as place that my wife and I enjoy visiting when we’re back in NYC. The dishes at the Inn looks fantastic. What a great trip!
Hi Jed, Eataly is the BIG brother to Tarry Market for sure. The next time we go to NYC you know I will be making a stop there. The dinner at Tarry Inn was the perfect ending to our trip.
What a gorgeous market Karen, it’s merchandised so beautifully. And the food from your little corner of Italy looks delicious. What a lovely trip and thank you for sharing it with us all.
How fantastic! It all looks so wonderful.
wow what an amazing market wish it was in my town 🙂
You are making me hungry with the pictures. The farmer’s market in Kitchener-Waterloo is not quite as amazing, but still pretty good.
Is there anything better than an Italian deli? Just the thought of the smells makes me get all antsy! There’s a new market that opened last year in NYC that I am crazy to go to as it appears to be an Italian foodie delight. Girl, you do know all the right places to stay!
Hi Lulu, I love a good Italian deli. Are you talking about Eataly…Mario and Joe’s food emporium? I hear it is wonderful. We did have lovely places to stay on this trip.
Eataly, that’s it!
Every photo showed gorgeous food — it’s midnight, and now I’m hungry! 🙂 I need to remember to read your blog long before bedtime…
This market is AMAZING! Way better stocked than eataly in NYC is!
Hi Joanne, Thank you for your comment and the tip about Eataly. I might still go there if I’m in the neighborhood but won’t make a special trip. Tarry Market was a pleasure to visit and there are other nice little shops in Port Chester to visit as well.
You certainly know how to pick the places Karen. Love the welcoming note and soft music playing at the B&B upon your arrival. That alone would have relaxed me and made me feel very much at home.
I would have had a very difficult time leaving that fabulous market. I would be big as a house if I lived near there…….
Sam
Hi Sam, Thank you for your nice compliment. After a long day of driving, the note and soft music was most welcomed. We so enjoyed our evening at the market and restaurant with our friends. I totally agree, the market could be very dangerous to the waistline.
What a nice way to end your trip! I love to see some of the ventures that Mario gets involved with. I would spend a lot of money at this market I can tell. I really like that they have not only imported items but also local items from the Hudson Valley. That is such a great mix.
The food on this leg of your journey has been wonderful and your photos are the next best thing to being there. This was a terrific post and I enjoyed every word of it. Have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Hi Mary, Thank you so much for your very nice compliment. I’m glad that you have enjoyed following along on our journey.
Karen, you have ended your trip in a real shopping paradise! The dishes look fantatic too. I have thoroughly enjoyed following you and am looking forward to your future trip stories.
Hi Sissi, Thank you for your comment. I’m so happy that you enjoyed following along on our road trip. It will be interesting to see where we will head next. One thing for sure, good food will be involved.
What a fabulous trip and perfect Grand Finale!! So, what did you buy?? I think I’d be in there for hours on end and want everything I saw!!! Your friends sound like perfect food companions, how sweet of a welcome treat they left for you! Can’t wait for your next trip!!
Hi Linda, Thank you for your comment. We did have a great trip and it was fun ending it with our friends. I could have bought the store out but I restrained myself and bought a small bottle of balsamic vinegar. There will be another trip in our future…just don’t know where yet.
OK, I’m officially starving!!!! All that bread, pasta and cheese is killing me. Everything looks amazing. This place looks great–must visit soon. I’m with Linda, I look forward to reading about your next trip aka drooling over food photos!
Karen, I enjoyed so much “traveling” with you…everything looks so pretty and so yummie! Love the pictures and the descriptions.
Again, thanks for the virtual travel…hope you are having a fabulous week 🙂
Wow, wow and wow again. This is what my city lacks a food culture. Thanks for taking us along on your journey. We enjoyed the trip.
Cheers.
Velva
Thank you, thank you, thank you Velva. I’m always so happy when readers like my posts as much as you did. I’m glad you enjoyed the trip. Wouldn’t we all love to have so many wonderful foodie choices close to us. We don’t…so we travel.
Wow what a great post, Thanks for taking me along on this beautiful journey with your post…
I can spend hours n hours in such wonderful place….
Thanks for letting us travel along with you! Did you happen to take any cooking lessons while there?
Hi Bobbi, Thank you for your comment. There weren’t any cooking classes offered.
It has has always been a life long dream of mine to eat my way through Italy. BAM
I know what you mean, Bobbi. All of the meals that I have had in Italy have been wonderful.
Wow.. just look at that market. I am in love. I think I would’ve heard the bells of heaven ring in my head the minute I stepped foot into this place.. I just bet that happened to you LOL. And look at that chocolate cake.. yup I’m in love
What amazing food! That linguine with clams looks fabulous.
Okay, I’m starving. Truly, I couldn’t look away from this post. Must book a trip soon!
The Verdura Mista makes my mouth water!
I wish I had a Tarry Market – but then it could be quite dangerous and addictive I imagine, Looks like a wonderful time, a great trip, thanks for sharing!
Wow. Wow wow wow. At first I just saw the title of the post and the photos and just assumed it was about a trip to Italy, but no, it’s just the east coast! That’s way easier to get to! 🙂
And a B&B that leaves out a fancy cheese platter for you…that’s heaven right there. I know I’ll be coming back here again!
Incredible! Wow!!! What a lovely market and spread 🙂 Cheers!
Wow! Thanks for sharing. Can you bring me along on your next adventure? 🙂
What a fabulous market! I am sure I put on five pounds just looking at the wonderful breads and cheeses. I could make meals just out of those! How beautiful. The restaurant looks wonderful too. Wow, what a taste of Italy!
All that food ! All those cured meats – what a heavenly trip !
The Tarry Market looks amazing. I get excited just thinking about such beautiful places. My best friend lives in CT so maybe next time I venture to NY, after visiting her, I will stop at this market.
If you are in the area, you should definitely visit the area of Port Chester. The market is wonderful, the restaurant is great and there is a wonderful bakery across the street.
Beautiful pictures, delicious food! What a fun trip!
ohh! such pretty photos! i love it! i want to go to this market! Right on 23rd street in new york (same street i live on!) is Eataly — I’m sure you’ve heard of it seeing that you love Mario. It’s such a cool market that makes you feel like you are walking around a market in italy. If you ever come to new york city and go there I’ll meet you for a drink! 🙂
Hi Cayla, Thank you for your nice comment. I have heard of Eataly and would love to meet you for a drink…it is an offer I can’t refuse. Now I’m really looking forward to a trip to NYC.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful trip. I love the photos. It’s so wonderful and beautiful.
Looking on the pictures you posted, I missed Italy, terribly. I can’t wait to go and visit my family. Hopefully this summer! Finger cross
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you as well, Maddy.
Tarry Lodge is one of my new favorite restaurants. Although it’s 45 minutes away, it is sooo worth it. Somehow I missed the Tarry Market. It looks incredible.
Thank you for stopping by for a visit and your nice comment. The market is just around the corner. Plan to go early before your reservation and take a look around.
I wish that we had something like Tarry Market here in the foothills!
Hey there is an idea for a business to open!
Oh my this post looked yummy. Looked like a “filling” stop on your road trip.
Hi Julz, Thank you for stopping for stopping by to visit and your comment. I love it “filling stop”…perfect description of our last day.
*sigh* I can’t believe the trip is over. what a fabulous way to end it however. The way to my heart is via my stomach for sure. Especially with cheese, pasta and any kind of cured meat! The Tarry Market is on my to-do list.
my husband and I spent a very special New Year’s eve dinner at Mario’s “Babbo” a few years back and it was truly one of the best meals I have ever eaten. (I had the venison.) I just KNOW I must have been Italian in my last life!
Hi Carol, Thank you for following along on our trip. It was a wonderful trip and I can’t believe it is over either. I’m a “have suitcase…will travel” person and hate it when I put my suitcases away. Mario is such a good chef and I think all of his restaurants must be great.
Wonderful blog and particularly love this post 🙂 Saluti da Torino!
Hi Rachel, Thank you for stopping by for an visit and your nice comment. We have a lot in common as I also lived in North Miami Beach for awhile and of course shopped at Laurenzo’s for all of my Italian ingredients.
Fantastic! NMB is my hometown 🙂
Keep up the great work…e buon proseguimento!