Recommended Reading 2

 

Continuing the celebration of The Market Report's 10th year!

Each month of 2026, I'll be posting a different special feature to celebrate my 10th year of writing this blog. There's a lot to see already, so here's a summary of what we've done so far:

• January: Remembering A&P
• February: Best of 2016-2020
• March: Back in Time (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3)
• April: Recommended Reading
• May: Behind the Scenes
• June: Best of 2021-2025
• July: Shop the City

Following up on April's Recommended Reading post, here's some more recommendations. Now, I love supermarkets, but in my real life outside of this blog, I read (and write) about all kinds of food stuff, so let's step away from the world of supermarkets for a day. Here's the best of what you need to be reading food-wise outside supermarkets, plus a handful of supermarket-specific recommendations at the end.

Food Journalism

Okay, fair warning here: there's much more outstanding food journalism than I could ever actually compile here. I'm including only a small handful of my recent favorites, but there's a lot of amazing writing in the world that I can't include here.

Go follow these alternative and independent food websites

• The Lo Times: the must-read food publication in New York right now, written by veteran food critic Ryan Sutton. It's an essential source for reviews and food news
• Ravenous: a team of five notable food writers nationally have recently started this publication as an alternative to the mainstream food websites, focusing on detailed reporting and unusual stories

And these are some of my favorite articles elsewhere

• It's sadly behind a paywall, but Caity Weaver's I Found It: The Best Free Restaurant Bread in America is entertaining, incredibly well-researched, and the answer to the question you've always wanted to know
• Bon Appetit's skilled food director Chris Morocco investigates the role of the Italian restaurant in his life and in American culture in his feature Follow the Red Sauce Road
• Greg David, a longtime New York City business journalist, worked with an intern at The City Reporter to produce a thorough report on how New York mayor Mamdani’s Municipal Grocery Faces Basket Full of Challenges. He's also investigated whether the city could pull off a similar plan with pharmacies.

Food Books

Don't miss these essential food reads

• Choice Cuts: A Savory Selection of Food Writing from Around the World and Throughout History is the culinary tome you didn't know you needed. We're talking excerpts from food writing from Ancient Greece all the way up through the present day, all meticulously organized thematically with some notes and annotations by editor Mark Kurlansky.
• Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table is Ruth Reichl's memoirs, a fast-paced, entertaining, and wild collection of memories from a world-famous food writer who transformed the industry.
• Yes, Chef is another set of memoirs, this one from high-profile Ethiopian-Swedish chef Marcus Samuelsson. His obsession with food is intertwined throughout his fascinating life.

And here's a few supermarket books you should read

• Elephants in my Backyard tells Pathmark founder Alex Aidekman's story, though it's extremely rare (and expensive)
• Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America is one of the essential supermarket books of all time
• The Secret Life of Groceries is another extensive and personal stories examining everything you need to know about food stores

That's all for now, so check out some of these other resources and enjoy the weekend! See you on Monday for our visit to Vermont!