Monday morning at the Union Square Greenmarket brought a noticeable change in produce. Shoppers picked up butternut squash, apples, and late-season greens as temperatures dipped over the weekend. Local chefs and home cooks are adjusting menus, swapping out summer salads for heartier fare.
Dishes like pumpkin chili and chicken pot pie soup are surfacing in restaurant specials across Manhattan and Brooklyn. At a small café in Clinton Hill, a cook prepared a maple-bacon chopped salad just after the noon rush. The aroma of roasted root vegetables was present in several bakeries near Astoria Park on Sunday.
Retailers reported increased sales of spices like cinnamon and nutmeg since Labor Day. These ingredients are turning up in both savory and sweet preparations. One bakery on the Lower East Side updated its menu with apple crumble and spiced loaves for the first full week of September.
With the start of the school year and shorter evenings setting the rhythm for city life, many kitchens are planning for more braises and stews. Restaurant managers say they expect to move through more pumpkins and squashes by the end of the month as demand for autumn recipes grows.