Best New Shops for Food Lovers

From a purveyor of luscious jams in Los Angeles to an artisanal NYC boutique with in-house classes, here are the best gourmet and specialty shops to open in 2013.

Sqirl; Los Angeles
Although jam-maker Jessica Koslow’s Silver Lake store had been open for less than a year, by last September she had to overhaul the entire space to add 20 new seats. Now she can accommodate more of the diners clamoring for a taste of her luscious, hyper-local preserves, like Black Mission Fig & Red Wine and Wild Blueberry and Tarragon. The seasonal jams are paired with brioche toast and house-made ricotta on Sqirl’s small breakfast menu. The shop also retails Koslow’s full line of seasonal jams and offers canning and cooking workshops. sqirlla.com

Umami Mart; Oakland, CA
A crew of Japanophile friends turned their popular online shop into a brick-and-mortar store selling everything from a special pan for oyako donburi (a type of Japanese omelet) to seeds from Kitazawa, a brand specializing in Asian produce like shiso. In 2013, they added U-Mart, a special section inspired by Japanese convenience stores, which carries packaged noodles, snacks and teas that are hard to find in the US. umamimart.com

Haven’s Kitchen; NYC
A welcome addition to the Flatiron District, Haven’s Kitchen carries a great collection of artisanal brands (like Bellocq tea and Crown Maple syrups), and offers lovely gift sets packaged in sweet cloth totes. The shop also presents an intriguing variety of in-house classes. havenskitchen.com

Nourish Kitchen + Table; NYC
Marissa Lippert is a nutritionist by trade, and her new West Village kitchen shop and café has quickly become a go-to for fashionable foodies grabbing healthy and delicious dishes like farro salad with roasted beets, fresh peaches and pecorino, or stocking up on cool housewares including cookbooks and ceramics by the local artist Eric Bonnin. nourishkitchentable.com

Campbell Cheese; Brooklyn
Brooklyn is rife with cheese and specialty food shops, but this corner store (run by two sisters) quickly gained a neighborhood following for its killer cheese selection, seasonal produce from New York’s Finger Lakes region and classic goods like baguettes and fresh mozzarella made by small, old-school New York businesses. The store also has a highly curated selection of home goods and beers by hard-to-find small-batch brewers like Evil Twin. campbellcheese.com

The London Plane; Seattle
This is the first phase of a larger restaurant and kitchen shop that F&W Best New Chef 2007 Matt Dillon has in the works. The current incarnation is a lovely spot to shop for cookbooks, housewares (like locally made pottery) and wines by the bottle. A local florist, Katherine Anderson, collaborated on the project, and offers gorgeous wildflower bouquets and custom arrangements. You can also pick up hearth-baked bread and takeout Mediterranean dishes at Dillon’s café. thelondonplaneseattle.com

Eataly Chicago
This much-anticipated second US location of the Italian gourmet mega-store does not disappoint. The 63,000-square-foot complex in Chicago’s River North District houses nine restaurants, including a dedicated Nutella bar and Mario Batali’s high-end Baffo, an osteria that greatly resembles his perpetually swamped Babbo in New York.eataly.com

The Foundry Home Goods; Minneapolis
Owner Anna Hillegass stocks this cozy Midwestern shop with items that reflect Minneapolis’s Scandinavian influences, like wooden bowls from Nordic WoodenWare and minimalist white ceramics. Other awesome finds include locally made beeswax candles, delicate gold-plated utensils and Japanese kitchen towels. thefoundryhomegoods.com

Farm and Fable; Boston
Opened by a former lawyer, this brand-new shop in Boston’s South End features vintage cookbooks (with a few new releases mixed in), midcentury glassware and copper cookware. There are plans in the works to create a space for cooking demonstrations and hands-on classes devoted to recipes from the store’s extensive cookbook inventory. farmandfable.com