The 21st century should be a gastronome's utopia; we have globalisation, cloning, genetic modification and global supply chains all at our beck and call. So why has it become trendy for the bourgeois to brag about buying odd-shaped vegetables from local guys who keep allotments?

Well, farmers markets are a big deal in New York (and the rest of the States) too, with CENYC providing the best day-by-day guide to the city's 100+ freshest, finest and local Green Markets. And then there's the rapidly expanding Whole Foods (who recently bought Fresh & Wild and will soon occupy 75,000 sq ft within Barkers department store on High St Ken) serving those who find such organic living all a bit too muddy. However, NYC's Chelsea Market offers us a glimpse of what's to come when we sod all the wholesomeness and, finally, things start to swing back the other way.

Housed, tellingly in the building that for much of its life produced America's favourite biscuit, The Oreo, Chelsea Market is a Dean & Deluca for independent suppliers, without the pretence or the price; a New York all-weather homage to good eating, fine dining and indulgent living.

There, under one roof, is a Zagat-rated Who's Who of master bakers, chocolatiers, fishmongers and grocers. And unlike the many of the more earthy suppliers who rely on hand-painted superlatives to convince you of provenance, much of Chelsea's back rooms and kitchens are behind glass walls, making cupcakes, sourdoughs or inch thick hanger steaks a spectator sport as well as a gastronomic delight.

But if such culinary temptation isn't your thing (and god help you if it isn't), Chelsea Market also plays host to one of the city's most captivating, but little-known must-sees - an open-to-all Saturday dance session. The summer months see seasonal salsa, whilst the early nights of winter seem to suit the stern-faced Manhattan couples dancing the melancholic tango.

It all makes Broadway market seem positively working class (again).