Tremblay Apiaries Honey Shop Stand at Union Square Market

Tremblay Apiaries comes down to Manhattan from the Finger Lakes twice a week, and the honey on its Union Square Greenmarket table is about as straightforward as the city gets: raw honey in plain jars and tubs, creamed honey, a spicy hot honey and beeswax candles. The family business has been producing honey since 1970, and its stand on the northern edge of Union Square, near 17th Street and Broadway, is where many New Yorkers buy their honey by the pound rather than by the gift jar.

The Tremblay name is printed with Est. 1970 on the company's website, which describes more than 50 years of producing raw honey. Production is based at 34 South Main Street in Spencer, New York, a small village south of Ithaca, and the Union Square Cafe, which has hosted the family at its events, names the beekeeper as Alan Tremblay. GrowNYC's market listing describes the stand as honey and candles from Chemung County, the county just next door, which reflects where the bee yards sit across that part of the Southern Tier.

That rural setting is what separates Tremblay from the rooftop sellers elsewhere in the market. These hives forage over farm fields, hedgerows and woodland rather than city parks and street trees, and the result is a dependable, mellow honey made in volume. The company has also mentioned expanding toward Asheville, North Carolina, but the Union Square table remains its New York outlet.

The appeal here is value. On Tremblay's website, an 8 ounce jar of raw honey is listed at $7, a 1 pound jar of pure raw honey at $10 and a 4 pound container at $44. Those are among the lowest per-pound prices for raw honey you will find at a Manhattan market, and regulars who bake or sweeten a lot of tea tend to buy the big size. The website does not say whether the market table charges the same as the online shop.

Two specialty jars are worth tasting. Creamed honey, listed online at $12, is honey that has been crystallized under control until it is smooth and spreadable, closer to soft butter than syrup, and it stays put on toast instead of running off the edge. Al's Sweet Heat Honey, listed at $8, is the family's hot honey, a raw honey with a chili kick that works on pizza, fried chicken and roasted squash.

Beeswax is the other reason to stop. The GrowNYC description specifically mentions candles, and the hand-dipped tapers and small pillars smell faintly of honey when they burn. They make an easy gift to buy alongside a jar, and they pack more easily than glass if you are traveling.

Tremblay's website says the family is at the Union Square market on Fridays and Saturdays from 8 am to 5 pm, except on major holidays. That schedule is narrower than the market itself, which also runs on Mondays and Wednesdays, so a midweek visit will not find this stand. Saturday is the market's most crowded day, and Friday morning is noticeably calmer if you want time to talk to the beekeeper about which jars are freshest.

Cold weather does not shut the market, but outdoor tables in January are a brisk experience, and buying the big 4 pound tub in winter means carrying a heavy, chilly container through the park, so bring a sturdy bag.

Raw, unfiltered honey from a rural apiary like this one will often crystallize in your cupboard. That is a sign it has not been heavily processed, and if you prefer it liquid, a warm water bath will soften it. Many regulars choose the creamed honey precisely to avoid the issue, since it is already in its smooth, set form and spreads straight from the jar.

How much to buy depends on how you use it. The 8 ounce jar is the sensible trial size if you are comparing Tremblay with a rooftop honey from another stand, and it is small enough to tuck into a bag with the rest of your market haul. The 1 pound jar is the kitchen workhorse. The 4 pound container only makes sense if you bake weekly, sweeten iced tea by the pitcher or split it with a roommate, but at that size the price per pound drops further.

It also helps to think of this stand as a pantry stop rather than a tasting destination. Rural apiaries working the same fields every summer tend to produce a mellow, familiar honey, and that consistency is exactly what regular customers come back for. If you are curious about single-source urban honey, buy a small jar here and a small rooftop jar elsewhere in the market, then taste them together at home.

The stand sits close to the northern blocks of the square, which are good for an unhurried walk. Union Square Cafe, the restaurant that helped make the market famous among chefs, is at 101 East 19th Street, a few minutes away. ABC Carpet and Home, the sprawling home goods store with a ground floor full of lamps, textiles and curiosities, is at 888 Broadway, near 19th Street.

From there, Broadway leads north to the Flatiron Building and Madison Square Park, where the Shake Shack kiosk and rotating public art installations are a short stroll away. It is an easy route to fill a Saturday morning after buying honey, and it keeps you above ground in one of the most walkable parts of Manhattan.

Take the 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R or W train to the Union Square station and walk to the northern side of the park near 17th Street and Broadway, where the Greenmarket tables line the plaza. Tremblay Apiaries sells there on Fridays and Saturdays from 8 am to 5 pm, except major holidays. Prices quoted here are from tremblayapiaries.com.