After 60 years slinging some of the best hand-made mozzarella in town, Joe's Dairy will shut its doors for good tomorrow. Jeremiah's Vanishing New York reports the sad news that Saturday will be the shop's last day in operation, though their wholesale business will stay open. It seems that not enough people were stopping in to pick up antipasti and chat with the famously friendly staff and the owners decided it was time to say goodbye.
The shop was one of the last holdouts in a neighborhood that has been changing for decades into a glitzy area for trendy restaurants and exclusive art galleries. Charming as the retro sign may be to us, it looks like tourists and other money spenders weren't entranced by the call of the city's past. As New York Daily Photo explained last year, "If you're looking for stability in a world of change, visit Joe's Diary."
And visit it one last time you should. Devoted fans and unchristened newbies can buy the shop's addictive smoked mozzarella—and all the other meats, cheese and Italian goodies—today and tomorrow until 6 p.m., when the shutters roll down for good, and New York City loses another piece of its soul.
Here's a peak behind the scenes of how the mozzarella gets made, by hand, every single day:
