Puro Chile

I was excited to read about the opening of a store in Soho dedicated to the sale and promotion of Chilean gourmet food products and wines.  I’m always searching for new ingredients and it’s good to have a new focus for my obsession.  Puro Chile, a Hitchcock-sleek light box store on the corner of Center and Grand, is definitely obsession worthy.  What’s most surprising is how warm the space becomes the moment you step inside.  The staff is genuinely enthusiastic and the sparse room is dominated by  a large tasting table at the center.  Though they’re inventory is still growing, the shelves are lined with avocado oils and wine vinegars alongside chutneys made with murtilla, a cranberry like fruit related to the guava, and figs spiced with merkén, a Mapuche blend of smoked and dried chiles.  An adjacent wine shop is now open and carries over 200 labels.  On their website, they trace the origin of pre-Columbian Chilean culture to early human settlers in the region, no less than 13,000 years ago.  A remarkable thing to note from such an absolutely contemporary outpost.