1. Connecticut Spring Antiques Show
City: Hartford, CT
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (860) 493-1300
Address: 265 Reverend Moody Overpass
Description: For almost 4 decades, the Connecticut Spring Antiques Show has brought over 70 dealers from around the state and the country to the Expo Center in Hartford. It was founded by Frances Walker Phipps, who wrote for the Hartford Courant and New York Times about antiques and mandated that all the furniture at the show must be from before 1840, the year when mass production changed it forever. It is held on a Sat and Sun, usually in Mar. You can get sandwiches, soups, and desserts in the Tea Room, and browse the endless stalls for the prize of a lifetime.
2. Eiko Japanalia
City: Hartford, CT
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (860) 232-4677
Address: 11 Whitney St.
Description: This unique store was brought to Hartford from Tokyo in 1981 by designers Eiko Sakai and Dan Blow. They take high-quality fabrics like silk and design clothes for women and men, combining Japanese and contemporary influences. Located in West Hartford for 18 years, they have recently moved back onto Whitney Street in Hartford, next door to their outlet store. That gives you two options: limited-edition clothing made in a small sewing shop, and bargain-priced closeouts and consignments. They are open every day but Mon. The styles you’ll find here are classy and unique, appropriate for many ages, and even a browsing trip will leave you with a sense of the wider world of fashion.
3. The Market At 21
City: Hartford, CT
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (860) 560-2121
Address: 06103
Description: The owners of this fairly new upscale market also run the award-winning Mill at 2T, so you know they are dedicated to improving the quality of food in Hartford County. This market is full of specialty food, like quail and duck eggs, foie gras, truffle butter, olive oils, and rare cheeses. They have local products and global delicacies: chocolates, mini donuts, hummus, pizza, pasta, and a cereal bar where you can get Grape-Nuts by the pound. There is also a butcher shop and a coffee bar on the premises. The Market at 21 is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mon through Fri, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.
4. Modern Pastry Shop
City: Hartford, CT
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (860) 296-7628
Address: 422 Franklin Ave.
Description: With its brick building and vintage sign, Modern Pastry may not look “modern” to some eyes. But the glass-and-chrome cases, long coffee counter, and swivel stools give this place an air of authenticity, compared by many to the north end of Boston—except, you know, better. Family owned since 1958, Modern will fill the thin crusts of your cannolis to order while you wait with filling that must be (or should be) illegal. They also have homemade pastries, lemon ice, mocha cakes, whipped cream cakes, gelato, and imported Italian candies and chocolates. You can sit at the long counter with an espresso or cappuccino from 6 a.m. every day but Mon, or take some of these delicious pastries to work, where you will be the hero of the office.