Jennifer KimChef at Passerotto

“Joong Boo Market is sort of a community center for Koreans. We’ve been going as a family since I was young, and the availability of familiar products is really wonderful. There’s an entire wall of open refrigerators with different dried seafood — anchovies, fish cakes, squid, and octopus — in all sorts of textures and shapes.” 3333 N. Kimball Ave., Avondale

Jonathan ZaragozaChef at Birrieria Zaragoza

“Cremeria La Ordeña specializes in off-the-beaten-path Mexican ingredients, like chapulines, hoja santa, dried purple corn, and tender dried chiles that give your sauce a better texture. Their in-house Oaxaca cheese is exceptional: It’s buttery and super versatile — you can put it on salad.” 5954 S. Pulaski Rd., West Lawn

Yolanda CastilloChef at Garifuna Flava

“Pete’s Fresh Market has a good selection of items we eat in my home country of Belize that I can’t find in regular grocery stores: papaya, tamarind, mamey. I buy green plantains to make my restaurant’s chips and hudut. I can find cassava, which I use to make my conch soup and cassava cake.” 5838 S. Pulaski Rd., West Elsdon

Stephanie HartChef at Brown Sugar Bakery

“I find super-gourmet items at Aldi — ghee, fine chocolate, all kinds of little wafers and cookies — for excellent prices. They have some of the best guacamole you’ve ever tasted. I get all my nuts, my dates, and my dried fruits from Aldi. There are huge savings on frozen fruit. People are just sleeping on Aldi!” Multiple locations

Fred NoinajChef at Lost Lake

“There’s a full section of fresh mushrooms at H Mart that seems to be forever rotating: enoki, honshimeji, oyster, beech, king trumpet. They have them in reasonably priced and sized packs, so you can get a half or quarter pound of each and not spend more than $20.” 711 W. Jackson Blvd., West Loop

Erin KorollPastry chef at Cellar Door Provisions

“Cermak Fresh Market has a good selection of European high-fat butters and Amish butters. We make all of our bread at home, and whenever we want to try a new flour, from goji berry to barley, Cermak usually has it. In the Eastern European section, there are really cool preserves, like papaya and cashew fruit, and honeys from different flowers, like acacia and thistle.” 4000 W. Diversey Ave., Avondale