Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Ultimate Market Town?



It's easy to feel a little smug and self-satisfied when you read that Portland has been voted second in the country for having the best farmer's market, or when you see a list of the nearly 40 markets that pop up every spring all around our fair city. But it's a bit of a wake-up when you venture outside of our little corner of the Northwest, whether it's Mazatlan, Korea or, especially, France, where going to the market is part of the fabric of the day for most people. The fishmonger, the cheese shop, the baker, the butcher…they're all part of the community circle, not a once-a-week trip for six months of the year. This video, shot this morning by my brother who's in Paris even as I write, shows us what it could be like right here in river city.

3 comments:

EcoGrrl said...

this is GREAT...i posted this on my Facebook...i do see how seattle beats us though, in comparison to paris it's not as exciting but pikes market does offer a lot more of a 'one stop shop' than portland does...while we have great markets here, they have a lot of room for growth (a great thing)...at the king market near me, i was disappointed to see almost as many 'food court' vendors as regular produce/meat/etc vendors, kind of a trip.

Kathleen Bauer said...

This seems to be a model that Portland Farmers' Market (and most other markets in PDX) uses to appeal to a wider variety of shoppers…not only cooks but eaters, too. What's really great is that many of these food vendors use the fresh produce brought by other vendors, giving people a chance to not only taste but see how it can be used.

B said...

Kate,

thank you for all your littel restaurant find. We are having fun time eating out at all these new inventive places. Was at Bar Avignon the other day, the appetizers and soup was excellent. Main dish not so much (pork) but we will go back to try again.. Love the setup of the place