As you know, we do like to be first here at I-S. Although Pasarbella’s soft launch is scheduled for this weekend (May 4-5), we finagled ourselves a visit to the gourmet market (which we first heard about at the start of the year) last Friday.
It would be easy to discount the project. Though it sells itself as a farmer’s market, there’s no local produce in sight. Instead, there are prepared food stalls—around 30 of them in total—offering everything from savory meals (think paella and rotisserie chicken) to craft beers and wine from boutique wineries.
Still we can’t help but get excited about the space. It’s real charming and rustic looking, with large wine barrels serving as tables, ornate iron posts demarcating each store and stylish oversized exposed light bulbs. Plus, the food looks genuinely good. Already open when we visited was European joint Le Patio (#02-K27), which had a giant pan of paella ($11.90) cooking as well as simple and affordable French crepes with lemon and sugar ($3).
We also had snacks from well-known local meat purveyor Huber’s Deli (#02-K20/21): Currywurst ($7.80) and a bahn mi-like Deli Sandwich ($7.80). To wash it down, we were offered sample suds from brew specialist, The Great Beer Experiment (#02-K46), including our favorite Steenbrugge Double Brown.
Other notables include The 1872 Clipper Tea Co. (#02-K66), a local tea company offering refreshing iced brews and Merchants (#02-K43/44), a wine co-op bringing in vintages from small scale vineyards in Australia. The folks there are planning to host wine classes and talks by specially flown wine masters. Also coming soon is new market stall Nibbles (#02-K59) by Rabbit Carrot Gun. The outpost of the East Coast restaurant-bar-hotel will be a retail operation with items like seasonal fruit jams.
Ok, so it’s not the place to do our weekly shopping. But the market still passes muster as a gourmet haven for quick readymade meal or dinner party supplies. We can’t wait till it’s fully open.
