The Market Report

As usual, the last post of this group is a sort of bonus post, one that's not exactly a supermarket or grocery store, but something I found interesting nonetheless. In this case, it's a public market building that's been very nicely restored. The Roanoke City Market is pretty much directly across the street from the Downtown Co-Op . The public market extends from the building seen here out across the street into the outdoor pedestrian mall I referred to in the Co-Op post. Inside, there are several vendors and restaurants with a common seating area in the middle. Here's a look at what the main interior section of the building looks like. Really cool details. It's hard to tell what this was previously, but they sure did a nice job renovating it. It's located at 32 Market Sq SE, Roanoke, VA. And that about wraps up our Virginia coverage! Check back tomorrow for a music video, as usual...

We're taking a quick detour from the Wellington corridor to head west a few blocks over to the Marché Atwater, a farmers-market style outdoor/indoor complex with individual vendors. It's not quite a supermarket but worth mentioning nonetheless. It's run by MPM , or Marchés Publics de Montréal (Montreal Public Markets). This large building is a beautiful example of art deco architecture, and although I don't know what it was originally built for, I doubt it was always the market. (Any input?) It's basically a large public market with fresh produce, butchers, seafood, wine, cheese, breads, and other gourmet foods, much like the famous Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. One thing that surprised me is that several of the names around here are English, despite Quebec being a French-speaking province. Last time I checked, Wellington and Atwater are not exactly French.