Recent Photos of Eastern Market

Top: the empty market, ready for restoration. Bottom: Curious visitors look in at the market. I find these views of Eastern Market haunting, but hopeful. All the charred mess from the inside has been cleaned up and cleared out, and work appears to have begun. Projected finish time is 18-24 months. I think it's great that they've left one set of doors open so that the public can peer in to see the progress.

Eastern Market Press Conference

We got to Eastern Market just in time today to catch the press conference with our nattily chapeau-ed Mayor Adrian Fenty, and watch the ceremonial groundbreaking for the temporary building for the Eastern Market vendors. Yaaay (and there was much rejoicing). The temporary building will be on part of the asphault playground at Hine Jr. High School, and is expected to be finished sometime in July. There are supposed to be refrigerators and all the other necessary equipment for the vendors. On the selfish side of things, it means we will hopefully only go another two months at most in our food shopping void! And as Seth has commented, the quick response by the Mayor could really bolster his reelection chances, at least from the Capitol Hill community's point of view.

On another high note, several of the vendors from inside Eastern Market have been setting up on the sidewalk every day to sell their wares. Calomiris Produce, Bowers Fancy Dairy Products, The Sweet Shoppe bakery, and Capitol Hill Produce were out there today. We've tried to buy things from each business and tell the vendors how glad we are to see them out there. The Cotswold cheese with chives seemed especially tasty after we bought it today.

Despite the construction, the weekend flea & farmer's markets will continue to be in full swing.

For more info on the status of Eastern Market, see www.saveeasternmarket.org and www.easternmarket.net and www.easternmarketdc.com .

Eastern Market Before the Fire

Eerie coincidence, but I took these photos at Eastern Market about 36 hours before it burned. I'd wanted to photograph it for ages, and finally did with a new camera. From the top: luscious tomatoes; Seth in a typical pose ogling the Union Meat Counter; baked goodies at the Sweet Shoppe; produce stand.

Rebuilding Eastern Market

Photos: Eastern Market after the fire



I'm going to start with a place near and dear to my heart: Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. A few weeks ago, the market was gutted by an electrical fire. My husband Seth and I are (like most Capitol Hill residents) devastated. We have visited the market almost every weekend for the last few years. As you can read in the numerous Washington Post articles about the market, it's far more than just a place to purchase groceries. The tastes of delectable cheeses from the staff at Bowers Fancy Dairy Products; custom-cut filets from Union Meat (and cooking advice); the extra banana or tangerine the Calomiris family always throws in at their produce stand. You can't get this at Whole Foods, people. Laden with bags, you also never know who you might run into. Eleanor Holmes Norton? Colleagues? Friends on a blind date? Next door neighbors? Everyone comes. We seem to always run into people in front of Canales Deli - I don't know why.





I'm talking in the present tense, because I constantly forget that Eastern Market isn't exactly itself right now. I plan menus in my head, and am then shocked when I remember I can't buy the fresh pasta, the loaf of challah, or the turkey sausage. Seth and I are adrift in our grocery list, having no good idea of where to buy things anymore. Does this necessitate a trip to Whole Foods on P Street, fighting for a parking space? Will Safeway have it?



We miss it. Seth is upset that he never thought of asking me to marry him there, as did one Hill resident. We are grateful that the market is going on, and that efforts are underway to rebuild the market and provide vendors with alternative space in the meantime. It's heartening to see the construction ongoing, but awful to smell the soot and vague odor of charred food.