The best hour at any market is the first one. The light is good, the stallholders are chatty and the tomatoes have not been squeezed by everyone else yet.
Start with coffee, then vegetables, then cheese, then bread, then flowers. Leave the bakery until last so nothing gets crushed on the way home.
Our route
We spent a month going back, ordering differently each time and asking a lot of questions. What we found was less a trend than a change of habit: people want fewer, better things, and they want to linger over them.
“Shop with your eyes first and your list second.”
What to cook after
Something that needs almost nothing done to it. Sliced tomatoes, good oil, salt. A soft cheese on warm bread. Lunch, sorted.
None of this needs a reservation app or a dress code. It needs a free afternoon, a friend who says yes, and the good sense to order one more thing for the table.
Sam Arden
Contributing Writer
Sam writes about shops, markets and culture. Usually found in a record shop that also pours wine.
