New Kid on the Block

 

Just as the rays of noontime light stream through the magnificent glass-tiled façade, curious citizens and passersby filter through the door of the newest resident on the block on Thursday, its second day open for business.

 

“We want it to be comfortable and relaxing and not too in-your-face,” explains Jazu Stine, who left his post as executive chef at Mission Bar + Tapas diagonally across the street to open the hiply designed bodega under the auspices of Mission, Inc.

 

Arguably the only one of its kind downtown, the shop stocks a range of natural and organic dry goods, locally sourced fresh produce, hot coffee, environmentally friendly cleaning products, and a modest selection of dairy and frozen items. Freshly cut flowers flank one wall opposite a long stretch of window-front café seating suffused with free wireless Internet access. 

 

 

A deli counter featuring meats, cheeses, and homemade prepared foods like soups and salads is slated to be ready in about a week; eventually, an online order-for-pickup service will launch for even faster shopping.

 

Stine did, however, produce a sneak-preview of the Market Dog, composed of 100 percent grass-fed beef in natural casing topped with crunchy artisan sauerkraut (more like a crunchy, pickled slaw) and a daub of brown mustard, cradled in a faintly sweet, challah-like Clover Town Bakery bun. Consensus: a hearty party in your mouth.

 

“There’s not a single unnatural ingredient in it—it’s sort of mind-blowing,” quips Jim Benson, founder of Mission, Inc., the umbrella company over Minc House design studio and the Word X Word Festival as well.

His comment reflects the overarching goal of the endeavor: to offer honest-to-goodness foods, locally produced whenever possible, in a friendly, community setting. The space’s Berkshire-modern style—clean lines, unrefined materials, and creative décor (a kid-friendly chalkboard wall and wooden train set; raw-slab wooden shelving)—complete the experience. 

“It feels like a New York market,” observes Jordan Skowron, who, along with Jim’s wife, Jenny Benson, crafts The Market’s small array of baked goods—cranberry-bran muffins, raspberry bars, Marketmallows, and chocolate- frosted cupcakes, a hit with the young ballerinas from the Terpsichore Dance Center upstairs—in the open kitchen’s convection oven.

 

Skowron may be biased, but judging from the chattering noontime crowd, The Market is off to a solid start.

 

First in a line three deep, David Martin, of Pittsfield, agrees. Handing over cash for a package of Bob’s Red Mill Organic quinoa, Martin beams at the new convenience. “This is great,” he chirps, before striding away, to the sunny street outside.