Super Market

FEAST ON LOCAL HARVESTS AND INTERNATIONAL DELICACIES IN A FARMERS MARKET THAT HAS BEEN NOURISHING PHILADELPHIA FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS.

BY PAM GEORGE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY LASZLO

It is 1pm on a Saturday, and Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia is in full swing. Neon signs pulse over vendor stalls bordered by tiled counters and cases packed with goods. Empty stools are hard to come by at DiNic’s, where servers heap herb-scented pork and greens inside hoagie rolls. Meanwhile, at Market Blooms, a woman selects stems from bins cradling sunny carnations and birds of paradise.

The line at Rick’s Philly Steaks snakes toward the door. And no wonder: Few can resist the enticing aroma of the sizzling slices of steak, served on an open roll and garnished with fried green peppers and onions. And across the aisle, falafel sandwiches, flaky spinach pie and honey-soaked baklava are going fast at Kamal’s Middle Eastern Specialties. Pickles and beeswax candles. Cookbooks and espresso-bean cupcakes. Stoned crab claws and sticky raisin bagels. You’ll find it all at Reading Terminal Market.

“It’s a combination of an old-fashioned Saturday farmers market, an Italian market and the Chinatown markets—with great places to get something to eat—all under one roof,” says Bill Newnam of Medford, NJ, who visits the market frequently with his wife.

Matthew Haley of Rehoboth Beach, DE, agrees. “I like being able to buy local fresh produce while eating potato-and-pea samosas, dipped in awesome house chutney, followed by a fried oyster sandwich and an espresso,” says Haley, who visits the market monthly.

The market, which has more than 80 vendors, is ideal for tourists, says Center City resident Marisa McClellan. Grab a Philly cheesesteak and buy Amish jams, dolls and pickles to take home while rubbing elbows with locals, some of whom buy meat, vegetables and fish there nearly every day.

Visitors like the authenticity of the experience, says David K. O’Neil, author of Reading Terminal Market: An Illustrated History and the market’s general manager from 1981 to 1990. “You don’t feel you’re being exploited— it’s not a packaged environment.”

A landmark since 1892, the market is a tradition dating back to the 17th century, when William Penn’s managers organized a central market to keep hawkers from rambling throughout the city. Its Old World sensibility is what many people—up to 110,000 a week—find so charming.

“There are all these labyrinths of stalls, smells and different kinds of people. There are lots of transactions happening all the time,” O’Neil says.

McClellan also knows the market well. In May 2007, she launched a website, www.storiesfromreadingterminal.com. Then a graduate student, her mission was to showcase her food writing, but she also wanted to pay tribute to the beloved attraction.

“Not every city has a market that’s been around for more than 100 years,” she says. “It is this rallying point for the city, because people have shopped there for years or remember the first time they went there. It’s a point of connectivity.”

For McClellan—whose family has been in the city for five generations—that connectivity is part of her heritage. She says, “I love the idea that I’m shopping where my grandmother shopped.”

READING TERMINAL MARKET
12th & Arch sts 215-922-2317 www.readingterminal.market.org

HOURS:
Monday-Saturday: 8am-6pm (Some restaurants close at 4pm)
Sunday: 9am-4pm (The Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish vendors are not open on Sunday.)

AirTran Airways provides daily flights to Philadelphia. Visit www.airtran.com for more info.