My spouse and I visited the Easton Public Market (EPM) on
two consecutive weekends in early February 2017. We first visited on a Saturday
afternoon, with our second visit the following Friday night. The market is open
on Wednesdays through Sundays from 9:00 am until 7:00 pm (only until 5:00 pm on
Sundays). Some vendors stay open as late as 9:00 pm on weekends. Metered
parking is available on the surrounding streets, including in the off-street parking
area behind the market.
The Market, which opened in early spring 2016, is located on
Northampton Street, between the State Theatre and Center Square in the space
previously occupied by Rader’s Dry Goods and HL Green’s Department Store. It
offers space for 15 vendors, offering both take-away products and dine-in
options. Note that the Easton Public Market (EPM) is not the Easton Farmers
Market (EFM). The EFM, which began in 1752, is the oldest open-air market in
the country and operates year-round in Center Square (around the Peace Candle)
every Saturday in warmer months, and alternate Saturdays in the winter. Complimentary
tours of the EFM and EPM are offered at 11:00 am on the second Saturday of
every month. On the fourth Saturday of every month, a more extensive, $5 tour
is offered that includes product samples and a souvenir shopping bag. The 16,000-square
foot indoor market offers restrooms, a children’s area, and a kitchen (for
cooking demonstrations and classes). The EPM’s wood floors and exposed brick
walls offer a sleeker, more pared down version of Philadelphia’s Reading
Terminal Market and the Allentown Farmer’s Market.
Our investigative visit included a stroll through the nicely
organized, well-lit, spacious, and spotlessly clean market, taking time to
browse in various stalls and display cases including Highmark (Blue Shield) produce,
Third and Ferry’s Fresh Fish, Dundore and Heister meats, Klein Farms artisanal
cheeses, Olive with a Twist (olive oils), Go Nuts (nuts, fruits, and other dry
goods), and the Barred and Broody bakery. On our second visit, we dined at Mr.
Lee’s Noodles, but we also purchased wine at Tolino Vineyards to enjoy with our
meal. We tried to purchase beer and wood-fired pizza at Scratch, but the vendor
was understaffed; after first waiting at the bar itself and then in the
take-out line for more than 15 minutes, we gave up! On our first visit, we
purchased a slice of delicious Nutella layer cake at Barred and Broody bakery;
we tried to make another purchase at the same vendor on our second visit, but
the stand closes at 7:00 pm and we arrived at 7:05 when the staff was packing
up for the night. Instead, we considered buying a few chocolate confections at Chocodiem,
but we didn’t understand the two adjacent tables across from the main stand and
next to the rear door – if they were samples, no one manning those tables
offered us a taste, even though we paused by each table to feast our eyes. On
the other hand, if those auxiliary tables were intended for selling the
chocolates, we could not see any containers in which to hold the candies.
We tried two dishes from Mr. Lee: one cold and one hot. Both
were delicious and unique, with their nontraditional take on traditional
Japanese dishes. It was hard to choose a favorite between the two. Our cold
dish of Korean BBQ beef noodles included noodles, beef, kimchee, English
cucumbers, chilies, and hardboiled egg. Our hot dish of sticky ramen included
beef dashi, sticky BBQ pork belly, collard greens, red eye beans, pickled red
beets, 60-minute egg, and hush puppies. We will return to try other menu
options, but we also want to sample the food at the TAZA Stop (including the
Egyptian national dish called koshari made of rice, macaroni noodles, chickpeas, and
fried onions), Full of Crepe, Fieldstone Coffee and Tea, and More
Than Q Barbecue.
