Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Farmer's Market has undergone its
own version of SoCal sprawl ever since;
for years its owners also operated a sta-
dium and racetrack on an adjoining lot,
and more recently a massive shopping
mall went up at its eastern end—a Vegas-
style architectural pastiche called The
Grove, with a faux-village layout and elec-
tric trolleys to and from the Market. In
contrast to that, the claustrophobic aisles
and crowded patios of the Farmer's Mar-
ket look plenty old-fashioned—a little slice
of old Los Angeles (around here, the 1930s
are ancient history).
Angelenos don't need to buy their fresh
fruit and vegetables here anymore, given
the well-developed network of once-a-
week farmer's markets throughout the Los
Angeles area. Yet the Farmer's Market
retains authentic features and remains an
outpost of traditional butchers (Hunting-
don's Meat & Sausage, Marconda's Meats),
fishmongers (Tusquella's), poultry dealers
(Farmers Market Poultry, Puritan Poultry),
high-end produce hawkers (Farm Fresh
Produce, The Fruit Company), and bakers
(the Russian pastries at T & Y, and the
famous pies of DuPar's Pie Shop). To draw
in the browsing tourists, they often lay on
a little razzle-dazzle too—with the candy
man who makes his own confections in his
window of Littlejohn's English Toffee
House, the ice-cream makers behind the
window at Bennett's Ice Cream, or the
baker decorating cakes in the window of
Thee's Continental Pastries.
Though it's not where local residents
do their grocery shopping, there are still
plenty of reasons to join the office workers
from the nearby CBS studios who come
here to grab lunch. The Farmer's Market's
delightful array of food stands are mostly
still mom-and-pop affairs, with hand-
painted signs and counter stools (very few
food-court chains have penetrated here).
The range of food includes oysters, hot
doughnuts, fresh-squeezed orange juice,
corned beef sandwiches, fresh-pressed
peanut butter, and all kinds of interna-
tional foods. For a full sit-down meal, the
Cajun seafood gumbo at the
Gumbo Pot
is popular, as is the
churrascaría
at
Pam-
pas Grill
and the
teppan
-style Japanese
food at
Kado.
6333 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles (
&
323/
933-9211;
www.farmersmarketla.com).
(
Los Angeles International (12 miles/
19km).
L
$$
Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood,
7000 Hollywood Blvd. (
&
800/950-7667
or
323/466-7000; www.hollywoodroosevelt.
com). $$
Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn,
4222 Vineland Ave., North Hollywood
(
&
800/BEVERLY
or 818/980-8000; www.
beverlygarland.com).
Open-Air Markets
18
St. Lawrence Market
Canadian Casual
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto's premier food market is the
antithesis of the glossy, chain store-
friendly Eaton Center, the city's best-
known shopping mall. In a cavernous
red-brick building in the heart of old
Toronto, you'll find two rambling levels of
food stalls selling fresh produce, meats,
and artisanal food products. There's little
gourmet pretension here, despite the
availability of imported cheeses and teas,
caviar, smoked salmon, lobsters, and
exotic tropical fruits. The iconic specialty
