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New public market opens next to Haymarket tomorrow; will offer New England's bounty

Boston Public Market

The market had a soft opening today.

At 11 a.m. on Thursday, Gov. Baker and Mayor Walsh will cut the ribbon to officially open the Boston Public Market in the Hanover Street building that houses the Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Haymarket T stop - bringing produce, honey, fish, meat and other products from the farms, fishermen and artisans of New England.

The 30,000-square foot space, which had been vacant since the building opened 12 years ago, will also offer all sorts of food - from pastrami sandwiches and matzah-ball soup to ice cream and donuts that can be consumed in a small seating area - or taken to go, of course.

Boston Public Market flowers for sale
Fresh flowers for sale.

"There's a lot of great energy with the other vendors," said Chris Kurth, owner of Siena Farms, a Sudbury farm with a CSA - and a store in the South End. "Everyone is excited to learn about each other and support each other, even competing products."

NutsQuinn and her nuts.

Beth Quinn, who owns Q's Nuts with her husband Brian, agreed. The two have a small kitchen and storefront in Somerville but said that they are hoping to reach many more people from their new spot at the Market.

For other vendors, a space at the Boston Public Market is a completely new experience. Chris Avery of Boston Smoked Fish Company said the Boston Public Market is the biggest development for their business to date.

Kim Denney, co-owner of Chestnut Farms said, "This is literally our first hour of retail ever." She and her husband Rich Jakshtis sell meat at farmers markets around the region seven days a week from May through October. They hope to settle into a more sustainable home in the Market.

Beer
Only New England beers and spirits in this market.

In addition to delivering fresh meats, produce and other local products, The Boston Public Market features Hopster's Ally, a mini-store showcasing locally made beers, wines and spirits. Unlike its sister store in Newton, this Hopster's Ally doesn't brew onsite. They will, however, sell growlers and host tastings.

At one entrance of the Boston Public Market is a large open KITCHEN space, where the Market will host programming through The Trustees of Reservations. Beginning on August 19, nearly 40 program collaborators will give lectures, run cooking classes, teach yoga and host running clubs.

"The KITCHEN at the Boston Public Market is one of the many components that truly set it apart from any other public market in the nation," said Boston Public market CEO Liz Morningstar.

The KITCHEN will feature a mixture of free, low-priced and competitively priced classes. "Our KITCHEN programming is designed to appeal to a broad base of people, ranging from seasoned foodies interested in picking up a new skill, to those looking for a healthy start to their day, to families looking for ideas on how to cook nutritious food on a budget," said Trustees' President and CEO Barbara Erickson.

After tomorrow's ribbon cutting ceremony, the Boston Public Market will be open every Wednesday through Sunday, 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.

More photos

Donuts
No more waiting until fall for fresh apple cider donuts.
East Boston greens
You can buy greens grown in converted shipping containers in East Boston.
Chocolate
Taza Chocolate of Somerville has a booth.
Cheese
Fresh cheese? Of course.
Cheese
Watermelon fudge.


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Comments

It's the Quincy Market all over again! Did the designers not happen to notice the grit at the Pike Place Market in Seattle, the immigrant experience of the Essex Street Market in NYC?
I don't think I'm interested.

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You mean Quincy Market before Government Center went up, when people could still buy fresh produce and meat, then, yes, you're right. If you mean the tourist trap of a "festival market" (which originally focused on locally owned stores and pushcarts) that went in in the 1960s, then no.

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It's mostly a tourist trap. Only slightly better than Fisherman's Wharf in SF. This looks pretty much the same, which is a shame but unsurprising.

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You just had to know what to look for. I lived a few blocks from it and even worked briefly at Louies on the Pike. There was a great meat market with thick cut west coast bacon and ends. The Mexican donut shop had fresh bear claws and great deals on bread.

There were several good produce vendors. I usually did biz with one named Duane. Amidst the tourist bling, you could find everything you needed to live downtown and we'd get our Old Milwaukee six packs at Youngs Market on First.

Mr. Young was a Korean Guy who admired Elvis and had this great routine of blowing Glade all over the place after a stinking wino came buy to get a jug of Cisco or a 40 of 211 paid for with pennies and small change.

I went there on my first day in Seattle and had an Inuit guy bum a cigarette from me over in Steinbrueck Park.

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Sorry, but how do you construct a brand new market space with "grit" and "immigrant experience" (whatever that would entail)?

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Well, you make it a market where vendors set up shop daily. For instance you might have one long fish counter and several vendors would split up the space based on what they have to sell. It could be the same for the meat section. From the photo, this looks like specialty items behind glass cases which demands slow service and high prices...that might be great for an occasional visit, but it would be annoying for a local to shop daily.

A market seeking a local audience might have lower priced specialty fair like empanadas, fresh made pasta, fresh made donuts, bagels...just one citywide respected vendor of those items can make a market world class. These items don't have to be dirt cheap, just inexpensive enough to buy almost daily. Essex Market in NYC is not doing well because of the lack of a big draw item, Eataly is super popular with locals and tourist but neither looks like this photo or Quincy.

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Why not visit first and then you can explain to them how they should have done everything?

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And no, I don't see this as a place for substantial grocery purchases, but it is a place to get some interesting items from time to time.

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Seriously. The produce and fish are cheap and usually fresh. And, during the summer, the air is filled with the tang of rotting trash that evokes the true immigrant experience.

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From $7.50 bars of chocolate to the inevitable labeling of food made the way it should be as "artisinal", this should be a whole new world of wonder for the Whole Foods and Crossfit crowd.

I'll be sticking with Market Basket and their $3.29 1/2 gallons of organic milk and three dollar packages of organic strawberries.

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Were you there today?

I will admit that, with one exception, I did not look at prices. Yes, it will be probably more expensive than comparable stuff at Haymarket - Boston Public Market folks go out of their way to say they are not competing with the Haymarket vendors.

But, and maybe I've been spoiled by the Roslindale farmers' market, it really struck me as an indoor farmer's market, not some Brooklynesque place that charges extra for the atmosphere.

The one price I was interested in was for the meat knishes one stand advertised. If they're the neon-yellow lozenges that pass for meat knishes at Roche Bros. and Stop & Shop, then the $3.50 price would be outrageous. If, however, they're real, honest-to-God knishes of the sort that are normally impossible to get up here, then that's a reasonable price. Unfortunately, they were out of them today. The fact that the stand specializes in Israeli/Middle Eastern/Jewish type stuff (they also have matzo-ball soup) gives me hope for my next visit.

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There used to be a deli in Washington Square, Brookline, that had real meat knishes on Saturday mornings (not a kosher deli), but you had to get there early before they sold out. The rest of the week, they had those ubiquitous yellow ones.

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That had their knishes trucked up from Oceanside on the Guyland.

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I miss Buzzy's knishes. I have no idea what was in them, but it really didn't matter much at 3 AM.

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If so, I worked there years ago (late 80s/early 90sish) and I am sincerely delighted that you never got food poisoning.

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but it was in the late 70s, early 80s. Everyone I knew ate there--I had breakfast a few times, and bought the Saturday knishes, no food poisoning then. Maybe it went downhill? It was an interesting (quirky?) mix of customers then. I think the Golden Temple is the only place left among the small local stores and bars that made up those blocks, but I don't get over there that often. Must have been an interesting work experience.

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I think a year or two before I worked there. The new owners, a couple, had... issues... financial and in personality. The place definitely had suffered. And this was during the recession that millenials forget ever happened, so jobs were tight; one of my many unpleasant memories of the place was an employee meeting the management called the very first week I started, which began with one of the owners holding up a pile of papers and saying something like, "These are all the applications we've gotten this month, so you're all replaceable. Stop complaining."

That aside, I liked my co-workers a lot, some of the customers were delightful, and we occasionally used to go as a group to the old Family Restaurant across the street for beer & baba after work.

Yeah, Golden Temple is still there, I think! Maybe the Israeli restaurant, too? I should take a T trip down, someday.

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No Israeli restaurant, there are some nice additions though. Rod Dee is one of my favorite stops.

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We go to the Fenway one and it is just 100% delicious. Chive dumplings...

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I wouldn't know a real knish if it hit me in the face, but Michael's in Coolidge Corner sells something they call a knish, and it is very tasty. Are they inferior knishes? Is there a whole world of pastry-wrapped food I have somehow missed?

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All one has to do is mosey on over to the Taza Chocolate website, where you will find many, many flavor variations of their artisinal stone ground chocolate bars for the low, low price of $7.50 for a three ounce bar. You think prices will be cheaper at this place?

How about Q's Nuts? Artisinal cashews for $6.99 per 5 oz bag? Come now, Adam! You've been around the block enough to know that when most of the vendors listed on the Market's website describe their wares as "specialty", get ready to empty your wallet.

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Yeah, so there are some expensive things there. Doesn't mean everything is necessarily overpriced.

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Granted, I am one of those horrible millenials, listening to rap music and contributing to the downfall of society and such, but I am happy to pay a little bit more for something if it's genuinely local. I'm eager to visit this market, just to see what's there, because I bet there's a huge difference in quality between their goods and what you'd see marked as "specialty" or "artisinal" at the supermarket.

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You know what you can always do if you don't like it? Don't shop there.

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Aren't you the same guy who rages against farmers' markets because you think they're "overpriced"? Damn, but the internet certainly has empowered the "I don't want you to like something I don't like" crowd.

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give 'em a try just to get me some of those cider donuts.

But, let us face it, it is no surprise to me that these are specialty stores and the farmer from Littleton is going to charge you more for their produce than the local grocery store. And there are folks, a good number, who will shell out the bucks to either support locally grown and sourced stuff or are just looking for a handcrafted wood product and a jar of honey.

Myself, I probably will not be purchasing a whole lot of stuff from the place. Ever since I spent close to $10 for three heads of local and/or organic garlic from the Needham's Farmers Market (a few years back), I am a bit jaded. Although I just spent $3.00 a pound for some peaches from the Kendall Square Farmer's Market...still deciding whether they were worth the price. But, yeah, I'll give this new market a look, grab a knish and check out the beer selection.

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Most everything sold in the grocery store is artillery grade, and tasteless, with a pricetag not much lower than $3 a pound.

Peaches come from local farms
They are shipped in without harm to the Public Market downtown ..,

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The top photo has an Appleton Farms sign. That place has been a working farm since the mid 1600s and you can buy stuff there. The Essex county coast towns have a bunch of great farms.

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Thanks, Adam! I was going to skip going this week, expecting the crowds to be a bit nuts, but THAT I may need to check out.

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I visited the Israeli stall while they still had knishes for sale and they looked fantastic. As I opted for the sakshuka - because where else can you buy it around here? - I can't entirely vouch for the knish-quality, but they looked genuine. And my lunch was amazing. I love Israeli pita!

I'm very excited for the new market!

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I looked over the vendor list. It's quite a mix. It will be interesting to see if farming and value added food craft become a robust part of the economy.

It's probably a smart move by the Trustees of Reservations to be involved as it may help them boost membership.

You can also visit a number of farms in the metro area and buy stuff at the source while making an interesting road trip of it.

Concord and Lincoln have a bunch due to the quality soil from a glacial lake bed.

Verill Farm: http://www.verrillfarm.com/

Hutchins Farm http://www.hutchinsfarm.com/

Barrett's Mill Farm http://www.barrettsmillfarm.com/

First Root http://www.firstrootfarm.com/

In Bedford

Chip In Farm http://chipinfarm.com/

In Lincoln:

Drumlin Farm: http://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/drumlin-farm

Codman Community Farms: http://www.codmancommunityfarms.org/

In Carlisle:

Great Brook Farm State Park: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-north/great-brook-...

And then here are a few in coastal Essex County.

Ipswich.

Appleton Farms http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/northeast-ma/appleton-farms.html

Russell Orchards. http://www.russellorchards.com/

Newbury.

Spencer Peirce Little Farm http://www.historicnewengland.org/historic-properties/homes/spencer-peir...

Tender Crop Farm http://www.tendercropfarm.com/

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If you saw those knishes at Inna's Kitchen, which I heard has a stand there when I was picking up a sandwich in their Newton Centre deli the other day, then they will be awesome, just what you are hoping they will be, and absolutely worth $3.50. I haven't had the meat ones, but the cabbage and the spinach and feta knishes are an almost weekly indulgence as they are right near my office. Their food is amazing, they cure their own meat, and everyone who works there appears to be competing for the title of "world's nicest person". I can't say enough good things about them and hope this venture is a huge success.

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Was Inna's.

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Inna-gotta-the-pita

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You are one miserable f***.

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I greet every day with a smile!

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!=smiling

We all know what Market Basket is, mmmkay? This isn't about that, and it isn't about you.

Or is that your problem with it?

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I honestly can't tell.

I'll be sticking with Market Basket and their $3.29 1/2 gallons of organic milk and three dollar packages of organic strawberries.

Those are nice, but not particularly mind-blowing prices. And bragging on organic milk and strawberry purchases while deriding the "Whole Foods and Crossfit" crowd seems to lack a certain...self-awareness?

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That's my pet peeve too. Don't make something the way it should be made and call it artisanal. But that said, we become used to low prices for substandard food. Quality food is almost certainly going to cost a little more. I just don't want to pay for the ambiance or have to deal with smug vendors who are so proud of their stuff because it's "artisanal." It would be great if this somehow becomes a market for the people and not just a tourist attraction. It's a shame to travel around the world and see all the great markets and know they so rare in this country.

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That's fine, and everyone picks their own spending priorities, but "expensive" and "higher priced" do not always equal "overpriced."

I feel like the financial ups & downs my household has experienced over the years has forced me to develop a scientific method of affordable food shopping in Boston. I don't get ripped off, or overpay for anything unless I make a calculated trade for convenience over value.

The difference between a grocery store pint of strawberries and a good fresh picked pint at a farmer's market in June is remarkable, and nothing you can get in Market Basket will compare. Strawberries are fragile and difficult to grow without rot (I grow them myself) and I am happy to pay up to $5 a pint once or twice an early summer to make homemade shortcake. By late July, good local strawberries are tougher to find, and unless you're lucky, you may as well go with the grocery pint if you absolutely must have them.

Or get blackberries or blueberries, which are coming in to their own now.

And as I've mentioned before on UHub, I don't give much of a crap about "organic" per se, though I do support sustainable, responsible farming practices.

The point is, without being a health alarmist or independently wealthy, it is possible to shop at farmer's markets in order to get delicious produce and support local businesses without going broke.

I love to cook, I love good food, and was spoiled by spending a chunk of my youth in a farming county in the southeast. As such, I've never found a peach in a New England grocery chain worthy of the name, but occasionally find them at a farmer's market or the Co-op. Totally worth it to me to buy a half dozen-- or a dozen+, if I'm making pie--but maybe not for you. That's fine, but the peaches from Market Basket are not equal to some local peaches in quality, even though they are probably cheaper.

And I'm as happy to shop at Haymarket as I am at a farmer's market, for different reasons. Hell, I even gave it a rather lengthy Yelp review/how-to (see "Biba"): http://www.yelp.com/biz/haymarket-boston?hrid=_D0YoQPYPhAf-vMn7iPzPA&utm...(direct)

PS-- If anyone wants to start a black market ring in Silver Queen corn and Hanover tomatoes, I'll make you an offer.

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It's also nice to be able to talk to the guy doing the growing (Jim Buckle comes to the Egleston market most weeks, and is excellent), and have some level of confidence that your tomatoes and strawberries aren't the product for slave labor. Tomatoes that cost $.39/lb at Market Basket cost that little because of human trafficking. Internalizing $.39/lb as the "right" price is easy to do, but calling everything more expensive than that "overpriced" is problematic in a lot of ways.

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And I am totally in on black market Silver Queen. I am up to my ears in tomatoes right now but I have no room for corn. And the birds eat all of my blueberries.

Carlson's peaches and nectarines rock my world every year. I've never had better.

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Tragic! The blueberries, I mean.

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..is a way to distinguish a product made in small batches, likely by hand, likely by a skilled maker dedicated to that product, from those that are mass produced by machines.

It might piss you off (what doesn't? omg what would you do if you saw "Artisanal Uber"?), it might be overused, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the term is meaningless.

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I just want those donuts...Mmmmmm

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Very excited for this. And sheesh, other less enthused folks--can we let it open before we pitch in with the kvetching? Yes--it's going to be pricier than f'ing Market Basket. That's because--shocker--it costs more to make chocolate by hand in Somerville, MA than it does in a factory in Mexico (where Hershey is made these days--you didn't think it was still in PA, did you?) Similarly, it costs more to grow an apple in Stow than it does to grow apples in China and ship them to Stow. If you want Chinese apples...be my guest. In fact you can probably get some at Haymarket, then spend the extra couple of bucks you saved on some doughnuts. Everybody wins.

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And sheesh, other less enthused folks--can we let it open before we pitch in with the kvetching?

Apparently that's way out of line.

Similarly, it costs more to grow an apple in Stow than it does to grow apples in China and ship them to Stow.

At least for now it does. When (not if) it becomes expensive to transport them all that way, that'll change in a hurry. Then we'll hear the same whiners bellyaching about why there aren't any apples (because they didn't support local producers).

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Very excited for this. And sheesh, other less enthused folks--can we let it open before we pitch in with the kvetching? Yes--it's going to be pricier than f'ing Market Basket. That's because--shocker--it costs more to make chocolate by hand in Somerville, MA than it does in a factory in Mexico (where Hershey is made these days--you didn't think it was still in PA, did you?) Similarly, it costs more to grow an apple in Stow than it does to grow apples in China and ship them to Stow. If you want Chinese apples...be my guest. In fact you can probably get some at Haymarket, then spend the extra couple of bucks you saved on some doughnuts. Everybody wins.

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Yeah, its expensive. It is also unique and a model for vertically integrated fair sourcing everywhere.

With a lot of this stuff, it winds up cheaper because I end up eating less and enjoying it more.

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I used to work a block from their factory in Somerville. All you can smell all day is chocolate.. Mmm.

On a different note, yeah Taza is pricey but its handmade and not mass produced. And it's a local company that employs a ton of people (several of my friends), so you're supporting a local business and keeping people employed also. (at livable wages I might add)

This reason as a whole is probably why I'll head over to this market every so often to get a treat. Not so much for Taza and the donuts, but to support local businesses. Yeah I'll pay more, but if I want cheap stuff, there's always Market Basket. But I'm proud to go in and buy a few things to keep these places alive.

(yes I know this is a complete 180 from my opinion a few months ago)

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.

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Watermelon Fudge????

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KITCHEN at the Boston Public Market: Will the city ban classes on knife skills?

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Save a life: turn in your knife.

Only in this case it isn't a Orwellian UK disarmament scheme but a staunch bulwark against culinary crimes.

Leave the chefing up to professionals folks and support local restaurants!

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told me they accept Snap, and will even match with Bounty Bucks, like they do at the Farmers Markets.

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Impressive how people determined dozens of vendors aren't worthwhile even before the place has opened. World record judging time I'd say.

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are lovely people who believe passionately in their overpriced goods. Now take a gander at the websites of those same vendors. How many of us can afford what they're selling?

It's your money, spend it how you want.

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At least you stand up and defend your baseless prejudging. Second the post above, you seem like a miserable person who hates the world. Take a vacation, the relaxation could do you well.

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Just got back from Maui! Got up at 2:30AM to drive two hours to watch the sun rise. Yes, I'm hating the world this week!

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Who goes to Hawaii in the summer when the weather in Boston is nice?

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You're sure of a great many things, seemingly unimpeded by absence of evidence.

It's your money, spend it how you want.

You keep saying that, but you won't shut up about it. Please feel free to shop where you will, but for the state of your own mental health, stop working yourself into a froth about what other people do.

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Where do I send in my 5 cents?

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You've already offered your five cents many times in this thread. Too bad it's not backed by anything real.

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... farmers market people. No, it will not replace my weekly run to market basket, but it's awesome that I now have another farmers market type option on the way home from work that will be year round. Yes, it might be a bit touristy and pricy, but you live in Boston... ya know the place with the Freedom Trail, the Duck Boats, Sam Adams, etc. I welcome more options and competition for my donut dollars.

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It's about time the state has done something with that building. it only took 10+ years!

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Or are they still out on the other side of the building on Mondays and Wednesdays?

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Delete

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This is great news! I'm for anything in that area that offers something different than the same shopping you can find at any mall or "tourist" area in America (or elsewhere for that matter). I say this as a local, but imagine tourists will feel the same, at least, I know when I'm traveling I always appreciate seeing something unique and not an area full of chain stores. And of course no one's going to do their weekly shopping there, geesh, I don't think that was the idea at all.

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A tale of two cities the Public Market which will serve the suburban hipsters and the subway below which is home to the homeless. If the subway homeless venture upstairs they will be evicted by the police and kicked out of the station.

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Maybe we should try housing the homeless, even outside Boston for a change.

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Because having an empty building there for so many years was really serving their needs?

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It looks nice, and I hope they give out lots of free samples, but admittedly I don't pay a penny more for groceries than I have to(read: Market Basket and Hannaford). Wasn't Stop & Shop trying to open a store somewhere near the Bulfinch Triangle?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrymiller/2015/07/29/why-organic-agricultu...

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Wasn't Stop & Shop trying to open a store somewhere near the Bulfinch Triangle?

IHNC, but if they do, why would you expect their prices not to reflect city rents? Why would you expect cheap groceries to magically appear in a high-rent area? People seem to think there's something magical about supermarket chains, but they're not in it for charity and there's a reason why there aren't any mainstream chain supermarkets downtown.

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Every story about this place, since it was just a glimmer of an idea has hedged about calling this Parcel 7. That is the name of the garage that sits above it and what it is actually called.

In fact we have a song that celebrates the cheap prices to park and the smell of pee as you descend the stairs:

"You're in (urine) heaven,
it's parcel 7,
The Parcel 7 garage!"

Thank you.

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So is this similar to the Massachusetts house at the BIG E?

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Is the cheap HayMarket also staying open? It's generally packed on weekends with people who are looking for cheap fruit/veg, as opposed to artisinal honey and salsa. Will it be staying open too?

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It will remain.

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Most of what is sold at Haymarket on Friday and Saturday is the stuff that the supermarkets and bodegas didn't buy during the week and isn't particularly fresh and probably not local. As long as the vendors at the New England Produce Market have to firesale their unsold goods at the end of the week to make room for the new produce that comes in on Sunday and Monday, the Friday and Saturday Haymarket will probably take place.

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... to the discussion about the 'Yuppie" market upstairs.

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Will it just be artisanal honey? I don’t need honey crafted by artisan bees, just basic raw no nonsense honey, and not something so refined it probably isn’t even technically honey, even if it is in a bear shaped container.

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I just thought of a test to determine if this market is selling over-priced yuppie stuff, or just natural items for the common family.

Although I know it's trendy to carry your own refillable* water bottle, sometimes you forget and need to buy a bottle of water. A bottle of plain ol' water retails at a supermarket for around $0.25, and at hot-dog stands or convenience stores for say, $1.25.

Fenway Park and other places trying to rip you off sell them for $3.50 or $4.

Therefore, my test will be the water-bottle test. If a cold 16oz bottle of water is frequently sold for under $1.50 at this market, then it's legit. If it's $2 or more, then it's a yuppie tourist trap.

Issue solved. Adam can close the thread now. :-)

* I'm also curious if this place has water fountains so I can refill my bottles?

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Yes, right when you walk in. Bathrooms too, though I saw they had a keypad on the doors.

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Although I know it's trendy to carry your own refillable* water bottle

So, "trendy" now means "people thought of doing a sensible thing, and I'm not going to do it because other people are doing it, and I'm just an againsty SOB"?

It's ok to not like things, but...

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Or.....

sometimes you forget and need to buy a bottle of water
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then you'll remember.

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I went in here around 4pm because I had a few minutes to kill before a phone call I had to take.

Not too bad. Lots of variety of things. Prices were OK.. yeah pricey but it's all local, hand made stuff. I didn't have a lot of time, but from what I saw the produce wasn't that bad priced. I saw tomatoes for 3 bucks a lb. Not too bad (considering I'm paying 1.99 for tomatoes on the vine at the basket). I'd pay that for locally sourced food.

The space itself is interesting. It's actually alot larger in there than I expected. They had a few 'coming soon' spaces but it looked like 'work in progress'. The cookbook wall was an interesting concept but I question how long that will last. (its a 'take a cookbook, give a cookbook' kinda wall thing)

I really wanted an apple donut, but I didn't have any cash, nor really wanted to wait in line to get one. But I'll stop on my way home tomorrow when I have a bit more time to get one (and to walk around some)

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