Sweet Auburn Curb Market

I had been to the DeKalb Farmers Market and the Buford Highway International Market but never heard of the Sweet Auburn Curb Market until I was recently invited there by someone new whom I met. Mickey wasn't just another customer there; she actually worked one day at week at the market helping a friend with a business there. So, she has an insider's view of the Curb Market, which is where I got most of this information.

It reminded me immediately of a smaller version of markets I'd seen in Boston, Baltimore, and Helsinki, with an assortment of butchers, bakers, candlestick makers and places to eat as well as fresh produce and a pharmacy. It has been around since 1918, first in a massive tent, and then in the building it still occupies, at 209 Edgewood Ave. SE near downtown Atlanta. At the time it was established, it was at the geographic center of Atlanta. Today, it's a quiet neighborhood (as quiet as it can be underneath I-75/85) near Georgia State University and Grady Memorial Hospital and adjacent to the Auburn Avenue/Martin Luther King, Jr. district.

It's a dichotomy, a market "in transition" in a neighborhood "in transition." That's a popular phrase here in Atlanta used to describe "sketchy" places. Anyway, it's perfectly safe and a fun place to go and hang out and shop and have some great food. It feels like you are going back in time except for the organic shops, restaurants, and coffee shop. Therein lies the dichotomy, and so the market it teetering on the edge, deciding if it has to be one thing or the other or if it can be everything to everybody.

Some of the newer "organic" businesses are having a tough time, and several have gone under. Yes, organic does cost more. Does the market have the customers to support it? Does it have the marketing? Can it? Can it compete with the bigger ones? Should it?

While the building is a classic from the early 1900s, it could perhaps draw more business, especially for the new vendors, with some renovations and improvements. A facelift, inside and out, better signage, improved parking, to start with, could only improve the "experience" of visiting the market, which should be part of the marketing campaign.

I will say this--I have never been able to find real Georgia peaches in the other markets or the supermarkets. So, where do they go? Maybe, just maybe, I will be able to get them here at the Curb Market.

Organic, authentic, delicous Italian food at Ciao Bocca!

Buford Highway Farmers Market

Everyone seems to know about the Dekalb Farmers Market, and I have been there several times myself to recycle cardboard and to shop. But who knows about an even cooler (by far) place on Buford Highway, the Buford Highway Farmers Market? I credit my daughter Shana for finding this one online, and for going with me last Saturday to check it out. There are lots of free food samples on Saturday, too, just like Costco.

Of course, like 99% of everything in Atlanta, it's in a strip mall, and, of course, it looks nondescript from the outside (see above). But inside--that is where everything changes! My friend David who went there on my recommendation a day later called to say, "I have only three words to describe this place: Oh . . . my . . . God!"

It is not really a "farmers market" at all, but rather a huge, gigantic international supermarket with foodstuffs from all over the world along with an unbelievable produce section, three bakeries, and a seafood section to die for. There were fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, spices, and grains I had never seen or heard of before. One whole island was just peppers of various sorts (above)! There were like six different types of bananas (from red to baby) and one fruit that Shana described as a cross between a lemon and an octopus, called Buddha's fingers (below).

Entire rows of this market were devoted to food products from different cultures. At least one-third of the store was Asian of all kinds. We were there for a couple of hours and didn't even venture into that section! Then there was Latino/Hispanic, Eastern European, Caribbean, African, Middle Eastern, European, and probably more I am forgetting. And this place is about the size of a Super Target. We had the best time just wandering around and checking it all out. We did, of course, buy some things. Shana found a Serbian package mix to add to ground beef to make pljeskavice, a favorite dish of ours from Germany days. So, we bought the other ingredients, including Bulgarian feta cheese to stuff it, and went home and made the best supper ever (see below). It was delicious!

If you live in or visit Atlanta, you've got to visit this incredible place. It is located, of course, on Buford Highway, just half a block north of 285, just OTP, as they say here (Outside the Perimeter). I know I'm planning to be there quite often! Prices are better than Dekalb's market, and you can find unusual items, too, like the frozen pig's head below.