Main Market

On a recent outing....to "Pig-Out in the Park"...an annual city event of food and music, we passed by the Main Market, on Main Street,  Well,, if you are like me and my traveling companions, you cannot simply pass by such a place without stopping, and that is just what we did!

We bought some snacks for our journey while we were there..corn puff things, sesame treats and drinks.  Main Market is a Food Cooperative, and we are not members... yet we did buy stuff.  Just as the sign says, "Anyone can shop!"


We also took a look around....


.It's easy to spot as you drive by.  They have painted the old "Goodyear" garage into a colorful mural  depicting food and farming. I like the mural.  It's attractive, beautiful, really

I think it's so important to support farmers and to remember where food really does come from...

Food doesn't come from a store... it is all much more involved than that.  Food actually comes from hard work...  you know, fighting the weds and bearing with the weather...and of course, animals and from seeds.


Inside Main Market, they have most anything that anyone would need... .baby products, first aid remedies, cleaning products, even pots and pans too, but mostly food, food, and more food... in particular, organic food.  It's the kind of place earth-worshippers would feel quite cozy, but of course, as the sign says, "Anyone can shop."




There is a lovely deli dining room, with a good selection of ready made things to eat.

Here is their nice indoor seating area.  There are picnic tables outside as well.

There is a bakery section,

a cheese section, with all kinds of cheeses... and this dairy section too:

 a coffee section,

a bulk foods section,

a baby section,

an herb section,
a miscelleneous section,

a fresh foods section....

and  even rent-able freezers available for people who do not have a freezer but who perhaps want to purchase a side of beef.

You can see some of the herbs there in the background.
 We do  have many nice markets, bakeries and meat shops to shop, here in Spokane.  You just have to know where they are.... find the one you like and shop there,  Support your local businesses.... and growers.


I have just added Main Market to my list of places to shop.  Our visit here was amazing, and I hope yours is too

Cassano's Deli

Cassano's (and the Mission Bistro) are housed in the same building located at 2002 E. Mission in Spokane. I have learned that it used to be Piccolo's until Cassano bought it and here it is today... a new location....They advertise that they have,"Wine's, Olive Oils, Italian Groceries & Cured Meats, Italian Candy, Imported Cheeses, Fine Selection Of Italian Products, and Deli Sandwiches."  

My Italian friend and I decided to try this place for lunch, however upon arrival I discovered that she had been here before...( I think she just wanted to go because she knew it would be good and because she, like me, is part Italian, and being Italian together is a little bit fun.)   I have driven past this location at least fifty times in my travels around town.... and I was happy to try it, because finally, I had a reason to stop and go in.

We were sorely disappointed to discover as we went in, that the Bistro , The Mission Bistro... like many establishments in Spokane, is closed on Mondays.

The room was dark when we looked around inside but it looked like a very nice atmosphere...

A few moments later, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that all was not lost simply because Mission Bistro was closed.... you see, Cassano's has a nice little deli, complete with seating too.

It is quite the place!

We ordered a sandwich to share...
(I forgot what kind) 
spaghetti and meatballs
and lasagna.

Here is my lasagna...
Mine is the piece missing....


As we were ordering, the cashier warned us, well she tried to warn us.... that it would be a lot of food.  It was.  It was way more than we could eat, but it sure was good.

Here is my lasagna on the plate:

I really liked my half of sandwich, the black spots are Balsamic vinegar.  

And this is the spaghetti and meatballs.


The store also had a great selection of drinks. We had Snapple!

It was a fun Italian lunch to be sure.




I didn't know it until we read this T-shirt, But...they even have cannoli!


After reading this T shirt, my friend went back tot he deli and asked about cannoli.  I already had food to take home and couldn't eat another bite, but then, neither could she, however, they let her have a sample taste of the cannoli filling.... and I think that she liked it.  So, the cannoli is to be continued.... next time!

If you want to know more about cannoli... click here and read about cannoli from the perspective of a New York Taxi cab driver in the Bronx.


Outside the Deli, in front of the Bistro, Cassano's itself is a great little grocery store with a bit of an Italian flavor. 

I enjoyed touring around...

It was like a little visit to Italy!


So, as for Mission Bistro.. You will have to check out the menus and decide for yourself, but go on a day other than Monday, cuz on Monday, the Bistro is closed.

 As for me, ...maybe the Bistro.. on another day...  when in the mood for Italian food, or maybe if we are hungry and the neighborhood.... and then again, ... maybe the deli.....yum!

El Mercado de Pueblo

El Mercado de Pueblo is a new addition to Spokane, located at 1814 N Division St.  It opened in January 2010, I believe, (I could, of course. be wrong about that!) It is so new I don;t see a listing on Urbanspoon yet!

Anyhow it is new and this was my first time there though I have seen the painted wall outside the place.   I probably would have missed the place were it not for the artwork on the building.  It's so southwest and colorful too!

This place does not realy have anyplace to even pull up a chair if you want to have a bite to eat, just a lunch counter; but they do make orders to go and that is what I did.  Their specialty seems to be tamales.  I love tamales!  I had the notion to take some home for diner, so I did. 


Its a great little store,  a lot like De Leon's further north.  The pastries are wild looking, their colors amazing but I am am not into eating doughnuts.... I will say they looked very interesting.  In addition to making tamales and a vast array of baked goods including cakes, they also make salsa, pico de gallo and serve fruit and fruits salad.  Their small grocery contains fresh items like bananas and cucumbers... and they have lot of great Mexican items, barrels and barrels of dried peppers, some pinatas for parties, soda from South America, a large selection of spices and huge cooking pots too.

 

I bought chicken, pork and the rajas tamales.  Rajas is a chile and cheese filled tamale, as seen on the right hand side in the photo below.  Rajas is the one in the middle.  This particular tamale was a little over done and not very appetizing to look at... unless of course you really do not mind green. 

   I served the tamales at home with lettuce on the side and some tortilla soup, (not in the photos.) 

I also bought pico de gallo and some wagon wheeled shaped super crunchy chips that sure were tasty!

Well, I have to say the tamales, especially the rajas were not my favorite, at least nothing like I expected and I seemed to have missed the cheese in the rajas too.  They were probably totally authentic.... and since I am not acquainted with authentic, they were foreign to my particular liking.  Geo found them to be interesting.  As I thoroughly expected to like them, this came as a bit of a disappointment to me.  They were good with  the pico de gallo all over them though.

I do not mind green (these wee green) and I like the more vegetarian-style fare.   These would be much more appetizing if the chiles were diced and maybe if there was some more cheese in them and maybe even bits of corn.  (This, of course, would be the "gringa version"... It is perhaps what I would do with them in the kitchen to make them more to my own personal liking.)

Geo could not tell any difference between the chicken and the pork tamales and he also commented that they were a little dry. 

Also the tamales were wrapped in such a way that when they were opened the tamales were all broken inside because the masa stuck to the various portions of the corn husk wrapper.  So, next time, the tamales will not be on high on my list when shopping here.  I would order the chicken, beef or pork the next time.

 The rajas was simply not my kind of thing, but the pico de gallo was delicious!  I will be back for more of that.

Fun store...