On the Market.

Adam and I had decided we’d give Metro! Restaurant a try last night. I’d read great reviews about the place so was excited to give it a try. Unfortunately I never got that chance. Upon inquiring what the dress code was - I had just finished a day of selling on the Market - I was met with “Well, you can’t wear flip flops. You should wear a nice summer dress or something. Or khaki pants would be okay.” Okay, fine. I told the girl at the door I’d just eat at 202 Market. And I did. In khaki shorts, a cute shirt, and flip flops. And it was great as always. I never did find out exactly what the dress code at Metro! was though, and right now I don’t care to as I doubt I’ll be wanting to be subject to such snobbery again anytime soon. I mean really. All the girl had to do was tell me what their dress code was. Anyone else ever had problems like this there?

Incidentally, I tried some new dishes at 202 last night. The Honeydew, Crab, Hearts of Palm was incredible. And the Chocolate Coulant with Caramel Panna Cotta, Dr. Pepper, and Pop Rocks - well, need I say more? This dessert is an 80’s child dream come true! Adam, on the other hand, tried the Caesar Salad for the first time. He said it was excellent. And he was really digging the Papardelle Bolognese as well. It reminded him of a good cheeseburger. Best of all though was the Cheesecake with Blueberries in a blueberry reduction syrup with lime. He had this to say, word for word, about the cheesecake: “It’s very good. Awesome. Incredible. Very smooth and creamy. Not as rich as some sickenly rich cheesecakes. Perfect. Very well done.” And no, I don’t think he was drunk. He’d only had one beer. So apparently, you must try the cheesecake.

Rumor has it that City Council has held meetings regarding the future management of the Roanoke City Market. This news comes on the tail of the city making the decision not to renew All Right Parking’s contract to manage city owned surface lots in order for the city to manage them themselves. The result - numerous customers being ousted from their monthly spaces.

So what exactly were these meetings regarding the Market about? Well, currently, Downtown Roanoke Inc. manages the Market for the city. The plan is to not renew this contract with DRI so that the city would then manage the Roanoke City Market. Apparently, upset over David Diaz’ performance is one of the issues that led to this decision. Of course, Diaz recently left for another position in Raleigh this year making it clear Roanoke was just a stepping stone for him as there were bigger fish to fry. This of course should not reflect poorly on the actual Market Manager, Hope Hollingsworth, who has brought the broadest array of vendors to the market than any Market Manager before her. She’s also worked diligently to help pull in grant money setting precedences that will be tough for any future Market Managers to follow. Other possibilities for the impending decision is of course the city’s need to raise money for it’s parking garages.

So, what could happen if the city takes over? For those that remember when the City managed the Market itself, it would mean a lot of negative changes. Someone from the city would basically just show up in the morning to collect fees then be gone leaving little interaction between the Market Manager and vendors. But what’s even worse, is that the city supposedly would reap all of the profits from vendor fees. Currently 50% of the fees collected go back into advertising for the Market. The city wouldn’t do this. The city would keep the money. What’s more, rumor has it the city plans to raise if not double vendor fees. This would be the most frightening change of all. I’m not sure why the city seems to think that downtown is thriving and anyone who owns a business or sells in this area is rich beyond belief, but that’s the perception their actions often seem to give. Doubling the vendor fee could in fact be catastrophic, resulting in the loss of a good half of the vendors currently selling on the Roanoke City Market. Many vendors, a lot of whom are farmers, travel long distances to reach our Market spending anywhere between $20 and $50 on gas to make the trip here and back. There are also a good number of vendors who consider a hundred dollars made on the Market a good day. Deduct gas money and a doubled vendor fee at $30 from a hundred bucks or so, and honestly what is the point in making the trip? I have serious concerns about this. And I hope that if you love the Market as much as I do, you will as well. Please write City Council and let them know how foolish a decision like this would be for downtown Roanoke. The City has enough trouble managing itself. Don’t let them ruin a good thing.