Whatever you love, you are

언제 시애틀에 다시 가 볼 일이 생긴다면 이 곳 (Melrose Market) 을 꼭 check-out 하리라.

PIKE PLACE MARKET in Seattle gets all the press and the kudos from out-of-towners for its produce stands and food stores. But the crowds and limited parking options generally keep residents away.

Scott Shapiro and Liz Dunn, two Seattle developers, saw that as a challenge. And so two years ago, they acquired two buildings in Capitol Hill, a neighborhood better known for its bars and nightclubs than its produce. The result, which has opened in stages since December, is Melrose Market (1501-1535 Melrose Avenue; melrosemarketseattle.com), featuring some of the city’s best independent food purveyors, as well as shops and a restaurant and bar from a renowned Seattle chef.

Covering a triangular block on Melrose Avenue, the market is the new home of the chef Matt Dillon, who moved his popular restaurant, Sitka & Spruce (206-324-0662; sitkaandspruce.com), into the market. Mr. Dillon, who also helped the developers select his fellow tenants, expanded the restaurant in the move, adding tables and counter seating along a stretch of windows perfect for people-watching onto the street outside.

Mr. Dillon uses many of the cheeses, meats and wine that the shops in the market stock — and will often point his customers to those stores after their meal. “I wanted Sitka to be in a place where people were walking by all the time,” he said. “I’m someone who really believes in community.”

If the wait at Sitka & Spruce is long — and it often is — try Bar Ferd’nand (206-682-1333; ferdinandthebar.com), Mr. Dillon’s new wine bar and shop, just across from the restaurant. It is patterned after “an everyday hangout like they have in France,” said Mr. Dillon.

Home cooks should head to Rain Shadow Meats (206-467-6328; rainshadowmeats.com), the kind of butcher shop where the cuts look like painted still lifes behind the counter. Russell Flint, the owner and a former sous chef, makes his own charcuterie and sausages, winning plenty of local fans. “To have a butcher in the neighborhood that you can trust is phenomenal,” said Joanna Funke, a Seattle architect, who had bought steaks there on a recent afternoon. “We’ve really enjoyed the sausages here because we know what’s going into them. My husband is German, so he’s very particular about sausages.”

The Calf & Kid (206-467-5447; calfandkid.blogspot.com), a tiny cheese shop, goes head to head with some of the city’s bigger stores by carrying hard-to-find Northwest cheeses and dairy products like goat cheese from Gothberg Farms and yogurt from Black Sheep Creamery — both local purveyors. Small European cheesemakers are also featured, along with local breads from Macrina Bakery.

At Marigold and Mint (206-682-3111; marigoldandmint.com), the focus — and fragrances — are of a different variety. An array of flowers shares space with Japanese garden tools, fresh herbs, artisanal chocolate bars and vegetable seedlings, culled from the shop’s own family farm outside Seattle, near the town of Carnation.

Visitors looking beyond food and flora can choose from the selection at Sonic Boom Records (206-568-2666; sonicboomrecords.com), which specializes in Northwest and independent label releases, and Velouria (206-623-1130; shopvelouria.tripod.com), a fashion boutique next door, which carries on the indie theme with its young fashion and jewelry designers from the region.

Plans for yet another restaurant at the tip of the triangular space have been in limbo, but the developers aren’t giving up. If one opens up early next year, as they hope it will, it might just be the jewel in the market’s crown.

(Source: NYT)