… Who’s your pal?  Pearl Market has the perfect friendship all lined up and it won’t even be a drain on your social calendar.

Friends of Pearl Market was launched to support programming, like Kids’ Day (July 27), Ohio Proud Mobile Kitchen, Tasty Tuesdays and live weekly entertainment.  Unlike those snooty girls in seventh grade or the alpha dogs of high school, Pearl Market promises to be your friend forever.

For a $25 contribution, $20 of which is tax-deductible, a Friend of the Market gets a groovy canvas shopping bag with original artwork designed just for Pearl Market.  The tote holds an easy half-dozen ears of corn, fixin’s for a perfect salad or a couple cantaloupes.

Friends also get sneak peeks at the weekly Market videos and email updates, as well as cool Pearl Market postcards.  And Friends support Pearl Market’s efforts to provide superior local products to everyone which in turn helps heat up the incubator for small business entrepreneurs as they test the downtown market.

The first five people to identify six of the 12 downtown spots featuring the Friends of the Market bag in this video will receive 50% off a Friends’ Membership.  Email aeschroeder@sidservices.com  with your answers.

I stopped in to visit Ale’s House Peruvian this week as well. They have the cutest little things. And by little, I mean miniature. I’ve always loved miniature things; doesn’t everyone? There are little tiny houses made out of organic things like trees and gourds. There are tiny people in the tiny houses who are doing tiny things. It’s all just so magnificently tiny and cute.

I would tell you about the gorgeous cherry tomatoes that I got this week and how great they were, but I can’t because I didn’t get any! My kids ate them ALL while we were still at the Market. I would consider that a ringing endorsement, but I sure wish I could have had a couple. I guess I’ll have to try again next week.

Until next time. See you at the Market!

For years European cities have utilized urban alleys as an extension of city living, but Yankees stateside were slow to learn until recent urban revitalization efforts.  We’re on the ball now and boast our own jewel right in the center of downtown in Pearl and Lynn alleys.

It’s no secret that shoppers find lots of great deals and treasures in the alley during the twice weekly Pearl Market, but these alleys are home to some great eats all week long.

We’ve got a Mecca of restaurants that pull hungry stomachs in for ethnic treats and home-style favorites in Lynn and Pearl alleys.  There’s Ringside Café that makes a burger that will stave off the hungriest construction worker; Café Napolitana tempts the Italian in all of us with their freshly made pizza pie; Pickles Deli on the corner of Lynn and Third makes a mean hoagie; Jack’s has old-time diner written all over it – grab the grits and eggs if you have any doubts; J. Gumbo’s spices things up with their Cajun fare; and don’t forget the cilantro sauce at El Arepazo (Did you know you can buy the stuff by the bottle?).

Tempting as it all is, the alleys welcome a new kid on the block – Lynnally’s.  Man, are you in for a treat.  Their goal is to use high quality, local ingredients to make the best meals possible – fast.

“Just because your time is limited doesn’t mean you have to sacrafice taste and wholsomeness,” say co-owners Matt Nickel and Shawn Korn, who also own Barrel 44 in the Short North.

They stand behind their mantra with made-to-order salads with more than 40 toppings to choose from and loaded baked potatoes the size of your head!  Everyday customers also enjoy freshly roasted pork, beef, chicken and turkey on sandwiches, salads and pasta dishes.  Top it off with made-from-scratch dressings and sauces and you are in for a feast.

Is your stomach rumblin’ yet?  Stop in and see for yourself.  They are even offering a little enticement for you in this week’s Blue Plate Special in our weekly newsletter Right Now Downtown, so read on and don’t wait.  (And if you aren’t a Right Now Downtown subscriber, sign up now!)

Lynn and Pearl alleys bring a lot to the city, but there’s plenty more to come.  What kind of business would you like to see pop up here next?  Tell us what you think.

This week my kids were exceptionally hungry so we moseyed on down to Honey Run Farms and got some cherry tomatoes for them to munch on during the day, which were delicious.  We also picked up three beautiful sunflowers for only two dollars for all of them!

I was very excited to see Sweet Stella there with Maram.  I have seen their work around town and am excited to have them at the Market.  Sweet Stella makes jewelry that is just so sweet!  You’ll understand if you go look at it.  Maram makes recycled and eco-friendly things, most notably recycled purses, and these great pins with recycled pins.  There are some great ones of Columbus, like a close-up of the Brewery District, downtown or Worthington.  Very cute and very affordable!

Well, if you missed Sample Day at the Market, I am sorry because you missed out.  So don’t miss another!  Come down to visit on Tuesdays and Fridays!

Crimson Design Group has a store front on Pearl and they set out a Market booth as well, so you can see the amazing things that they have in their store.  I haven’t bought anything from them yet, but I always see the decor they sell and think, “Ooohhh, pretty!  Those are the people I want to make my living room pretty!”

Another booth I always like to see is The Sweater Lady.  Everything is so colorful and it always draws my kids over.  There are little hand-knit finger puppets that are so incredibly detailed that I just don’t understand how somebody can do that.  I also love the adorable kids’ sweaters that have scenes on knit into them, with suns and animals.

This week I also bought a good deal of produce from an array of farmers.  Some tomatoes from one guy, some zucchini from another, and English peas from a third.  I feel like I eat so much better in the summer when I get to spend so much time at the farmers’ market.

Hope to see you at Pearl Market soon!

Calling All Corn Lovers from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.

In search of new treasures this week, I cam across Green Handle Designs.  She has some fantastic jewelry, or rather wearable art.  She also has duct tape flowers that are bright and colorful, catching your eye from afar.  The flowers come as magnets, barrettes and ink pens, and I had to get one of each.  People that can make things out of duct tape besides patches for furniture amaze me.

I also finally stopped at the photography booth just down from mine, Phosegraphe, which means “light writing” in Greek.  His pictures are gorgeous!  The way that he plays with light and color make me want to start collecting his pictures.  If you are coming down this way, I strongly suggest you stop and take a look!

On my way out, I saw a farm stand that I hadn’t yet seen and couldn’t resist stopping for some green beans at Darby Farms.  They are from West Jefferson and I used to live there, so it felt like old friends.  Delicious green beans!  I hope they come back next week.

Counting down until the next market…  Hope to see you there!

While looking around at the Market this week and wondering what new thing I could try, I spotted Take Ten Body Therapy.  Over the past couple of weeks I have had a cold and have generally been a little more stressed out than usual.  So it seemed fate was screaming, “Get a massage!”  Since I’m not one to argue with fate, I gave in and got a massage.  Heavenly!  Oh, the sacrifices I make for this job!  At Take Ten you can pay by the minute instead of having to block off a half hour or full hour, so you really can come by during your lunch break.

This week I also stopped by Heidi’s Homemade.  During the summer I feel like we don’t spend as much time with our pets because we are always out and about.  So I got our cats some treats.  Heidi’s has certified organic cat, dog and horse treats.  It is nice to be able to confidently give your pets something healthy.  I only have cats and they were quite pleased with the new treats.  I can only assume that dogs would feel the same, since they are generally a bit less discerning about what they eat.  Stop by Heidi’s stand and she’ll tell you all about them.

Finally, June 29 is cooking demonstration day!  Be sure to stop by the Market and find out what it’s all about.

Today was a great day for produce!  The Vanscoy’s had some fantastic looking (and tasting) tomatoes; the Bergerfurd’s had zucchini and squash that cooked up very nicely; and strawberries were at their peak, for all that were selling them.  To round off our Market dinner full of produce, I stopped at Mediterra Breads.  I have seen them from afar for a couple of weeks and been just waiting to try them out.  Michael, bread-maker extraordinaire, was quite helpful since there were so many options.  I stuck with some very flavorful focaccia bread that went well with my produce, but next time I’m absolutely getting the chili bread!

Of course I need dessert from the Market, and I can’t quite seem to make it past Let Us Eat Cupcakes.  She did have a maple bacon blueberry cupcake that I wanted to try, but the dark chocolate raspberry cupcakes were in front and demanding attention, and who am I to refuse?

Today we got our first credit card sale through the Market.  Did you know that you can do that?  If you don’t have cash, you can stop by the Market booth in the middle of Pearl, swipe your credit card or Ohio Directions Card, and get tokens to spend at the different booths!  Very easy for both the vendor and the buyer.  So, stop on by during your lunch break, bring your card and buy up some gorgeous local ingredients for dinner, and maybe a trinket or two for yourself!