January 23, 2008 |
Short Order
Consultant Clark Wolf is thrashing through red tape in a feverish effort to open a 15 stall artisanal food emporium across from the Fulton Fish Market by Memorial Day – “codes permitting.” His dream is to lure star chefs – Mario Batali with a tripe cart, Dan Barber to market organic milk and cheese from his Blue Hill Farm – into space belonging to the South Street seaport. “It could be an urban incubator for artisanal products,” Wolf says. “With very little investment at all Dan Barber could find out what sells. They wouldn’t have to stand on the street selling. It would be like a flea market or antique collective where a couple of people handle everyone’s merchandise.”
Indeed Barber is a passionate fan of the idea. “Clark is a provocative character and a smart one. This could be the next generation of the farmers market. Artisans banding together to sell their products. Get a cluster of producers and sell for them. I say let’s try it out.” Alas the timing is off for Barber’s Blue Hill cows. “We haven’t got much milk to spare. We’re just starting to think about cheese. But Stone Barns on the Rockefeller estate might want to sell charcuterie. I’d love to look into it. I’m a great champion of farmers markets but asking farmers to grow it, pack it up, cook it, serve it, then pack it up to take home – there needs to be other ways to exploit the public’s increased consciousness of local and organic.
Last week Wolf was in California trying to lure artisanal producers of Sonoma Valley to take a stall or two. “Really?” Barber was surprised. “Should the market be representing groups from across the country?” We both saw the jet fuel burning. “Clark’s neurotic energy reminds me of me,” said Barber.
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