The City Bowl Market

Hope for the City Bowl's foodies: a weekly food market for city dwellers in Hope Street. Saturday April 16th saw the launch of The City Bowl Market at number 14 Hope Street – the beautiful unmistakable red-and-white building. The impressive facade opens onto a large, well-lit hall with old, arched windows letting in the Saturday sunlight.


At the entrance, you're greeted by a vibrant fresh produce stand, a bright array of flowers and a plant table selling lavender, herbs and succulents. Stalls offering bread & cheese; olives & pâtés; curries & samoosas; fish cakes & smoked snoek; cupcakes & brownies; and yes, of course, coffee, surround the hall's perimeter and the hay bales and trestle tables in the centre. Musicians perform on the stage upfront, while the upstairs level, overlooking the hall, holds the bar – and the attention of most of the boyfriends/husbands dragged to the market!

The beautiful Easter flowers available at Saturday's market.

This last Saturday, I decided to walk to the market in the week autumn sunshine. I picked up cheese, 60% rye bread, hand-made chorizo, very reasonable fresh veg, flowers, springbok biltong and the most delicious double-chocolate wheat-free brownie I have ever tasted! But most refreshingly, I didn't break the bank and I came away with fresh ingredients to inspire me to whip up some delicious meals and to challenge myself to cook with things I wouldn't normally have come across – exactly what you want from your local market.

Some of the amazingly inexpensive produce from the green grocer stall.
These are the shallots that inspired the onion tartlet recipe!