CHEF KARL ZENK AT
PROVISIONS MARKET HALL
Farm to
Table
Provisions Market Hall adds
produce to 5th Street Market
By Claire Rischiotto
P
rovisions Market Hall, located within the 5th Street
Public Market, offers a nearby option for downtown
Eugeneans to shop for meals, where once there
were limited grocery store options, says Karl Zenk,
executive chef for Provisions.
“I used to live on 2nd and Pearl, just up the street, and
this area was a real food desert,” Zenk says. “So this is really
a great resource for all the people who live around here.”
In 2006, Stephanie Pearl Kimmel opened Marché
Provisions, which offered items such as retail food, a
bakery, wine and specialty foods. Last September, Kimmel,
the founding chef and CEO, and the Marché Restaurant
Group opened Provisions Market Hall as an expanded and
re-envisioned version of Marché Provisions.
Today, Provisions Market Hall offers the same amenities
as Marché Provisions, along with new additions such as
a butcher shop, fishmonger, a produce section, prepared
foods and professional cookware. Provisions Market Hall
also offers customers the option of purchasing ingredients
to make Marché Restaurant meals at home. Kimmel also
owns Provisions Market Hall.
At the market hall, there is a core philosophy: buy from
local farmers and sell seasonal produce. Across from the
wine bar is the newly added meat and fish case, which
features a range of items from tuna, mussels and oysters to
lamb sausage, all indicated by a large yellow-and-orange
neon sign that reads “Eat Real Food.”
Karl Zenk says he wanted to work at Provisions as a chef
because of these food practices: “I love the philosophy of
the cooking. I like the ingredient-driven cuisine that we’re
doing here with a definite French twist.”
Zenk explains that at Provisions Market Hall, items are
purchased locally from farms and from vendors, such as
Newman’s Fish Company, Long’s Meat Market and Nicky
USA in Portland. And as a chef, Zenk says he finds higher
quality in meals made from products purchased from local
farmers.
Buying local food allows Provisions to have a “real
connection with where those ingredients are grown, to get
to know the farmers and to have a real dialogue with them.
It’s just so much more direct and fresher than if you’re
using a middleman.”
The back of the shop still features prepared foods, tea,
coffee, house-made pizza, ice cream and pastries, along
with other options to sit down and eat or grab and go.
“We try to bring as much produce in from farmers as
possible,” Shane Tracey, Provisions Market Hall pastry
chef, says. “When we are designing desserts for the case,
and the ice creams, and designing desserts for the restaurant,
everything is seasonally based because that’s the philosophy.
That’s what we work from, and everything that we do is
based on that.”
In a broader sense, Zenk explains that he sees an overall
benefit to the community by supporting local farms and
providing farm-to-table products.
“We’re supporting these little farms that are protective
of the environment,” he says. “They are growing organic
food, and so when we are giving them support, that just
helps to foster more farms, hopefully.”
He continues, “I think if you’ve been around for awhile,
you’ve noticed a growth at the Saturday Farmers Market.
I like to think that a lot of that was helped along by places
like Marché and that we’re being very supportive of local
agriculture.” ■
To learn more about Provisions Market Hall, visit its website,
provisionsmarkethall.com.
‘WE’RE SUPPORTING THESE LITTLE FARMS THAT ARE PROTECTIVE OF THE ENVIRONMENT.
THEY ARE GROWING ORGANIC FOOD, AND SO WHEN WE ARE GIVING THEM SUPPORT,
THAT JUST HELPS TO FOSTER MORE FARMS, HOPEFULLY.’
— KARL ZENK, EXECUTIVE CHEF
EUGENEWEEKLY.COM/CHOW
CHOW SPRING 2016
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