At Three New Markets, the Food Has a Local Flavor

On any given weekday afternoon after school lets out, the Broad Branch Market's bulk candy counter is two feet deep with grade schoolers clamoring for malted milk balls and licorice whips while their parents are steps away, ordering dinner at the deli counter.

It sounds like 1950 inside, and the Broad Branch looks like a historic building, with its wide front porch and elegant flagstone steps. But most of it was built just this year on the foundation of a rundown convenience store.

At a time when world financial markets are in flux, some restaurants are bleeding customers and people fear for their financial future, business is bustling at the Broad Branch, in Northwest, and two other small gourmet grocery stores that recently opened in Montgomery County.

In fact, a survey on shopper trends released in May by the Food Marketing Institute, which represents food retailers, indicates that 71 percent of Americans are cooking at home more and eating out less often.

The survey also indicates that consumers find planning meals challenging. Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed did not know what they would eat two hours before dinnertime on weekdays, and 35 percent did not know what they would eat two hours before dinner on weekends.

All three local markets appear to be pouncing on this opportunity to offer high-quality prepared foods that are cheaper than many restaurant meals and to sell ingredients any chef would swoon over, such as exotic spices, dried miso, black rice, local vegetables and all-natural meats. Perhaps the high price of gas is drawing locals who don't want to drive to bigger stores. Or perhaps, as the owners say, people come for the retro-style service.

"Being small offers an opportunity to bring a personal touch," says Steve Rudman. In April he and his wife, Terry, opened Willoughby's Market, a 1,600-square-foot store including an 800-square-foot kitchen and prep area, in Sandy Spring.

Rudman, 49, is a Cordon Bleu-trained chef. His recent efforts included a walnut-encrusted salmon in a sweet soy-ginger glaze ($19.99 per pound), a variety of chicken and vegetable salads (up to $9.99 per pound) and a homey chopped liver using his grandmother's secret recipe ($10.99 per pound). Rudman says he spends a lot of time with customers explaining cooking methods and making suggestions for side dishes, and he loves it.

Andre Cavallaro, 28, and his mother, Alison, opened Sub*Urban Trading Co. in August in historic downtown Kensington in what used to be a pet shop. He says their prepared foods draw customers: "Because we have a good relationship with our farmers, who are producing a lot of the stuff right there [in the area,] you can see the quality."

The Cavallaros buy almost all their produce and meats from small purveyors in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. They marinate some, such as the often-requested whole chicken generously sprinkled with herbes de Provence ($4.99 per pound), for ready-to-cook meals.

The menu changes daily. On a recent weekday afternoon, baked ziti with roasted vegetables ($9.25 per pound) disappeared nearly as fast as the large squares were cut in the hot pan. When it was gone, it was gone.

"Even at Balducci's, the food still tends to be on the large scale, mass produced," Cavallaro says. "Here we have more personal relationships with customers, and we're trying to keep prices below theirs."

Sub*Urban also sells Trickling Springs Creamery milk, butter and ice cream; herbs and salts; dried mushrooms such as morels ($20 per ounce); and homemade tartlets ($2 each) made from seasonal produce. They are artfully arranged in glass cases decorated with decoupage flowers in just 1,200 square feet of retail space.

Andre, a former executive chef at Addie's in Rockville, makes the savories, while Alison, a longtime home baker and cook who used to send her children to school with Italian cheeses and cucumbers, makes the sweets. If you don't see the all-butter puff pastry or container of creme fraiche you've been searching for, just ask. Chances are there's some in the back.

At the Broad Branch, across from Lafayette Elementary School in Chevy Chase, D.C., manager Tracy Stannard says people in the neighborhood like shopping locally rather than driving to a big supermarket because they get to know the staff and can ask questions.

In addition to offering fountain sodas, dishwasher detergent and bulk grains, the market sells Gifford's ice cream and prepared foods such as homemade raspberry plum custard pie ($17.99) and kasha varnishkes ($4.99 per pound), a comforting Eastern European dish of buckwheat groats and bowtie pasta.

John Fielding, another Broad Branch manager, says people are "just burnt out on the dining experience" but still want to eat well, so prepared foods are the market's top seller, aside from the candy.

Fielding has worked at several restaurants in Maryland and the District, including the Tabard Inn, and has gathered former chef colleagues to create and run the market's deli and prepared foods section, which takes up about one-third of the floor space.

A shopper would be hard-pressed to find the likes of the market's sharply seasoned scrapple ($4.99 per pound) and meltingly soft yet tart duck confit and cherry pâté ($16.99 per pound) at Safeway or Giant. Willoughby's carries fresh Alaskan halibut that is never frozen (he receives overnight shipments), Angus beef, a modest selection of local and international wines and cheeses, spice preparations created by Bethesda-based In a Pinch Fine Spices and Moorenko's Ice Cream from Silver Spring.

Prepared comfort foods are also a top seller at Willoughby's. Rudman says chicken cacciatore and beef bourguignon will be added in cooler weather.

"People want something warm and fuzzy that feels good, especially with the craziness of the [stock] markets," he says.

· Broad Branch Market, 5608 Broad Branch Rd. NW, 202-249-8551, http://www.broadbranchmarket.com.

· Sub*Urban Trading Co., 10301 Kensington Pkwy., Kensington, 301-962-4046.

· Willoughby's Market, 805 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd., Sandy Spring, 301-570-3663, http://www.willoughbysmarket.com.