Comments on: Granville Island Public Market, Vancouver (Part II)

By: fmed

fmed — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 16:55:34 +0000

Most of the produce at Granville Island are imported these days. As MM insinuated, this market is mainly for tourists. Many of the old-time produce vendors left a long time ago now. There are true “farmers’ markets” that sell local produce that run a few times a week scattered throughout the city. I live close to the biggest one at Trout Lake in East Vancouver.

We also have a plethora of ethnic groceries – mainly in East Vancouver and beyond that sell imported tropical produce at far cheaper prices that what South China Seas sells for. The area around Granville Island (False Creek) is populated by well-to-do condo-dwelling empty-nesters so it is easy to see why the prices there are high.

All that said, Granville Island (despite my preamble) is a great food destination for tourists. What I usually recommend is to park across the water in Yaletown or at Science World and to take the little ferry boats across to the Island.

Great to hear that you had a good time in Vancouver. It is a great city to and I feel very fortunate to live here.

By: farida

farida — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 16:35:49 +0000

MM, I have not visited the market for 20 yrs or so because of the tight parking spaces, if they are available at all. I wonder if it is still the same. Would love to visit this place again. Love the pic of the heirloom tomatoes. Weren’t they beautiful, though?

By: ami

ami — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:43:58 +0000

With the advent of phones with cameras I think it would be very hard for restaurants and retailers to control getting their goods or products pictured. Funny story about your HK experience wherein you just stepped out into the sidewalk to take a picture of the flower arrangements that you liked. Coincidentally, we were also in that Bottega Veneta flagship store in Venice a couple of years ago and we also had pictures of its interior and even pictures with the sales staff posing with us. But then again they might just have been cool with it because we also bought stuff there.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:37:42 +0000

Mila and Cumin, oops, now I get it, thanks Joan… yes, it does look like woven fabric… but I don’t know if it is Filipino… and yes, this was at the Asian store…

By: Marketman

Marketman — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:24:21 +0000

leigh, in public places, such as a public market, and particularly a top tourist destination, I just snap away unless a salesperson or owner specifically asks that I do NOT take photos. In private stores, I almost always ask now, having been told once or twice not to take photos (at Le Bon Marche in Paris, for example). In restaurants, I only take photos if I really want to remember or feature something, and if it doesn't disturb other diners (in other words, no flash at all). However, should a restauranteur ask that I NOT take photos, I am likely to challenge them just for the principle of the thing... I am paying for my dish/meal so I have every right to record it on film. At our own restaurants, we absolutely welcome folks who wish to take photos, as they will likely be posted on facebook accounts, blog posts, etc., so it would actually help the business for the most part rather than hurt it. I would probably not return to a restaurant that asked me NOT to take a picture, no matter how good their food might be. I DO understand fashion and accessory stores insisting on no photos as one could easily use these to copy items in the store. Having said that, they shouldn't fool themselves, as most serious counterfeiters will probably buy the real thing and take it apart to copy it well... At a Bottega Veneta store in HK once, without thinking, I took my camera out to take a photo of a small but very intriguing floral arrangement on a side table, clearly with no products or photos of any products within the frame, and a guard asked me to not take any photos. I stopped, fully understanding their possible concern. But I also walked out of the store without buying anything, turned off by the approach. Once I stepped out of the store, and was in the public hallway... LEGALLY I think I had every right to snap a photo of the same floral display that was just a few feet inside the clear glass window had I really wanted to, and wanted to make a point, or just to irritate the guard... I could also have very happily taken a photo of every single product in the window in great detail as well, as I have done so at any number of wonderful shops, like in these posts here, here and here. Those photos ended up in posts that were clicked on and viewed over 10,000 times each, a boon for the retailers, if only for name recall while I didn't make a single centavo of off the photos (no advertising, placement fees, etc.). In fact, sometimes, featured high end retailers or restaurants even send thank you notes after they are featured on the blog. Oh, and I just found this in the archives, a post on Bottega Veneta in Venice, where the sales staff were completely fine with me snapping a few shots, and there we DID buy something. :)

By: leigh

leigh — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:15:04 +0000

slightly off tangent question MM – when you take these pictures, do you have to ask permission from the stall owners or something like that? I confess that I went to an indoor market recently (in the UK) and I wanted to take so many pictures because I wanted to preserve the memory but felt diffident about taking pictures. I wasn’t sure whether the stall owners might think I was rude if I just snapped away especially when I wasn’t always buying :-)

By: joan

joan — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:46:06 +0000

Mila and Cumin were referring to the printed fabric under the bowl/basket of the mushrooms. It does look like it came from MIndanao.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:10:25 +0000

Mila and cumin, they were actually textured recycled paper towels, over a pinkish waxed paper. I don’t think they were fabric but I can see where there is a similarity from the photos. Stewart, stay tuned for our choice of lunch “meat”… :) Meg, yes, asparagus probably imported…

By: cumin

cumin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:39:59 +0000

Very sharp eye, Mila. You’re right, the fabric looks like a Maranao weave.

Markets like these make me wish I had access to a kitchen while traveling. Thanks, MM. (oh and tiny typo first paragraph)

By: PITS, MANILA

PITS, MANILA — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:07:08 +0000

THANKS FOR POSTING THESE PICTURES OF HEAVEN, MM! THEY’RE FEAST FOR MY EYES.