The Marketplace of Ideas: Meet the People Behind the West Palm Beach GreenMarket
You wish your high school economics teacher had described the marketplace like this: the West Palm Beach GreenMarket. The lesson starts with the smell of fresh apple cider donuts fried to perfection, mingling with fragrant Indian spices and a subtle final note of freshly cut flowers. As you walk through the neatly organized stalls, you see entrepreneurs at every stage of their professional journey selling their goods. But the best part of the market isn’t its high-quality products or abundance of dogs. It’s learning the stories behind your favorite stalls. I spoke with four entrepreneurs to learn more.
Four Entrepreneurs at The West Palm Beach GreenMarket
The Great American Melting Pot: Roll Up
For the past six years, Anthony Curatola has brought a taste of the Feast of San Gennaro to West Palm Beach. Curatola’s culinary career blends his Little Italy upbringing with his New York food-scene experience to create a unique twist on a familiar favorite: the egg roll. His grandmother’s Christmas Eve specialty was calzones made with egg roll wrappers instead of traditional dough. That family tradition lives on at the market each week, with flavors including Buffalo Chicken, Bacon, Egg & Cheese, and Everything Bagel. As I spoke with Curatola and his mother, the line kept growing. For five minutes, I felt transported to the Big Apple.
Not Just Horsing Around: Arya Matcha
Sophie DeWaal worked on Wall Street before moving to Florida. When I chatted with DeWaal, I saw her passion for clean ingredients, great matcha, and building relationships. I ordered the Strawberry Matcha with Oat Milk, and while I waited, I learned how much thought went into each decision behind Arya Matcha. The business is named after DeWaal’s beloved horse, Arya. The cups aren’t just sturdy; they also say, “The best summer I ever had was a winter in Palm Beach.” As I thanked the team for my drink, I smiled knowing that Arya Matcha doesn’t horse around with its matcha.
Images courtesy of Arya Matcha.
Getting That Bread: Café Marseille
By day, Jean Marseille is an attorney specializing in real estate, estate planning, and corporate formations. By night, Marseille explores his other passion: baking. Marseille says he sleeps around four and a half hours a night while balancing a law career, a brick-and-mortar bakery, and Saturday mornings at the market. When I saw the constantly moving line, I knew I was in for a great treat. I ordered the chocolate croissant and enjoyed every bite. The bow tie–shaped pastry’s golden crust and semisweet chocolate made it as pleasing to look at as it was to eat.
Macaron Medicine: drdoughlittle
Daphne Alvarado understands that laughter and macarons are the best medicine. Alvarado pivoted from the medical world to showcase Filipino flavors in traditional French pastries. Her macaron mission began after she tasted one in New York and struggled to find anything like it elsewhere. So, she decided to create her own twist. She sources ingredients like ube directly from the Philippines. Beyond its lavender hue, the ube macaron offers an earthy sweetness with notes of caramelized root vegetables. Before taking a bite, I admitted my reservations. Daphne smiled and said that what I’d tried before was ube extract, not the real thing. I’d never been so happy to be proven wrong.
The West Palm Beach GreenMarket becomes more interesting the more time you spend there. If economics teaches the importance of our choices, you can choose to spend your Saturday morning surrounded by fresh food, warm people, and the joy of wandering.
Images courtesy of drdoughtlittle. Images courtesy of drdoughtlittle.
Images courtesy of drdoughlittle.
The West Palm Beach GreenMarket becomes more interesting the more time you spend there. If economics teaches the importance of our choices, you can choose to spend your Saturday morning surrounded by fresh food, warm people, and the joy of wandering.
