Le Marché Cezanne, a grocery store dedicated to connecting local farms and neighborhood brands with community members, opens this month on 18th Street between Connecticut and Missouri streets.
Mario Rimet, Le Marché Cezanne’s owner, moved to San Francisco four years ago and was introduced to Dogpatch and the Hill while working at La Fromagerie, on Third Street. That experience catalyzed his desire to bring France’s epicurie culture to the neighborhood.
An épicerie is a stand-alone grocer’s shop which features seasonal items from local farmers, ranchers, and brands. In his hometown of Gourgeon, France, Rimet and his family would eat from neighboring producers and cook with cyclical ingredients. Grocery shopping was integrated into their lifestyle and included frequenting the town’s farmers market, collecting items from the family garden, and picking up items at the local épicerie. The mission of Le Marché Cezanne is to replicate this experience.
Le Marché means The Market. Cezanne is in homage to the French artist and post-Impressionist painter, Paul Cézanne. When Mario visited Cézanne’s studio in Aix-en-Provence he was inspired by the simple countryside way of life, where everyone knows from whence their food comes, who the farmers are, and grocery shopping is a daily ritual, meant to provision for the next few meals to be cooked.
Rimet has sought out local brands to feature, including Batter Bakery, Olive This Olive That, and Sam’s Adventure Snack, as well as California farms such as Josie’s Organic to supply fresh produce, meat, and seafood. While the main French influence is the way of shopping and connection to local farms and brands, there’ll be French cheeses and other imported goods, along with a café window to order coffee, tea, and pastries from Neighbor Bakehouse.
