Marvelous Market

I used to be a real fan of this place, because it was very convenient as both a bakery and a market. However, over the last two years they’ve stripped away everything that I liked about it. Croissants filled with sweet almond paste, replaced with croissants topped with almonds in an unappealing sugar glaze. Plain croissants, still moist but no longer flavorful. Half-gallons of Odwalla orange juice, gone, replaced with inferior overpriced single servings of other brands. Good cheeses, pretty much gone. Unsalted Plugra butter, gone. Even the high-quality paper napkins (printed in two colors!) are gone, replaced with cheap Costco napkins. And what kind of bakery doesn’t open until 8 am?

Basically, although nothing about it is actively bad, the Marvelous Market is no longer a good place for me to stop in for breakfast and no longer a good place to pick up perishable staples, both very useful roles in the past. As alternatives in Dupont, I recommend Firehook (around the corner!) for breakfast, the Dupont Market as a market, and sadly, Whole Foods for everything else.

Maybe it deserves a 6 for having a decent selection of cheeses, but it seems like an awful lot of money for what’s just an okay lunch nosh. And my bigger gripe is that the breads have never been as good as they were at A Baker’s Place, before Marvelous Market bought out that chain. ABP used to make one of the best ciabattas in town...MM doesn’t.

Why, oh why, are good artisanal bakers soooooo scarce in this town? I’ve had better semmeln at gas station convenience stores in Germany, than the bread at most bakeries in the DC area. Grumble.

-dave

Some are better than others. The connecticut ave one is small, and the croissants are too stale after 2pm, but its a decent nosh. Also, the coffee is too bitter for my taste. I know this sounds negative, but really it’s just nit picking. I like it.