One of my longtime hangouts in Los Angeles is the legendary Farmers Market at the axis of Third and Fairfax. Been going there since I was a wee lad, and I generally get there once or twice a week. Recently, about half of it was torn down and all the available land and "backlot" area made into a new mega-mall called The Grove. The most charming parts of the Market are relatively unscathed but, once you venture out into the parking lot, there's this long, upscale shopping area with a Gap and a Barnes & Noble and a Victoria's Secret and a Nordstrom's and an Abercrombie & Fitch and other merchants, many of them quite pricey. It all looks very nice and there's also a 14-screen cinema with, we're told, the most comfortable seats and best viewing of any movie theater anyway.
If I sound conflicted about all this, I am. A large chunk of a unique landmark has been retooled into something that could have been built anywhere. In other words, I like The Grove but I'd like it more if it had been erected apart from Farmers Market.
The website for The Grove is www.thegrovela.com. Neither it nor the maps they were passing out there last (opening) weekend differentiate between the businesses that are open for business and those that will open shortly. For instance, they're ballyhooing Madame Wu's China Bistro, a new incarnation of a classic Chinese eatery that existed for decades in Santa Monica, closing just a few years back. I called the phone number listed on The Grove's website to find out if they were open and got a recorded announcement, mostly in Chinese, saying that they were hiring chefs and waiters, and that I should leave my number if I were experienced in either area. I am not so I didn't.
This week's L.A. Weekly has a couple of nice articles on the history of the Farmers Market, complete with old photos and grouchy (but not inaccurate) critiques of what's been done to it. Here's a direct link to the piece.