When Murray Hill Market opened in Little Italy in January, owner Michelle Iacobelli Buckholtz revived the tradition of the small neighborhood market that existed when her father grew up in the area.

This summer, Buckholtz will bring back another grand neighborhood tradition: the sidewalk cafe and alfresco market. Having obtained her peddler's license, she plans to add outdoor seating and sales displays this summer.

"We want to be different from Whole Foods and other grocery stores, and one way to do that is to offer a unique experience and personal service," says Buckholtz.

Buckholtz says that Murray Hill Market, which offers fresh fruits and vegetables as well as gourmet prepared foods, has been successful at reaching a wide audience, including students living in the neighborhood, older Italian families seeking to reconnect with their roots, University Circle employees and East Siders who work downtown. "People stop to pick up dinner on their way home," she says.

Buckholtz was inspired to create the market after a trip to New York to visit her son in college. After she observed the mouth-watering, fresh fare at every corner store, she decided to create a market in Cleveland. She knew it would work because there are no fresh, high-quality grocery stores in University Circle, an area that is on track to create 10,000 new jobs between 2005 and 2015. 

Yet her international-flavored market, which Buckholtz describes as "Italian with a twist," does not seek to recreate the past. Although Little Italy's restaurant mix remains mostly Italian, the Murray Hill Market offers a contemporary mix of cuisine, including Jewish and French pastries, Middle Eastern dishes, and Puerto Rican rice and beans.

"This area is part of University Circle, and I wanted to create an international market with more than just Italian food," Buckholtz says.

Buckholtz regularly serves meatball subs with her mother's sauce, yet finds the older Italian women that shop here are often the toughest critics. "Everyone's mother makes the best sauce," she says with a laugh.

Source: Michelle Iacobelli Buckholtz
Writer: Lee Chilcote