Vendors
In the Spotlight: La Table de Pierre
Tartines that took thirty-six hours, a queue at eleven o'clock, and a baker who enjoys people watching.
Updated
Pierre has been making perfect tartines for nearly three decades. First in a Lyonaise bistro, then in a bakery in the Marais, and for the past seven years from his own stand, simply called La Table de Pierre.
Walk past his stand and you smell the rye crust first, then the marinated tomatoes and a hint of basil. Behind the counter, Pierre is always mid-sentence, mid-slice. He works with the calm of someone who knows exactly what he's doing, and exactly why.
Bread, but slowly
"All my breads rise for a minimum of 36 hours," he says. "It's not a marketing trick. It's simply better. Sourdough takes time, like everything that's worthwhile." His flour comes from a small mill in the Loire, his butter from a single farm in Normandy. The ingredient list on his menu is deliberately short.
The ritual of the afternoon
By eleven o'clock, there's always a line. Some come for the tartine of the day, others for the soup of the moment, still others just to watch him work. "I like it when people watch," he says. "It reminds me that food is for people, not for plates."
"Sourdough takes time. Like everything that's worthwhile."
Pierre is a fixture at Le Marie Marché, usually in the food corner, next to the cheese stand and the pâtisserie. He brings around forty seats, a wooden bar and a chalkboard menu that changes with each market.
What's coming
For the summer he's working on a cold tartine, anchovies, sun-dried tomato and basil oil, which he hopes to launch at the June edition. Follow his Instagram for the date of the first batch.
