By Christopher Gomez | Little Italy News

The San Diego food community, residents and visitors have another chance to shop for local produce and goods in Little Italy a the brand new weekly farmers market, the Little Italy Wednesday Market, which is set to open this month on Wednesday, July 18. The Little Italy Wednesday Market will occupy three blocks on W. Date Street between Kettner Boulevard and State Street — activating the newly opened Piazza della Famiglia. The new market will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. year-round.

Created to be the destination “where the chefs shop,” the Little Italy Wednesday Market will provide local chefs and restaurants a midweek market to give them plenty of time to shop for local produce and ingredients to craft their menu specials for the upcoming weekend. The Little Italy Wednesday Market will also serve the thousands of residents, employees and visitors of Little Italy by providing another opportunity for shoppers to shop local and support local farmers and food-makers.

“As chefs and restaurants in San Diego plan and prepare their farm-to-table menus for the weekend, they will now be able to shop for local produce and ingredients directly from dedicated farmers and food-makers right in their backyard, which creates a huge benefit for the farmers” said Catt Fields White, Little Italy Mercato and Wednesday Market manager. “Like the successful midweek morning market in Santa Monica, we think Little Italy’s central location, high traffic of visitors and residents and abundance of restaurants makes it the perfect location to launch this new farmers market. We’re looking forward to providing this convenient avenue for chefs and the community who desire a reliable source of farm fresh, healthy food in the middle of the week.”

Similar to the treasured Little Italy Mercato, the year-round Little Italy Wednesday Market will offer a selection of farm-fresh produce, pastured eggs, poultry, meat, fish and more brought to the neighborhood by California farmers, fisherman and artisan food-makers. While shoppers are perusing the Little Italy Wednesday Market’s offerings, they will also be able to enjoy live music on select street corners — adding to the authentic Italian ambience of the Little Italy atmosphere.

To stay connected with Little Italy, check out what’s going on in the neighborhood by following us on Instagram and Twitter: @LittleItalySD and Facebook: LittleItalySD. To learn more about the Little Italy Wednesday Market and Little Italy Association, visit LittleItalySD.com.

— Christopher Gomez has been Little Italy’s district manager since 2000. Reach him at [email protected].