It was another busy weekend and of course my food loving friends were hot on the trail of new foods to discover. As the farmer’s market season begins to wind down for many vendors, we wanted to get to some markets in the more outlying areas, so we decided to check out the one in Wheaton, Maryland…a really hip and cosmopolitan suburb of Washington DC.
Our main problem was that the skies were ominous and threatening… but we all decided to soldier on but had an alternate plan just in case things didn’t work out.
As we drove down route 50 toward the Silver Spring area, we experienced several heavy downpours and worried about the farmers market being a total washout…we were almost halfway there, so we decided to keep going.
We made our way through Wheaton and wiggled our way down the side streets only to find that only one vendor had shown up to sell her fruit and was huddled with the others under her large canopy as the rain continued to pour.
We looked at each other and immediately set Plan B into motion…we were going to go out and discover some of the international flavors in the hood…
Wheaton is an area I know very well, so I knew that whatever we decided to do we were going to have fun. My family moved to Adelphi from Australia in 1974, and in the 80’s, I hung around with many of my friends who lived in and around the Wheaton area.
Since then, it has developed quite an international flavor with people settling here from all over the world. Because of the largely cosmopolitan feel of this town, you can take 10 steps in any direction and run into an international market, grocery store or restaurant.
The first store we came across was Marchone’s Italian Deli. As we made our way in, the current owner, Fillipo Leo, greeted us with a warm welcome and a huge smile. This small deli was immaculate and orderly, and offered many imported packaged specialties and assorted groceries which included fresh baked breads, pastries, cookies and many assorted meats and prepared meals in the freezer section.
You will also find fresh mozzarella balls and homemade pizza dough that you can purchase on your way home for a quick, easy and delicious homemade version.
Fillipo was so gracious and offered us samples of his delicious and very popular subs and cannoli, as customers arrived one after the other to pick up their carryout orders for the afternoon.
He told us about the history of his family’s business and how his uncle had passed the business on to him. Today’s economic challenges worry him, however he still holds out hope that one of his sons will carry on the legacy.
Next door to Marchone’s is the Filipino Home Baking & Grocery Store which offers so many interesting ingredients for the home cook, and is a joy for food lovers to experience. Just walking through I find so many items that I have heard about but never actually seen or tasted…like Balut…ever heard of them?
Balut (pronounced ba-lot) is a fertilized duck embryo approximately 17 days old that is boiled alive and eaten right out of the shell. It is mostly sold by street vendors and is a common snack throughout the Phillipines and Southeast Asia.
We then hopped into the car and took a drive down Georgia Avenue, and didn’t travel far until we came to our next stop, the Ethiopia Plus Market, where Solomon, our gracious host showed us some of the beautiful spices and uniquely mixed tea blends that are used in Ethiopian cuisine.
If you love Ethiopian food, then you have to stop by to see Solomon and buy some of his delicious baked breads which include his homemade Injera bread usually made with either teff or buckwheat flour.
On your way out, make sure to pick up some of his vegetarian samosas that are perfect for snacking.
Next door is Caramelo Panaderia (bakery), which we almost overlooked, but so glad we made a point to check out. The current owner is Rosemary who noticed our browsing and photo snapping and offered us a slice of the very popular tres leche cake. This is a moist sponge cake that is soaked with a combination of 3 different types of milk and covered completely in Italian meringue. If you would like to make this at home, here is the recipe I use.
This store makes their own HUGE sweet donuts, beautiful cakes for any occasion, assorted breads, cinnamon sticks and are very well known for their empanadas…well worth a regular stop.
Across the street is the Chicago Bakery currently run by Juan Melgar and his wife. It began modestly in 1997 and now their production kitchen occupies over 8,000 square feet of space. His cakes and pies are true works of art and follow the more conventional flavors like cheesecake, tiramisu, carrot cake and chocolate cake but will decorate them any way you want.
Next stop was H-Mart Korean Market on Georgia Avenue. This was the first time I had been here and I must say that I was so impressed with the bakery at the entrance of the store. It simply buzzed with excited customers and brisk business. I couldn’t help but check out their delicious items which included some unique Asian flavors and pastes to others that were more traditional desserts like fruit tarts and tiramisu, but very artistically presented.
The overall cleanliness of this store impressed me. Each department was well stocked with many delicious and unique offerings, including pork belly which you don’t see in more mainstream food stores. The seafood department is also very well laid out great fresh fish choices which can be cleaned and prepped for you any way you like while you do your shopping. Their freezer section is also well stocked with everything you can imagine, including sushi grade tuna and salmon already cut for you into block shape for easy slicing. I also found something I had never seen before…sea snails otherwise known as whelks…a true Malaysian delicacy with the barnacles still on them!
One thing I love about this store is that they do food demos with many of the items that a non-native may not be familiar with…great idea, especially on the weekends. 
Our last stop was the Korean Corner just a few blocks away. I had been here once before but long ago. They are very much like H-Mart in their offerings, but on a much smaller scale. What I loved most about this store was that it had a small cafeteria were you could order up a carry out or sit at the handful of available tables and eat-in. Their dishes we saw were very generous, family style portions and most importantly, when you see Korean families eating here…the food has to be good.
We were in a bit of a hurry to meet some other friends for lunch, so this is definitely a place we are going to check out in the future….and if you are in the area, you should too!
We made the best of a rained out situation and learned that it’s all good when great friends, great food and lots of laughter are part of the equation….If you are interested in visiting any of these places, their information appears below.
Marchone’s Italian Deli
11224 Triangle Lane
Wheaton, MD 20902
301.949.4150
Ethiopia Plus Market
11303 Georgia Ave
Wheaton, MD 20902
301. 962. 3544
Caramelo Panaderia
11301 Georgia Ave
Wheaton, MD 20902
301.942.9330
Chicago Bakery
11266 Georgia Ave
Wheaton, MD 20902
301. 949.2277
Korean Korner
12207 Veirs Mill Rd
Silver Spring, MD 20906
301.933.2000
H-Mart Korean Grocery
12015 Georgia Ave
Wheaton, MD 20902
301.942.5071
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