A catchall term like “food hall” doesn’t quite capture the essence of the multi-vendor project that Washington, D.C., restaurateur and cookbook author Rose Previte opened in October after six years of planning.
“Collective”’ sounds a little, well, collectivist — but really that is closer to the communal spirit of Maydan Market. Within 10,000 square feet of a former factory in West Adams, Previte has created a space for her sit-down restaurant, Maydan L.A. (see my separate review here), and six counters each with their own visual and culinary identity, serving customers either right in front of them or at tables collected in the room’s central court. A QR-code system allows you to mix and match.
Two vendors, Lugya’h and Maléna, showcase meaningful evolutions for the talents behind some of L.A.’s most iconic street foods. Golden Mountain Chicken highlights a fresh direction for the married team behind some of the city’s most innovative Thai restaurants. Sook, a combination corner shop and wine bar, and Compass Rose, an all-day cafe, express Previte’s Lebanese heritage and the regions between the Eastern Mediterranean and the Caucasus where she culturally centers much of her cooking.
The patio at Compass Rose, one of the dining options at Maydan Market.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The last corner is an idea that brilliantly feeds L.A.’s culinary tributaries. It’s a wild card called Club 104, a space for pop-ups that generally run a few weeks at a time. The market’s first six months have already featured Palestinian knafeh, a Jamaican-inspired fried fish sandwich and Persian fesenjoon.
Like any restaurant or restaurant-adjacent business, it takes time for the working parts to click and settle. It’s been a privilege to visit the market weekly over the past few months, noting dishes being tweaked and menus adjusting for the better. At the six-month mark, the chefs feel in collective peak form, and the crowds, particularly on consistently busy weekends, seem to be adapting the place as part of their community.
Maydan Market in Los Angeles’ ever-changing West Adams neighborhood.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Occasionally I’ll plan to meet a friend at the market and find them standing near the entrance, staring inside with an expression recalling the sensory overwhelm of a first day at school. It feels right, as a means of guidance, to name my top 10 dishes at Maydan Market. It’s only a start. If you keep coming back, you’ll find your own ways into the collective.
