First Look: Gingham Market, Opening Saturday, July 9 in Lakewood

Ever since opening Gatherings Kitchen in Lakewood, Ruth Kostadinov has had her eye on the next-door space, a charming corner storefront on Madison. It would take approximately 13 years for Kostadinov to snag that property, but she would have to wait another few years before realizing her ultimate dream of opening a gourmet prepared foods market.

The wait ends this Saturday, July 9, when Gingham Market (17000 Madison Ave., 216-228-2285) opens its doors to the public. When they arrive, shoppers will find a bright and inviting space filled with prepared foods, local pantry items, beer and wine, and more than a few surprises.

After so many years of serving the community, through her catering business, cooking classes and private events, Kostadinov thinks she has pretty good handle on what her customers want.

“We've got a great team and we know our customers really well and the kinds of things they're going to like,” says Kostadinov. “They really trust us when we say something's good. And we have such a large client base, people who have been coming to the classes for all those years.”

The market is a natural extension of Gatherings Kitchen. When the pandemic hit and the social cooking classes were put on the back burner, Kostadinov and chef Lloyd Foust fired up Gatherings to Go, a wildly successful prepared supper business. Not only did those dinners bring in much needed revenue, they introduced Gatherings to an entirely new market of people.

Those prepared meals will now be sold through the market. Dinners for two starring prosciutto and spinach-stuffed beef tenderloin and seasonal pasta salad, or grilled shrimp skewers with vegetables and couscous salad can be preordered for pick up two or three days per week. Those same items along with boxed lunches, soups, salads, quiche, and cold and hot sandwiches will also be available for walk-in purchase.

“If you want to make sure you get it, you preorder it,” Kostadinov says of the suppers. “If you want to take a chance, you can just come in and grab a sandwich and a salad.”

The shop is carry-out only, but there is sidewalk seating at a handful of café tables.

In addition to the prepared and fresh-made foods, coolers will be stocked with a rotating selection of popular catering foods for easy at-home entertaining. Having friends over? Grab some take-and-bake hors d'oeuvres like risotto balls, crab cakes, empanadas or spanakopita. Those frozen items will be joined by fresh foods like caprese salads and prosciutto-wrapped peaches.

Rounding out the offerings are more than 90 local products that range from hot sauces and mustards to fermented foods and small-batch cheeses. Cold beer, wine, cocktail mixers and cooking utensils also are in supply.

And now, thanks to that beer and wine license, people attending cooking classes next door at Gatherings can do their beverage shopping on site.