Matt Lavallee supports Sherman Market's mission of grown locally, fresh tasting. ~Photo by Julia Fairclough

By Julia Fairclough

"Just smell this tomato," Matt Lavallee said, holding out the crimson-colored fruit, and breathing deeply. "You can really smell the stem, which means it's fresh from the farm."

Lavallee was bent over the morning shipment of tomatoes and fresh lettuces (Pete's Greens) and herbs from one of the local distributors that come to Sherman Market, which Karyn Coughlin and Ben Dryer, the owners of Sherman Café, just opened.

The market is around the corner from the popular café in the heart of Union Square that the husband-and-wife pair opened nearly six years ago.

"I like the mission of local food and bringing it to the square," Lavallee said. "It's good for the local economy. I trust the food. It brings good food into peoples' hands."

Sherman Market sells only organic and farm-fresh foods, from New England, upstate New York and lower Canada. It offers everything from produce, to meat, eggs, chips, jellies and its real specialty-unique and labor-intensive cheeses.

The Sherman Market features Baley Hazen blue, alpine style varieties, Great Hill Blue (delectable and creamy), triple cremé, and chevres. Lavallee likes a Cabot cheddar that is bound in cloth rather than wax, as is traditional of English cheddars.

"The cheese case is definitely the most exciting part," Lavallee said as he gave a tour. "I want to search for even more hidden gems."

In addition to lamb shank from Charlton and organic tofu made in Vermont, Lavallee sells herbs by weight so customers won't be faced with buying an unwieldy bunch.

Coughlin said that she had Dryer were thinking of ways to expand Sherman Café, a cozy space that sits on Washington Street. When the spot around the corner opened up, they grabbed it, without really having a plan. They played with various ideas, such as more seating for Sherman.

They ultimately decided on the market, a natural outgrowth of what they do, since they use mainly local ingredients for the homemade specialties at the café. They said it's getting easier to work with local foods as more distributors are in the local networks. There's more awareness and appreciation for local foods, Coughlin said.

Union Square residents, as well as people from all over Somerville, have embraced the farmers markets here, she added.

The challenge with buying local is the sticker shock. A bottle of fresh Thatcher Milk is $5.50, Coughlin said it comes down to a customer's priorities.

Coughlin believes more Somerville residents are seeing the value in buying higher quality products, especially from local businesses. She took a sabbatical from her role on the board of directors of Somerville Local First to open the store.

"There are more and more groups doing similar efforts with making Somerville more sustainable," Coughlin said.

Sherman Market is located at 22 Union Square. It is open from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.