French Market and Caffe RoM in Ogilvie Station

The Trib just reported that Bensidoun will be opening a 15,000 sq ft French Market at the Ogilvie train station.

This sounds intriguing. Has anyone been to their markets elsewhere in Chicago? Should I be excited about this?

How about Caffe RoM? They will also move in.

They operate the French Market in Geneva on Sunday's. We quit going as there is usually only 1 or 2 produce vendors and the rest is crafts, fairly expensive jewelry, fashion assessories, flowers, home party type goods (Watkins and Pampered Chef come to mind) and garden art. I hear that the one in Wheaton is larger and more diverse but that's not practical for us.

There's a RoM in the building where I work (Hyatt Center - 71 S. Wacker.) I occasionally pick up a latte and consider it to be very good. Others in the building rave about their gelato and the breakfast yogurt parfaits they have. The staff, at that location at least, is always extremly pleasant and polite. IMO, it is a little pricy though.

I take the Metra to/from work at Ogilvie and am intrigued by the French Market. It would be great to have a convenient year-round spot to pick up some produce on the way home. Hope it won't just be crafts, etc...

I've always envied that hall of gourmet food shops at Grand Central in New York. I hope that this will compare favorably. Combined with Pastoral and Fox & Obel opening on State sometime soon, things look good for gourmet groceries in the loop.

Oh and that Bensidoun website does not inspire much confidence, but here's one for the project specifically that's somewhat better (after you get past the annoying flash intro).

We have the French market in Wheaton run by this company. Its very nice, but I am not sure what is French about it and what value the company adds other than technically running the market and putting up the awnings and stalls, etc.

Its hard to imagine what a French Market at the train station would be like, since I go to that station twice every day. I am wondering where the square footage is. Nevertheless, each are welcome additions.

toria wrote:I am wondering where the square footage is.

It's planned to take up the space of the indoor parking lot to the north of the station - between Randolph and Washington. There have been sings up there for years on Canal St saying 70,000 sq ft available (or something like that), so it's a big space, but after walking by "coming soon" signs for the past five years, I'll believe it when I see it.