This Wednesday, Lexington Market will again liven up at night with the third iteration of Light Up Lexington—a night where vendors and chefs collaborate on food dishes and guests enjoy live music performances.
Organizers from the market and Bromo Arts District say they’ve learned a few things this time around.
“We’ve been learning as we go with these food mash-ups,” says Bromo Arts District director Priya Bhayana. “In previous events, the restaurants were just coming in with a dish already conceived. Now, they are working more closely together with the vendors. The goal from the beginning was to make it a partnership.”
Sample dishes on Wednesday night include honey fried chicken from Pen & Quill and Park’s Fried Chicken, gazpacho and turkey montaditos (finger sandwiches) from Cafe Cito and Krause’s Lite Fair, and barbecue biscuit and coleslaw from The Corner Pantry and Paul’s BBQ.
“It’s all about introducing new food and new people to the market and moving that symbiotic relationship forward,” says Larry Brenner, who owns and runs four stalls at the market, including Paul’s BBQ. “This kind of thing is more important than spending $27 million to flatten the place. I love collaborating with these restaurants. To me, i just works.”
In addition to the food, organizers says they have stepped up in the music department. This time around, the event will feature an emcee, The Dri Fish, aka Femi Lawal, a British-born Nigerian who specializes in rap and hip-hop, as well as spoken word poetry. There will also be big names like jazz pianist Lafayette Gilchrist, funky blues band The Ursula Ricks Project, the nationally renowned DJ James Nasty, and beat-boxing from Shodekeh. Brooks Long, a veteran Light Up Lexington musician, will even return to perform one song.
“We’re trying to make it a more fun, uptempo set that really showcases the talent of these amazing Baltimore artists,” Bhayana says.
As with previous events, Light Up Lexington lasts from 5-9 p.m., with each dish costing no more than $10, with $4 beer from Union Craft and The Brewer’s Art. Guests can sample the dishes and vote for their favorites. Bhayana says the lack of admission fee and accessible prices give the event a welcoming feeling.
“It was intentional on our part that this never feel like a closed-off event,” she says. “Although it’s about bringing new people to the market, it’s also about creating more opportunities for people who already go. That is evidenced by the people there dancing and getting into it. My feeling, without doing extensive surveys, is it’s a welcoming event for pretty much everybody.”
As for the future, they hope to have an outside Light Up Lexington in the market’s parking lot, possibly in the fall. Additionally, they want to involve more local art and showcase different aspects of the market, like produce and cooking classes, down the line.
“Now that we’ve got a good rhythm going,” she says, “there are a lot of ways we can expand.”