South Bend Indiana's Calabrian Connection
Three Italian specialty shops in South Bend, Indiana, are directly descended from a wave of Calabrian immigrants who settled there 100 years ago.
Store • Market • Cafe • Downtown South Bend
Purple Porch Co-op and Café Max
The Purple Porch Co-op and its Café Max are around the corner from our house. It is a warm and welcoming place, almost a community center, with its musicians and artists and local activists, shared-table seating and a pay-it-forward coffee board.
In warm months there is a farmers market in the parking lot on Wednesday afternoons. You can order from the producers ahead of time online, or just wander in to meet some great people and scoop up the juiciest heirlooms in town. At the opening bash there was live music, a screening from a local video artist and a homemade gazpacho contest. It is its own microcosm and I love it!
Photo 1: Lisa Barnett de Froberville enjoys shopping at the co-op and relaxing for lunch at Café Max.
Photo 2: Café Max's salad bar provides nutritious and great-tasting meals with a focus on local ingredients.
When my partner was forced to change his diet, we would often walk over for lunch at Café Max. I owe the chefs there a big thank you for helping make that transition painless. Who wouldn’t love healthy food so deliciously prepared? First on my plate is invariably the deconstructed hummus—whole chickpeas in a silken tahini sauce—one of those magical dishes that is somehow greater than the sum of its parts.
Like a good neighbor, PPC is where I run when I’m making dinner and realize I need cilantro and an extra tomato (I mean, ice cream). It’s the hip neighbor, though, who always has cooler things in the pantry than I do. Their commitment to local, sustainable and organic products makes me feel good about my addiction to their in-house dark chocolate granola bars and the fun newcomer, Fruitbelt Sparkling Fruit Tonic.
The PPC is a relatively young venture, but it has evolved rapidly in the last two years as an important part of the downtown South Bend renaissance. I’m happy to have a front-row seat, and maybe even a supporting role, for all the good things to come!
Purple Porch Co-op/Cafe Max
123 N. Hill St., South Bend, IN
123 N. Hill St., South Bend, IN
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