Condiment at Reading Terminal Market May Change Food As You Know It


G. Widman for Visit Philadelphia

Former Mezze will become Condiment | G. Widman for Visit Philadelphia

For how often they are used, we don’t give condiments as much attention as they deserve. Salad isn’t complete without dressing, it’s not turkey without gravy, and what’s tuna salad without mayonnaise?

Elizabeth Halen, who runs Flying Monkey Bakery at Reading Terminal Market, is all about condiments, which is why she’s opening a new shop at the market—Condiment. Condiment is an innovative business that will offer customizable foods like freshly-churned butter with over a dozen add-in options including garlic, dill, red pepper, cinnamon, and honey, and whipped-to-order mayonnaise that can be customized into various flavors. They’ll also offer their own ketchup, mustard, salad dressings, hummus, and gravy, among plenty of other condiments, like dessert sauces including their own hot fudge, chocolate syrup, and marshmallow sauce.

Condiment could completely change the way people shop for meats at the market. To speed up the marinating process of his or her meats, customers can stop by Condiment to have the meats vacuum-sealed with any marinade or sauce they’d like (that’s one less thing to do for dinner, which is always a good thing).

Halen, along with co-owners Ari Saxe and Jason Wagner want Condiment to be as sustainable as possible, which is why they plan to recycle waste from other merchants in order to make new ingredients from them. For example, day-old bread from market bakeries can be turned into croutons or breadcrumbs rather than just be thrown out. The condiments will be scratch-made, preservative-free, and be sold in various quantities and portion sizes to keep prices affordable and prevent waste.

Condiment will be located on the west end of Center Court, and Halen plans to open just in time for barbecue season—late May or early June.

Menu for Condiment (PDF)

Condiment [Foobooz]