A little slice of Spain grows from Carroll Gardens to Gowanus
The walls of Mercado Central, on the corner of Smith and Degraw in Carroll Gardens, feel more like a museum than a specialty food store. Tins of octopus, mussels, razor clams, sardines and smoked salmon flaunt their colorful facades next to a vast and intricately curated array of olive oils. Despite being the size of a small studio apartment, there still manages to be space for cookbooks, candles disguised as tinned fish, handmade olive wood mixing bowls, and a miniature box grater that can fit in the palm of your hand. And then there’s the vast wall of potato chips in flavors from jamón Ibérico to foie gras to fried egg. Behind the register, near the refrigerator stocked with the real jamón, plus Spanish soda and manchego cheese, is Zhana Londoner, the owner of this little slice of Spain in Brooklyn. A native New Yorker, she’s right at home here, but her path to owning Mercado Central was anything but conventional.
Tell me a bit about yourself and Mercado Central.
I spent all of my life in the entertainment business. I went to school for acting and started my career in theater and television for the most part and then moved into production. I spent a lot of years as a talent manager before my husband, Marco, and I decided to open up our own film and television production and finance company called Momentary Pictures, which we use both as a loan-out as well as a development and financing company for independent film.
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