Aspiring vendors are already working to be part of Madison’s Public Market

Hair tied back with a purple bandana, Josey Chu hands out samples of artisanal condiment pastes inspired by Southeast Asian flavors she remembers from her childhood in Singapore — flavors she struggled to find in Madison when she first came to the city as a student in 1999. In a small plastic cup, she mixes rice with pastes she hand-crafts using family recipes she discovered in her late mother’s cookbook collection. They were handwritten Malay-Chinese recipes passed down by her Peranakan grandmother.

Chu, who is not related to this reporter, is one of the Madison vendors showcasing local products at the Garden & Landscape Expo at Alliant Center in early February. Chu hopes her small business, Madame Chu, will one day find a home at the Madison Public Market, which the city is aiming to open in 2021...

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Ken Notes: The Market needs a business manager to get the key components and tenants that will fund the diversity and healthy food that will make the market special. I know it is not fun to talk about the boring stuff, the stuff that pays the bills, but without an economic engine in place the market will open and close in the same year.