It's early afternoon, and Montira Spitzer is busy working at a stove top in the back corner of Montira's Asian Market, 302 E. Second Street, downtown The Dalles. She is preparing to restock a case of hot take-out lunches near the front entrance.
“I cook a big lunch,” she explained, a lunch that is offered from 9 a.m., when the market opens, until 6 p.m., when it closes.
“It's very tasty, very good,” she added.
Spitzer manages the market, which she and her husband, Ken Somer, co-own with her nephew Art Dansupasawat.
She and her husband also own and operate Montira's Thai Cuisine, located at 623 E. Second Street.
So far, Montira’s finding the new market keeps her busier than she planned. “I can do everything, but I'm too busy with the restaurant,” she explained. “That is why Art is coming. I can't work alone here, we need someone to order, to be with customers.”
Unfortunately, Art Dansupasawat is still in Thailand, waiting for a visa.
She's busy, but not so busy she can't take time to give a tour of the new market, which opened just last week, to an interested reporter.
She starts off by pointing out a selection of sauces just like those served at Montira's Restaurant. “It's the same ingredients, they are all my own recipe,” she said. Nearby, glass doors show off a refrigerated area, where fresh Thai chili, Thai Basil and Galangal root are displayed, as are Asian eggplant and Asian pumpkin. “These are very hard to find in The Dalles,” she said.
Before the market opened, obtaining fresh Thai basil or Asian eggplant meant driving to Portland or even Seattle. They are locally available only in the market. “It takes some special care,” she said of some of the fresh herbs, like the basil.
It was the difficulty of finding Asian ingredients that first got Spitzer thinking about opening the market. “Many of our customers would ask about getting Asian grocery products in The Dalles,” she said. She listened to her customers, and thought about what they said.
When the City of The Dalles asked her about opening a second business downtown, she immediately thought of those customers. “I said, 'how about an Asian market?' and they said, 'good idea.'”
That was about a year ago, and Spitzer is pleased that the market is now up and running.
She pauses in the tour, darts into the refrigerated area and comes out with a new bunch of Asian basil to fill out the cooler display. “It's all gone, very quick,” she explains.
In the same room are rows of shelving with additional grocery items. There's a lot of rice – in big bags and small packages – white rice and red rice and black rice, all from Thailand.
There are dry noodles from Asia that no one else carries, curry and soy of many kinds — yellow, red, green — many of which are also served in the restaurant.
A shelf of tea takes up a free-standing shelf, canned goods that include bamboo shoots, canned fruit and coconut line a wall.
In a small freezer are a selection of whole fish of many kinds. Catfish, Tilapia, rock fish and ground fish balls.
Next to the grocery area is the deli, with hot lunches, cold drinks and salads.
Beyond the deli begins a selection of clothing and gift items that occupy a large area.
The clothes are very colorful. “We love the color, we are cheerful that way,” laughs Spitzer. Some of the clothing items are hand-crafted.
There is a case of jewelry, some done in silver and some in stone, all from Thailand. Some of the jewelry is also hand crafted, Spitzer said. Some of the colorful stone work is very inexpensive, only $6 for a large ring.
Against one wall are shelves of ceramic items. One large selection is food grade, colorfully patterned dishes; tea sets and sauce jars and food dishes. Most of them have lids. “With lids, they are cleaner, safer. We have lids for almost everything.”
Next to the dishes are hand-carved ceramic items, also from Thailand. Some are perfect for holding toothpicks, others aroma oil or candles. Around a corner is a selection of utensils carved from coconut wood, and chopsticks as well.
Silk purses, lipstick holders and wallets grace a shelf, and many decorative items, including frames holding a Thai graphic design, handmade.
“There are a lot of things here for gifts,” Spitzer said.
Circling back to the cashier, shell lamps hang from the ceiling over a selection of Thai cookbooks.
Do her customers know how to cook Asian food, use the many ingredients she sells?
Most people do, she said. “Everyone knows how to cook rice, they are familiar with the spices and the ingredients.”
And now that more Asian groceries — not to mention clothing and gifts — are readily available in The Dalles, local chefs will have less trouble finding their favorite ingredients the next time they plan an Asian-style meal.
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