Rocca Family Celebrates 40 Years at The People’s Store In West Marin

West Marin and its extraordinary farmers, ranchers, cheese makers, winemakers and other food artisans are internationally renowned for producing world-class foods and wines. Locally grown and artisan-crafted products from this area are sought out by people across the Bay Area, and the country.

Happily, many of these producers also make their home in West Marin. They, along with the throngs of food and nature lovers who make pilgrimages to this mecca to drink in the pastoral life, if just for a day, are fortunate to have the Palace Market, the locally owned and operated grocer in Point Reyes Station, as a showcase for much of the local bounty.

Originally opened in 1898 as the Point Reyes Emporium by Swiss immigrant Pietro Scilacci, the country mercantile offered everything from food, coffee and soap to wagons, paint, lumber, feed grain and household goods—even dynamite. After several ownership changes, a name change and a move across Highway 1 to its current location, the market was purchased by Carlo and Dorothy Rocca in 1973.

Forty years later, the Roccas’ daughter, Mary, is proudly carrying on the Palace Market’s long-standing tradition of serving locals and visitors alike. “I always say we were the first ‘regular’ grocery store to carry organics,” says Mary. “Point Reyes Station has always been progressive about food—they demanded organics way back in the ’70s!”

In addition to fine wines from Rocca Family Vineyards, the winery that Mary Rocca owns with her husband, Eric Grigsby, the market offers an impressive array of Marin, Sonoma and Napa wines, along with an outstanding selection of very locally produced artisanal foods and brews. Whether you are shopping for provisions to take home to your own kitchen or house-made sandwiches, salads and other picnic items for a day in “the West,” the Palace Market is where you will find the bounty of the county.

Happy 40th, and cheers to many more!
PalaceMarket.com