There are nearly 4 million simultaneous narratives that are being written in Los Angeles at any given instant. With millions of individual lives intersecting at points too numerous to plot, it makes sense that there’s no single “Los Angeles” to speak of. Instead, L.A. continues to grow as a city of vibrant and unending duality. 

Despite the beauty of these multiplicities, many of the trendy new restaurants and pricy loft apartments popping up downtown are pandering only to the yuppies and steady paycheck kids. They’re basking in the glamour and the glory of a city on the upswing, ignoring the city’s long history as a place of urban industry as well as luxury. They’re ignoring the fact that there couldn’t be the dazzling face of a city in the process of a burgeoning revitalization without the historic core of immigrants and laborers who first transformed the city from a lifeless desert to a movie-making haven in the sun. 

While Los Angeles has continued to struggle with its complex history, for the past 97 years Grand Central Market has stood erect. It has survived two Watts riots, a depression and a World War; to this day the market continues to thrive as it negotiates the delicate complexities and multiplicities of the city that birthed it. 

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Surrounded by the Bradbury Building, Angel’s Flight and the “500 Days of Summer” bench, Grand Central Market has long been an epicenter—if not a destination—for both culture and food. But ever since Bon Appétit included Grand Central Market in the list of the 10 hottest new restaurants in America that it released last month, people have been taking about little other than the market’s chic new food vendors. 

They’ve been trying coddled eggs in mason jars from Eggslut and beef tallow fries from Belcampo Meat Co., biting into rose petal petit fours from Valerie’s and sipping iced lattes from G&B Coffee.  

But what makes Grand Central Market such a rare downtown gem is not simply the new vendors that have transformed the market in the past 17 months, but rather the coexistence between the old and the new. 

Grand Central Markets brings together haute cuisine and street food, placing an artisanal cheese stand right next to an old-school mole purveyor and a French-inspired pizza parlor next to the market’s most beloved taco shop.  

For now the old-school and new-school coexist under the glow of neon signs, each enjoying the hustle and bustle that comes from a mix of weekly shoppers and epicurean tourists, but it’s uncertain how long their delicate relationship will last.

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There’s a clear divide between the new generation of vendors focused on using simplified recipes that showcase high quality produce, and the older vendors who work to meet their customers’ needs for cheap produce and even cheaper meals. One camp touts its fancy organic label, while the other swats away its flies.

In the past few months, the market welcomed Santa Barbara’s small batch darling, McConnellʼs Fine Ice Creams, while Press Brothers Juicery replaced the longstanding Jose’s Ice Cream Corner, home of the $1.50 scoop.

Meanwhile, talk of replacing the discount store currently housed below the market with a new "food crafting space" or  “exhibition kitchen” indicate that the battle for space in Grand Central Market will only continue. 

But there’s no reason that a new wave of customers should push out all of the long-time vendors. For years the restaurants and shops managed to attract customers to the market despite “beggars with bottles and whores turning people away,” according to native Angeleno, Rudolph A. Porter. Even now men and women browse the cheap market produce with Whole Foods bags in hand, while L.A. Times food critics sing the praises of the market’s taco shops and pupuserias. 

Many of the older vendors still have enough to offer to make them desirable to high-end shoppers; the $6 burritos from Ana Maria put chipotle to shame, while Jones Grain Mill offers up medicinal teas and vitamins for half of what trendy health food stores are charging.  

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Despite the ongoing battle between culinary aesthetics and economic efficiency, the market maintains an urban flair and sense of vivacity that other city marketplaces like San Francisco’s Ferry Building, have long since lost. 

With over 40 food stalls crammed into the market, the kitchens are a far cry from the spacious restaurant kitchens some of the Grand Central Market chefs are used to working in. They’re trading in luxury for humid, pint-sized kitchens for the opportunity to work in a historic landmark surrounded by some of the most promising young chefs in the culinary world.  

“There are a lot of people here who are just doing it for the love of food, which you don't necessarily get at a lot of stand-alone restaurants,” said Olio Chef Brad Kent.

SEE ALSO: Olio Pizzeria Opens In L.A.'s Grand Central Market 

And there’s still more on the horizon for the urban food emporium. Developers have talked about installing free Wi-Fi, power outlets and even couches over the next few years in hopes of making the market a destination for Los Angelenos to do more than just eat. 

“Our goal with the revitalization is to preserve the legacy of this historic landmark while making Grand Central Market a complete food village representing the best local chefs, purveyors and entrepreneurs,” said Christophe Farber, Grand Central Market director of development and special projects in a press release.

Grand Central Market isn’t the next big thing; it’s the thing that’s always been there that’s finally getting the attention it deserves. 

Contact Deputy Editor Sara Newman here and follow her on Twitter here.