Market is a changeable feast

It offers a sweet menu, as well: three appetizers, three main courses, and one dessert, changing each night according to the ingredients available. The Market works closely with local purveyors such as First Light Farm in Hamilton, Russell Orchards in Ipswich, Topsfield dairy farm Valley View, and A&J King Artisan Bakers in Salem. It opened in June and will close for the season Oct. 15. Perhaps after their years in the Bay Area, O’Reilly and Monday couldn’t bear the idea of hunkering down with root vegetables for so many weeks. It’s too bad. In the summer, the dock offers scenic seating overlooking the cove; some patrons arrive by boat, dock, and dine. But it’s easy to imagine a cozy evening inside with the snow falling, looking out at the silver water while eating a hot bowl of soup.

Never mind. It’s the shank of the summer yet, which means the Market’s menu is ripe with tomatoes and eggplants, melons and peaches. Although the staff composes each day’s menu at around 3 p.m., there is continuity. Tomato salads and beet-potato salads appear frequently, as does some form of salmon. The same soup might be offered two nights in a row. Entrees tend to be fish, beef, and pasta in various permutations.

The salads, and vegetables in general, are a particular strength. A recent visit yields a simple combination: potatoes and beets with hard-boiled egg, tapenade, and arugula. The ingredients taste so fresh and are so nicely cooked — the potatoes tender without being mealy, the eggs bright yellow at the center — that the salad is a pleasure to eat, although the tapenade could use finesse. It’s more like straight-up crushed olives than the usual paste with pine nuts, garlic, and anchovies.

Another evening, slices of heirloom tomatoes are simply dressed, served with a scattering of snipped herbs and anchoiade toast, crunchy and beautifully pungent with the anchovy paste. Tomatoes also appear in gazpacho, a thin red soup that is pure summer, drizzled with olive oil, with a crunchy island of chopped vegetables in the center. A roasted tomato and pepper soup with a chive butter crouton is much less nuanced — it tastes like a bowl of liquid red peppers.