In January, I posted about ForageSF’s first Underground Farmer’s Market, which was held in a private home in the Mission, generated lines out the door, and drew a wave of media attention. Since then, ForageSF has held several other markets, growing the vendor list, visitors and venue size considerably.
I checked out their latest market on Friday at SOMArt. Even though I showed up towards the end of the evening (around 8pm), there were still over 100+ people in line! So much for “underground” – everybody and their mother knew about it! The hour-long wait, however, was totally worth it…especially because I got tipped off to BYOB.
Not surprisingly, the place was packed inside. So much so that at times I couldn’t move for two to three minutes as people stopped to try different food or buy products. But again, it was fine because I always had something yummy in hand to keep me occupied.
My first purchase was a savory mushroom-filled empanada for $4, which I thought was pretty reasonable for the freshness of the mushrooms and size of the empanada. Before I made it down the first aisle, I also tried a cup full of gumbo, blackberry lemonade and fresh goat cheese. I ended up buying a few ounces of the goat cheese from the farmer, who raises her small heard of goats in Marin and lovingly names each one, saying she “treats them like pets”. I could tell this cheese was made with love and care.
After rounding the first aisle, I chatted with owner of Urban Preserves and of course got suckered into buying her amazing Strawberry Balsamic jam. While at $10 a jar it wasn’t the steal of the night, I could justify it because she only makes small batches of jam at a time and uses locally grown or self-foraged fruit.
There were too many other food products to list – including home-brewed beer, “Love Elixirs”, salt-water taffy, cured meats, and even herbs – so do yourself a favor and check out the next one. It’s a fun and delicious way to spend an evening!
{ 4 comments }
Bummer we missed each other, I was there closer to 5pm. I couldn’t believe the line of people waiting to get in come 7pm! I loved the empanadas, basil pesto, goat cheese and beef jerky. And I’m still polishing off the bacon pecan I purchased.
Hope to see ya next time!
Those Chinese pork belly buns (made by a very non-Chinese cook) were pretty darn tasty. Now all they need is a bigger space for this gypsy show!
great post as usual!
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
Comments on this entry are closed.