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… read them below or add one }
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!