la.foodblogging

Every couple of months, the Patina Group sends me a mailer about upcoming events or specials at its chain of restaurants. The current issue has one page that caught my eye: Tour the Market with Mark.

Join Mark Gold (Executive Chef at Café Pinot in Downtown LA) at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market every Wednesday while he selects ingredients for the restaurant. You’ll learn which farmers are his favorites for different ingredients, and how to pick the best produce available.

I had to give this a try so I called up Café Pinot (213-239-6500) to get more information. I was not expecting Mark to actually come to the phone to speak to me. He was very warm and personable. He made it very clear that anyone is welcome to join him shopping, and the more the merrier.

So this past Wednesday morning at 8am, I waited for Mark at the agreed upon rendezvous point, in front of Coastal Organics at 2nd and Arizona. I was definitely lost in my own thoughts, watching the farmers set up their stands when all of a sudden I was pulled out of my reverie by a man bellowing “GOOD MORNING� in a strong, deep voice to everyone on the block. He then looked at me and hollered out “Are you Pauline?� Then I knew Mark had definitely arrived. Accompanying Mark was Travis, who also works at Café Pinot. Mark was full of life and had tons of energy. His friendly, upbeat attitude truly set the mood and pace for the morning. Travis and I were just trying to keep up.

Even though he did not have a set list of ingredients, Mark knows what he wants and what he likes. His familiarity with the market and the vendors made it really easy to navigate our course to finding quality products. As I mentioned, we started out at Coastal Organics, where Mark picked up a box of beautiful baby squashes. Unfortunately, we were just a little bit behind because Coastal Organics sold out its baby broccoli to the Restaurant at the Getty, but within 30 minutes, Mark got about 8 pounds of it from another farmer he frequents. Yes, in addition to average shoppers like me, at least 49 restaurants regularly shop here, and the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market is able to accommodate us all. In fact, while we were checking out the baby broccoli and baby carrots at the other farmer’s stand, Mark greeted another shopper, Don of Rocco’s, which is the first restaurant kitchen Mark worked in. Everyone really seems to get along well while having a great time around great food.

What made shopping so much fun, in addition to Mark’s totally extrovert personality, was tasting the products. Mark showed Travis and me some amazing sugar snap peas. Biting into a raw one, I could taste the freshness and sweetness from shell to pea. My other favorites of the day were the Shasta gold tangerines ($3 per bag) and the white peaches sold by Honey Crisp. These tangerines were extremely juicy and sweet, and they do not have the tart aftertaste that irritates some people. The white peaches were very ripe, sweet, and soft. While I don’t think my approval of the peaches was the deciding factor, I have to confess I was flattered when Mark told Honey Crisp that he would only get the peaches if I liked them. Throughout the morning, Mark involved both Travis and me in his decisions. While I understand why Mark valued Travis’ opinions, I was surprised by how he seemed genuinely interested in what I thought.

By 10am, we had bought a whole lot of food, including eruption lettuce, freckle lettuce, potatoes, baby onions, strawberries, melons, etc. You might wonder how in the world we got all this food to Café Pinot. The trick is we didn’t. Mark’s god sent is Tracy of California Produce. While we were shopping, Tracy was recommending to us certain vendors we absolutely had to visit. In addition to advising us, by 2pm, she delivers everything Mark ordered to the restaurant. Just in time for Mark and his staff to get things ready for opening dinner at 5pm.

Additional tips:
1) Keep an eye out for Reed avocados. These may become more popular than Haas. They are rounder and supposed to be creamier in texture. One other thing I was told but am a bit skeptical about is that they don’t turn brown.

2) If you feel like I haven’t been detailed enough about my morning with Mark and Travis, check out Good Food on KCRW (89.9 FM) on Saturday (6/11) at 11am. While we were shopping, Laura Avery, Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Supervisor, and Mark were interviewed. You can get the inside scoop straight from the pros yourself. If you miss it, download it through Podcast and listen to it over and over to your heart’s content.

Photo from left to right: Laura, Mark, & Travis.

In summary, I highly recommend going shopping for Café Pinot with Mark. If you work and can’t make it… well, this shopping trip is worth faking a 2-hour disease or even a whole vacation day! First of all, he is just so much fun to be around. On top of that, the knowledge and experience he shares with you will be invaluable. He will introduce to you great farmers and delicious products. If you’re really lucky, he will introduce you to one of the loves of his life: Ruby.

Check out my follow-up post on dinner at Café Pinot. Mark and Travis told me I should stop by to check out how the produce is incorporated into the menu, and I just had to take them up on their offer.

Santa Monica Farmers’ Market
www.farmersmarket.santa-monica.org

Wednesday Market
8:30am – 1:30pm
3rd Street at Arizona Avenue

Organic Certified
Saturday
8:30am – 1:00pm
3rd Street at Arizona Avenue

Pico-Saturday Market
8:00am-1:00pm
Airport Avenue & Donald Douglas Loop (thru fall 2005)

Sunday Market
9:30am-1:00pm
2640 Main St. at Ocean Park Blvd.

By Pauline (see more of her posts).