Cheers to sitting together and eating together! The Santa Cruz Community Farmers Markets are head-over-heels to bring back a small, sweet version of the Pop-Up Breakfast Series, hosting two breakfasts this summer. Tickets became available March 2.
These beautiful meals are hosted at the Westside Farmers Market and highlight the regional agriculture and food artisan community.
Funds raised support educational and food-access programs including the Foodshed Project and Market Match.
View the photo album at www.flickr.com/photos/150855855@N06/sets/72157681064890964 and check out this video clip at www.flickr.com/photos/150855855@N06/sets/72157681064890964
The series features admired local chefs and cooks and employs graduates of the Santa Cruz County FoodWhat?! youth empowerment program.
Upon arrival, guests choose seats by placing their own plate and silverware at a table. A local band plays old-time Italian, Spanish and bluegrass standards while folks drink a hot beverage and await the first course. At 10 a.m., plates of seasonal cuisine made with ingredients sourced from the markets begin rolling out.
Guests eat and visit while farmers and chefs share their knowledge and perspective of agriculture, community and consumer choice in the food system.
Andy Huynh of Full Steam Dumpling will be in charge on July 29 followed by chef Katherine Stern of The Midway on Aug 12.
Huynh and the team of cooks at Full Steam are an experimental, curious, inspired crew, frequently changing the menu and playing with regional cuisines inside and outside of their own family traditions. They source seasonally and locally as much as they can, working with farms and ranches in the market circuit. Best known for their dumplings and ramen made from scratch, some kind of magic is certain to happen.
Stern returns to the series in high demand. Head chef for a decade at La Posta, a small beloved Italian restaurant, she launched The Midway in 2020.
The Midway serves fruit and vegetable-centric wholesome, savory and sweet dishes at the Westside and Live Oak markets. After a yearlong collaboration with Bad Animal in downtown Santa Cruz, Stern is building out a permanent space, details to be announced.
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Aug. 12 Menu:
- Housemade yogurt, stone fruit, toasted almond, honey
- Gem salad – summer tomatoes, eggplant, walnut dukkah, herbs
- Potato & sweet alyssum – roasted onion and sorrel
- Fogline Farm pork shoulder – slow cooked with grilled fig and sage
- Fresh shelling beans – summer peppers & greens with toasted breadcrumb salsa
- Lemon verbena rice pudding – slow-roasted strawberry, cornbread crumble
- Beverages courtesy of Syllable Coffee
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Tickets range in price from $50-$150, a specific number of tickets available at each level. Organizers ask people to sincerely consider what they are able to contribute and to do so, preserving lower-cost tickets for those with less discretionary funds.