Farmers markets also offer a fresh bounty of noshing choices

Seattle's farmers markets are established meccas for the ripest tomatoes and tiniest potatoes, for sweet wild huckleberries and lemon-sour sorrel, for an artistic bounty of fruits and vegetables that inspire even restaurant lovers to cook at home.

In their 13 years of growth, they've also become one of the rare places to find genuine street food in Seattle. In a town remarkably devoid of sidewalk snacks -- beyond a few hot dogs, the only carts we nurture are the espresso sort -- the markets provide a rare, regular opportunity to eat and stroll and shop.

Chris Curtis, director of the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance (which includes Broadway, Columbia City, Lake City, Magnolia, University District and West Seattle), says about 90 percent of its booths are reserved for farmers, with the rest divided among baked goods, processed foods and prepared foods.

Here's what we found in a sampling of market meals:

The size of the market bears no relation to the number of dining options. Old Granddaddy, the University District Farmers Market, offered desserts almost exclusively -- good ones, but nothing solid enough to lunch on -- while the far smaller Ballard Sunday Farmers Market let us choose from crepes, quesadillas, two sausage vendors and gourmet toasts, not to mention plenty of sweets.

Many farmers attend several markets, but food vendors seem likelier to stick to a single spot or a few favorites. Burney Brothers BBQ, for instance, is found only at the Third Place Commons Farmers Market in Lake Forest Park, walking distance from its cafe at the Town Centre. Zen Boy Chocolates, whose decadent "chipwich" cookie sandwich is as addictive for adult gourmands as Reese's are for kids, is a regular only at Ballard.


		Jim Bryant / P-I
	At the Ballard Farmers Market, Jennifer Mcllvaine holds an iron skillet full of grilled toasts called "bruschettinas," topped with fresh ingredients from neighboring booths.

Not everyone who offers food sells drinks. Bring a bottle of water or spring for a cup of apple cider from Rockridge Farms, which has a booth at most markets (the $2 cup wasn't cold enough; we'd pay an extra 50 cents for the bigger bottles resting on ice).

Warning: Contents may vary. Taylor Shellfish Farms, which usually offers Xinh's famous seafood soup from a Shelton-based restaurant, has temporarily pulled it from its market stands while it reworks the packaging. And while we scarfed down some fine shortbreads from Sugar bakery at the University District market one Saturday, the proprietor warned us the busy market doesn't always have room for Sugar's stand (the bakery does have a regular gig at the West Seattle Farmers Market).

Presence at a farmers market isn't an automatic stamp of great taste. We're glad there are vendors of gluten-free, allergen-sensitive foods, for instance, but still would not invest another $5 in the tastelessly leaden muffin we got from the River Organica stand. Bumbleberry cobbler from McPhail's Berry Farm was passable but overly soft, sweet and gelatinous, without the same fresh flavors as its produce. Here are some eats we did enjoy, with special winners marked with a star:

Belle's Buns

Belle's offers savory buns, such as rosemary-potato, but fillings in the ones we tried were interspersed throughout the bun, more of a flavored dough than the filled pocket we expected. We preferred the dessert versions of the irresistibly buttery brioche, sweet fruits or chocolates spread over the dough. Owner Carolyn Ferguson, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, has two retail outposts, Belle Epicurean (1206 Fourth Ave.) and Belle's Buns at Pike Place Market.

Where: University District Farmers Market (9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, corner of University Way Northeast and Northeast 50th Street).

Bruschettina

The grilled toasts called "bruschettinas" ($2.50 each, $7 for three) are a sunny reflection of the best of the market spirit, changing weekly to showcase the freshest and loveliest ingredients from neighboring booths. Chef Jennifer McIlvaine dips garlic cloves in olive oil, skates them over slices of artisan bread, grills the bread while you wait and tops it with your choice of seasonal bounty, with hot toppings warmed in well-worn cast-iron pans.

In early spring the options may include heavily grilled asparagus with bits of young green onion, or farmstand eggs hard-boiled and chopped, mixed with paper-thin radish slices. A week later, fresh snap peas may stand in for the eggs, with the radishes giving way in their own turn when more mature peas are paired with grilled onions.

Our personal favorite this season was cool pickled cauliflower decorated with fennel fronds. (Most popular, ironically, is the octopus-chickpea mix, the sole dish whose ingredients don't come from the markets.) The same attention to quality and detail shows in the sparkling citrus-mint juice ($2.50), for which McIlvaine muddles sprigs of fresh mint in a cup before pouring on fresh juice and topping it with a separate slug of chilled mineral water.

McIlvaine, a former cook at Asteroid Cafe and Zig Zag Cafe, also serves monthly five-course "Farmers Market Dinners," with signup sheets at her booth.

Where: Ballard Farmers Market (10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays, 5300 Ballard Ave. N.W.), Columbia City Farmers Market (3-7 p.m. Wednesdays, 4801 Rainier Ave. S.), Edmonds Farmers Market (9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays, corner of Bell Street and Fifth Avenue).


		Jim Bryant / P-I
	At Columbia City's market, Devra Gartenstein, owner of Patty Pan Grill, shakes paprika onto cooking vegetables for quesadillas as co-worker Lucy Weiland watches and Lynn Flory, left, minds the grill.

Suzette's Table, Urban Chocolates

We found two unrelated crepe stands we liked, both spinning out the batter with impressive panache. Suzette's Table spikes its flour with buckwheat, giving a welcome kick of personality to even the simple, crisp-sweet lemon crepe ($3.25) dusted with powdered sugar. These folks also have mastered the art of folding and wrapping the crepe for easy walking; it's as portable as a slice of pizza. Suzette's has a retail store, La Creperie Voila, at 707 Pike St.

Urban Chocolates piled what looked like a pint of fresh raspberries on our plainer crepe at its booth, topping the bounty with lashings of ultra-thick, fresh whipped cream. Both stands offer savory crepes as well, such as ham and cheese or spinach.

Where: Suzette's Table is at the Ballard Farmers Market. Urban Chocolates is at Lake City Farmers Market (3-7 p.m. Thursdays, Northeast 127th Street at 30th Avenue Northeast) and Magnolia Farmers Market (10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, 2550 34th Ave. W.).

Eats Market Cafe

The owners of Eats Market Cafe already run a little gem of a restaurant in West Seattle, but this year they also branched out to a booth at the West Seattle Farmers Market. "Market" is part of the restaurant's name, noted co-owner Toby Matasar, and that means bringing seasonal foods into the cafe and bringing its own food into the community.

"We live in this community, we're committed to this community; we really wanted to be a part of it," she said.

For savories, Eats offers $4 wraps -- much easier to eat on the go than the market norm. On the sizzling-hot day we visited, we liked the sweetish curried chicken salad just fine, but preferred the cooling vegetarian wrap, juicy with chopped tomatoes and cucumbers, texture smoothed out with hummus, flavors sharpened with feta.

Matasar, the former pastry chef for Tom Douglas Restaurants, also serves up platters of sweets, from mini-eclairs to the ice cream sandwiches that a P-I reviewer once dubbed "evilicious." On our trip, we downed a candied ginger cupcake with lemony frosting so delicious and feather-light we instantly wanted a second.

Where: West Seattle Farmers Market (10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays, corner of California Avenue Southwest and Southwest Alaska Street).

Herban Feast

Stop here for savory galettes -- round pastries whose dough tastes like a stromboli crossed with a croissant, crisp and pastrylike around the edges, but soft around the filling. We liked the deep flavors of the meat version -- prosciutto and roasted tomatoes -- over the blander vegetarian one with spring squash. A dessert brownie looks marvelous, and is indeed marvelously moist, but wasn't as chewy as we would have guessed.

Where: West Seattle Farmers Market

Lamb Sausage

Yes, the proprietor is searching for a better name, but for the moment that's the sign identifying the 3-month-old stand. Sausages ($6) -- we actually tried the pork version from San Juan Island rather than the lamb, spiced with anise and other herbs -- are split and grilled on a Weber while you wait, then stuffed in a warm pita with either tubbed tzatziki or mm-mm-good fried-up peppers. Skip the standard lemonade ($2).

Where: Ballard Farmers Market

Patty Pan Grill

"I always feel so healthy after I eat these," said a friend. "But they taste good, too!"

That's the magic of the quesadillas at the all-vegetarian Patty Pan Grill. A generously sized tortilla is stuffed with market vegetables, mildly seasoned with a chile powder spice blend, sprinkled with cheese and grilled to order.

On our most recent visit, our half-quesadilla (more than enough for a meal, at $4) sported the most honest of vegetables -- chard ribs and napa cabbage and onions and the like, along with thin crescents of the first summer zucchini. Top them with fresh salsa; we liked the tomatillo over the ancho chile. Ginger iced tea ($1.50) was too brash and unsweetened for us.

The stand also sells veggie tamales ($3.50 each, $8 for a three-pack to go); we scored a pack to steam at home. The masa is a touch sticky, but it's certainly more healthful in this lard-free form, and we had no complaints about the delicate inside mix of squash blossoms, zukes and smoked cheddar. Devra Gartenstein also owns the mostly takeout but slightly sit-down Patty Pan Grill in Ballard, 5402 20th Ave. N.W.

Where: Ballard Farmers Market, Columbia City Farmers Market, Lake City Farmers Market, Broadway Farmers Market (11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays, Broadway at East Thomas Street).

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