Where can you go and learn how to cook delicious food, buy a beautiful handmade bracelet and organic, local produce AND listen to jazz all at the same time? The answer: SoNo Farmer’s Market Saturdays at 50 Washington Street.
I stumbled upon the SoNo Farmer’s Market back in July as I was walking through town after class at Work It Dance and Fitness. The produce is fresh, organic and local and it’s well priced. Some farmer’s markets jack up prices so high you’d think you were shopping in a gourmet store on the Upper East Side, but SoNo has great produce at great prices and they accept WIC and Food Stamps.
In August, the renowned chef, Joe Bruno, started doing cooking demos. Joe owned and ran the Washington Street mainstay, Pasta Nostra for over 30 years, and opened a new restaurant in 2015, bruculino (which means “from Brooklyn”). This is not your standard demo. Joe selects beautiful produce from the market and adds his amazing fresh pasta to it, sometimes complementing it with his homemade sausage or fresh seafood. But that’s not what makes this special. If you listen closely you will learn. Joe tells you about his life, about Italy, about how to creatively combine what you have to create a healthy and satisfying dish and you can feel his passion. Whether it be sautéing wilted lettuce or what to make on a ski trip --because as Joe says “sometimes a chef is born out of necessity.” And the food—well there’s enough for everyone and it’s delicious—what else would it be?
Need to buy a gift? Patty Robinson is there most Saturdays with her lovely Blue Lotus Bracelets. She crafts these lovely bracelets of various beads and charms so that not only will you look dazzling but you will feel great as well. And check out her cool lanyard for eyeglasses – a clever way that answers the question of what to do with your glasses when you’re not wearing them for reading or vision.
All the while you are shopping and noshing on gourmet food you will be entertained by a great jazz group. If you haven’t checked out the SoNo Farmer’s Market on Saturday (11-3) , you should put it on your list--it's definitely on Inga's List.
