I passed by one of my foraging fig trees over the weekend to see how they were doing with the nice heat. The buds started sprouting a couple weeks ago and already, figs!
Living closer to the trees I've mapped out [no, you can't see my map!] is gonna be nice.
High up on our list of things that make us very happy: Opening Day of the Headhouse Farmers' Market! It was this Sunday, May 1st, and we had been looking forward to it for many months. While there are other markets around town which are open year round (Clark Park, Rittenhouse, Fitler Square), this one is the biggest of them all. We've been going to the market since its inception and Picky even participated as a vendor when he was working at PhillyCarShare many moons ago.
Here's a tour of some of the many awesome vendors at the market. We didn't even buy anything to take home—there wasn't much to buy anyway. It was more of a social visit to see our many farmers' market friends.
Here's the Happy Cat Organics stand with many varieties of heirloom seeds for sale along with some seedlings.
One of our favorite dairies, Birch Run Hills was there with a few offerings of Blue (which ranges in taste from Gorgonzola Dolce to Stilton), their Experimental cheese, beef sticks and spreads. That's Sue Miller in the black shirt. Picky had a spicy beef stick [$1] which was delicious and kept him going until lunch.
Patches of Star Goat Farm had yogurt, milk and chèvre, but Messy helped herself to a cup of Bing cherry goat milk ice cream [$3.75]. It's not nearly as creamy as cow's milk ice cream, but definitely no goaty tang to it. A refreshing treat on a nice spring day for sure.
Paradocx Vineyeard was there with their pails of vino (yep, pails!) along with traditional bottles for those who don't think they'll be consuming 3.5L at a time, heh. We haven't had any of their wine yet, but it's just a matter of time…
Buzby Farms from New Jersey had hanging baskets of strawberry plants. Oh strawberries, it's almost time for you!
Mushrooms and greens piled up.
This pooch was standing guard at Three Springs Fruit Farm. We spoke with our friend Ben Wenk for a good while and he let us know a few offerings to come in the next two months. All we'll say at this point is that they're drinkable. Very exciting! He also let us know what the difference is between apple juice and apple cider: it has to do with the bottling. Apple juice is bottled at 280°F and is shelf stable whereas cider is not. Good to know! They had some lovely asparagus for sale, but we had about 1.5lbs in our fridge already from Fair Food Farmstand!
Bennett Compost was on hand selling five gallon buckets [$10] of their compost. We're actually residential customers of Bennett. Tim's a great guy and we've hung out with him a few times over the last year. We're super happy to be using his service to help divert a ton of trash from landfills. Between single-stream recycling and composting, we've reduced our trash tremendously. We have a 32-gallon trash can which we fill up every six weeks or so. In contrast, we fill up our giant blue recycling bin weekly and we send off a few gallons of kitchen scraps each week to become compost. As a Bennett customer, we were eligible for 10 gallons of compost for free. We gladly took it and gave it to our friend Taylor who is an avid gardener. Unfortunately, we don't have any green space to work with in our new digs.
Our friends Landon and Lindsey recently started a farm in Oley Valley called support them shortly. They're putting together a City Picnic and a CSA-like Garden Stake where you can pre-pay and get a percentage bonus on your account for the entire season. We also hope to make it up to the farm for a visit/tour soon! (This goes for all of our farmer friends: we'd love to come and visit you this season! We had a great time touring farms last summer and want to make a point to visit most of the places where our food is grown!)
After a few hours of socializing, we needed some lunch. Enter Renaissance Sausage and their awesome truck. Their truck makes a few apperances around town during the market season. Their sausages are available at retail locations as well.
Messy went for the vegan sausage with fried onions and cilantro with Asian slaw on the side. Delicious!
Picky went for the keilbasa with house made 'kraut and spicy dijon and Siracha on top. Fantastic! Unfortunately, the keilbasa is not available for retail sale yet, although many other varieties are.
We had such a great time as usual. We caught up with vendors, welcomed a new one and saw a bunch of friends also enjoying the lovely weather and opening day at Headhouse. Until next week! 10a – 2p on 2nd St under the shambles between Pine St and Lombard St.
We were invited to the Krispy Kreme preview party for the nearlyy opened outpost at 41 S 16th St, just north of Chestnut St. Messy couldn't make it, but Picky sure as hell could and he did. Is there anyone out there not familiar with Krispy Kreme? The crack-laced confection which has helped people gain more poundage than Jenny Craig could hope to ever charge you to melt away; the saliva inducing inventors of the 'HOT NOW' sign outside each mini factory; the 'buns' for the infamous Luther Burger. Either way, it's on the other side of that sheet of white icing to the left of the warm donuts where a donut becomes something else.
I was welcomed into the sparkling clean joint by these two lovely ladies with trays full of bagels, cinnamon buns, berry laden treats and chillers, their version of the Slurpee. I got there after 2p and just about had the run of the place to myself. I met Braden Young, the Sales & Marketing Manager for the region, who welcomed me to the new outpost of the franchise.
The display case was stocked solid with fresh donuts.
The famous 'original glazed' (190 calories) had several spots along the counter. They had regular flavors as well as some featured donuts with lots of calorie counts. I guess they have a pretty bad rap so it's like saying "not as bad as you'd think!" as you browse the selections and your brain thinks of the trips of the gym it'll have to remember to take.
But let's get to the magic. You've all seen the view from the store side, but I got to take a peek on the other side of the counter and in the mini glazing factory which is the heart of Krispy Kreme. Racks of donuts line the walls on tall baking carts on wheels. The donuts are put onto the wire rack conveyor belt which transforms the plain donuts into something else. The donuts are warmed up (they're traveling left to right in the photo above) before the glaze is applied. I could tell you the exact temperature the donuts need to be in order for the glaze to hold, but I'd have to kill you (and then you wouldn't be able to have any Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
They travel about 2' to the glaze dispenser. The glaze itself is heated to a scalding temperature (once again, I could tell you the exact temperature, but…) in order to adhere to the donut. I was told that if the glaze wasn't a certain temperature and the donut wasn't a certain temperature, the glaze would just glide off and wouldn't that be a shame. The glaze is pumped from a vat below the wire belt (recycling the dripped off glaze) via a tube and it's pumped to a wide surface from which it glides in a solid sheet of joy onto the awaiting donuts. Here's the moment where the angels sing in unison.
I had to fight the urge to grab the donuts right there. I knew exactly how hot the donuts and glaze were. I wanted to do it. But I didn't. The manager standing 1' to my right would not have been happy. He probably would've intercepted my hand and jostled my camera from my grip on the process, knocking it into the vat of glaze. Mmmmmmmmm glazed camera, delicious. So here they are, the nearly finished donut. They had another 20' or so of rolling along the conveyor belt to cool down.
Back on the other side of the counter, I took a closer look at a few offerings, like these minis. I haven't been inside a Krispy Kreme in awhile and don't remember the minis. It's probably been a solid 10 years actually. Me and my friends used to hit up the Krispy Kreme somewhere in VA on our way back from this huge club in SE DC called Nation. The club closed down sometime around 5a or 6a. We'd pile into my buddy Austin's car to ride back to our apartment just outside DC in MD in between Bethesda and Rockville. We drive by the Krispy Kreme looking for that neon sign. If it was on, we went in for some burn the top of your mouth off goodness.
This monster was a little intimidating. A Cookies and Kreme doughnut. Good god. Crumbled Oreos. So wrong and so right at the same time. I resisted the urge to cash in my two tickets for a pair of those.
I filled my freebie bag with an original glazed and a yeast-raised banana caramel donut. I also got a Very Berry Chiller which I happily chugged on my walk home. The syrup magically didn't come apart from the ice. I have no idea what kind of mad alchemy goes on inside that churner machine, but this is one of the very few times I've had an iced drink where the syrup didn't completely separate from the ice. Color me red—and pleasantly surprised.
Here's a closeup of the banana caramel donut I took home. It was dense and delicious. The banana wasn't overly syrupy in flavor, but there were no pieces of actual banana in sight.
It's exactly what you expect from a Krispy Kreme if you've been in one before. If you haven't, well, you should try it out. And random fact: Krispy Kreme is certified Kosher, how about that?
Last, but not least, they're having a Grand Opening Celebration with some giveaways. Be the first person through the door at 6a on the 4th and you'll win one dozen original glazed doughnuts per week for a year. And be sure to snag a paper hat if you see one around. Wear it like you mean it.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
41 S 16th St
267.548.5516
We are very lucky to get invited to a lot of events around the City and, more often than not, we fall behind in writing about them. The one place we've been feeling extremely guilty about not writing up sooner is Amuse, a new(ish) restaurant located in the trendy Le Meridien hotel at Broad and Arch Streets. We've been feeling guilty because not only was all the food phenomenal, but we got a chance to chat with the chef, Dan Black, and he was a really nice, funny and knowledgeable guy. Amuse is probably one of the best bangs for your buck in Center City. The portion sizes were simply humongous, and the prices were quite reasonable.
The eatery is small with a giant bar in the entryway and a long, communal table for 10 smack in the middle of the atrium of the hotel. A dining area, by the windows facing Arch St, seats 32. Fresh baked baguettes arrived wrapped in white paper along with a ramekin of room temperature herbed butter (Note: Picky loves when restaurants serve room temperature butter—the only way it should be!). The basil buds brought a sense of summer and thoughts of fresh bruschetta, but they weren't overpowering. An amuse bouche was brought out for each of us along with a signature Amuse cocktail. The champagne infused grape with aged balsamic and a basil bud tingled like fizzy champagne. It was the size of an overgrown olive, not like any grape we've seen. The smooth tinge of aged balsamic rounded out the feel of the bite and welcomed the rest of the meal.
The With Love cocktail [Ketel One, passion fruit syrup, lime juice, ginger liquor, champagne, and raspberry] was refreshing and cleaned off any of the lingering intensity from the amuse bouche. Then came the onslaught. We were ready for a small tasting menu, but what came out was just about everything from the menu; full portions of almost everything on the menu!
Taylor Bay Scallops [$8/$16], from Nantucket, with some petit scallops along with corn, peas, house made fresh chorizo over pappardelle in a bouillabaisse with crostini sprinkled with baby greens. Picky isn't the biggest seafood fan (and Messy stays away completely), he found the scallops nice and most definitely not the rubbery kinds many people complain about at other eateries. The prize was the chorizo. Juicy hunks of spice added an unexpected dimension to this seafood starter. The shells added an incredible dash of variegated color.
A large plate of heirloom tomatoes, house pulled mozzarella with opal basil and herb infusion made our hearts flutter. Note, this was back in November so heirloom 'maters were just about gone by now. Chef Black came out to talk about each course and he noted that they were the last of the tomatoes from the region and they tasted great. No mealy, flavorless globes from afar, but the real local flavor of summer. The bright colors played well on the white china. While the mozzarella didn't stand up to the gold standard of Claudio's in the Italian Market, it was great to see the extra effort put into the dish by the in-house staff. Going the extra mile in-house is a sign that a restaurant is searching for just the right thing all the time by tinkering behind the scenes in their own lab.
The pork shank and trotter ravioli [$9/$16] with mushrooms and chip of house cured pancetta was everything that is good about pork. It was saliva-enducing level of salty goodness. The thick, overstuffed ravioli and deeply earthy mushrooms added a nice range of flavor and texture to each bite. And without a moment for us to catch our breath, the next course was tabled.
The veal chop (Frenched of course), a cheese croquette (made with the delicious Fat Cat from Birch Run Hills Dairy in Chester County) with fried leeks and vegetables in a butter cream sauce was a visual meal in and of itself. It was the larges veal chop (Black Angus?) Picky has ever seen, approaching a foot in length.
The chop had an incredible presence as it was propped up at the bone by the croquette. It was pink and tender as veal ought to be with a hidden morsel of fat right by the bone.
A bouillabaisse [$26] with lobster, halibut scraps, shrimp, PEI mussels, pearl onions and potatoes came next. It was another eye-catching seafood plate with an imposing height, color and inviting smell. Seafood can have an overwhelming punch to it, but it was all under control in Black's kitchen.
And what would any self-respecting French restaurant in America be without steak frites [$24]. This hanger steak varietal was served with three sauces: tarragon pesto, ketchup and bernaise aoli. Chef Black explained that the steak is seared at 1600°F in a special oven. It was perfectly medium rare, but seemingly overcooked next to the beyond tender veal.
Half a free ranged chicken, herb honey crusted [$19], was a fine dish, but not quite as crispy as Picky likes it to be.
The only item that didn't sing at the tasting dinner was the veganized ratatouille [$18] with quinoa ragu.
Chef Black told us that he usually uses butter in the dish. We're big butter fans, so we imagine that would have made a big difference for us. (Amuse is probably not the best choice for vegans, as most French places aren't.) Regardless, Chef Black still managed to coax a buttery crisp texture from the ratatouille.
And here's Picky's plate with one of everything crammed onto it.
Here's the gang chowing down with Chef Black talking about the offerings of the entrees in front.
As our plates were cleared, they were replaced with clean ones and a giant spork. It was a moment of haute cuisine meets KFC and in this case, it worked. Annie Heckenberger of Red Tettemer (which organized the tasting) talked up the desserts and got our motors going once again after what was already an astounding amount of food.
The tarte tatin [$6] with vanilla creme was deliciously topped with berries. The delicious thick crust on the bottom was just crispy enough without giving up any moisture.
The pot de crème [$6] was everything it should classically be. Luscious thick ganache, freshly whipped cream with cacao nibs and fresh mint sprig acting as the proverbial cherry on top.
Finally, the Mille Feuille Classique with berries and a Chantilly cream sauce [$6] ended the night. It was plain and simple with a dry and not oily filo tower standing tall. Picky was a little sad that there was a crème brulée on the menu, but not for our special tasting (wait, did that bastard just complain about something from this evening?!).
It wasn't surprising to learn that the young chef is a LCB graduate. The eatery was a few months old at the time of our visit, but everything was already running very smoothly in the newly renovated historic space. Our servers were attentive and well-versed on the menu and were able to answer any and all questions we had during our meal. Chef Black took a few minutes after our meal to chat with the group. He said his move from Vermont to Philly was tough. At his former restaurant he had produce growing out back.
Taking a look at the bar menu, you'll notice a nice range of classics and house specialties all at great prices. Their wine list is modest and focused. Their beer list, however, is sadly lacking. But this isn't the place to have session brews, there are plenty of places for that around town. Even the bathrooms are thoughtfully done. Down a set of stairs and a hallway which looked like it belonged in a outer-space based Sci-Fi flick, you opened pocket door stalls with a sexy red glass tile interior. Friends of ours stayed there over the summer for our wedding and they had a great time. Unfortunately, the great summer deals of their first season are over, but the prices for rooms at Le Méridien are compatible with other downtown hotels, but with a much better restaurant!
The take from Bridges, Burgers & Beer, Philly Food and Beer and I'll Eat You. A special thanks to Chessia Kelly and Annie from RT. Thank you Chef Black and the wonderful servers and staff at Amuse for the wonderful evening. We're incredibly sorry for the delay, but we wish you all the best.
And below is a slideshow of all the photos above and more in 1200px glory on flickr
Amuse bar & brasserie
1421 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
(215) 422-8222
Hours: Breakfast: M-F: 6:30am-10:30am, Sa-Su: 7:00am-11:00am Lunch: M-Su: 11:00am – 2:00pm Dinner: M-Su: 5:30pm – 10:00pm
What do you get when you combine a local chef with strong ties to seasonal eating, a brother-sister restauranteuring combo and a Greek mother with an arsenal of mouth-watering traditional recipes? You get Opa, a a gorgeously designed modern Greek eatery on the 13xx block of Sansom Street. Opa opened last month and they kindly invited us over to check it out.
We took a seat by the window at a two-top table with enough room to have a few small plates and drinks at a time. Looking around, the space was nicely broken up into a few sections: window seating, a nice U-shaped bar lined with river stones, an inset tall table by the door and some larger tables in the back lounge-y area. The space seats 46 with an additional 24 seats for the bar, but it feels cozier than that—in a good way. Jun Aizaki of crème designed the space as he did Garces' ever-expanding array of spots around town. The Monday night we were there was pretty quiet, but we imagine it could get pretty busy (and probably loud) in there on a weekend night.
Picky ordered up a Bekris: Metaxa (Greek brandy), gin, whiskey bitters [$11]. It was similar to a Greek-style Old Fashioned, but sweeter. Not a sugary sweetness, but a heartier sweetness from the brandy. The only garnish was a sliver of orange peel. Messy went with a Greek wine, Skouras Aghiorghitiko 2008, which is listed at $45/bottle, but happened to be available by the glass that night.
After ordering, we were greeted by the owners, siblings George and Vasiliki Tsiouris. We chatted throughout the night about the offerings and how it all came to be. George told us of how their mother put Chef Andy Brown through a crash course in Greek cuisine. She'd make dishes and explain various techniques and traditions of the cuisine. Brown would bring his style into the mix and give the time-honored dishes a touch of elegant modernity.
We started off with the Spread Pikilia: Hummus, tzatziki, tirokafteri (a smoked feta dip), vegetables, olive, grilled pita [$11]. The pitas were soft, supply and pillowy. The hummus had a slight smokiness to it which was different from your typical garlic-y fare. The tzatkiki was creamier than the watery offerings in many spots and the tirokafteri was just unbelievably good.
There are a lot of great sharing options like this on the menu, but sharing a lot of plates could get cumbersome as the tables are on the small side. Thankfully, the staff timed everything perfectly!
Picky went with an adventurous offering for his own starter. Pictured above is Kokoretsi: Lamb sweetbreads, liver, heart, intestines, house-cut oregano fries [$10]. Chef Brown lamented that this was one of the only things on the menu which wasn't prepared fully in-house, but we won't hold that against him. Brown's team figured out a way to properly cook the Kokoretsi without the aid of a traditional spit. The texture was lovely. There was one part which had a slight crunch to it (the heart?) which gave a very different mouthfeel than the smooth liver. The herbed fries cleaned and prepped the palate for the other dishes to come.
In contrast to Picky's meat-loving adventures, Messy was in the mood for a salad. (There are plenty of vegetarian small plates and also a vegan entree on the menu.) She asked our for a recommendation, and out came the roasted beet salad: local red and gold beets, fennel, arugula, herbed citronette, goat cheese [$9]. It was really quite delicious, although some diners might find it overdressed. Messy likes a lot of dressing so she gobbled it all up happily.
Messy also couldn't resist ordering the spinach croquettes, feta cheese, seasoning, smoked cheese dip [$7]. which are the Tsiouris' mom's croquette recipe made even more fantastic with the addition of a smoked cheese dip. The upscale comfort food flavor combination was incredible. Messy could — and would — eat this every day if given the option.
Picky's entree was phenomenal and just the right thing for that cold, end of winter evening; Rabbit: wine braised, olives, capers, housemade pasta, shaved keafalotiri [$16]. Rabbit, for those who haven't had the pleasure, is similar to chicken, but much more flavorful. It picks up where chicken leaves you wanting more. Hunks and shredded bits were mixed in throughout this hearty dish. Keafalotiri is akin to Pecorino, but creamier.
On the recommendation of George, we ordered up the Loukoumades: fried dough, honey cinnamon drizzle, walnuts, merenda, spiced banana [$8]. Merenda is a Greek Nutella. But it's waaaaay better with a stronger hazelnutty flavor. The fried dough is heavier than it is light and they weren't as sweet as Picky expected them to be on their own. But dipped in the merenda and spicy banana and run through the honey on the plate, all was perfect. If the dough was sweeter, it would've thrown off the nice balance between all the elements of the dish. George told us the spicy banana was Chef Brown's addition to the dish. The traditional loukoumades and merenda pairing is a winner, but the banana brings it over the top. Messy, not being a banana lover, would politely disagree. George joked that he was considering asking Chef Brown to make gallons of the merenda for summer milkshakes. While we'd line up for those, we'd feel sorry for the kitchen and the laborious process involved behind the scenes.
And how can you finish a meal at a proper Greek spot without trying the baklava: layered phyllo and walnuts, honey, vanilla and fig ice cream [$8]. The baklava isn't as moist as stand-alone baklava, but that's because it has the lump of delicious house-made figgy ice cream to do that. Both parts of this wining dessert were rightfully rich. The flakey honey-drizzled phyllo crushed easily under our forks. The fig ice cream had Picky itching to go foraging through South Philly for figs once again. Another fantastic combo from the kitchen.
Chef Andy Brown, formerly of The White Dog and Django, came out at the end of the night to say hi. He was cleaning up in the kitchen and was more than happy to hold off on that for a sec. He said he had a great time learning the Greek trade from George and Vasiliki's mother. With a background of 10+ years at The White Dog (pre-sale by Wicks when they presented an almost fully local menu), Chef Brown was concerned that he didn't have enough local fare on the menu. We assured him that his offerings were better than 90% of the restaurants in town. He even has a grass-fed beef (feta-stuffed!) burger which is hard to find around town. He wants to have more local offerings on the menu, but we'll give him a little bit to settle in and fully unlock the Greek inside his brain. This is a wonderful spot for a young chef to flourish. The space is big enough to let everyone have a taste, but small enough to be nimble and change on the fly. The new dad (congratulations again Andy!) is putting in hours we don't envy, but boy were we thankful while devouring the products coming out of the kitchen.
We're looking forward to introducing many friends and family to Opa in the months to come. If you're looking for drinks and some small plates or a full on dinner with some strong coffee and dessert, Opa's got you covered. If you see George and Vasiliki entertaining at the bar, stop and say hi. They're the kind of restauranteurs who are always happy to talk shop about their passion. If you see Chef Brown escape from the kitchen for a bit, stride up and say hello, he'll love to hear your thoughts.
1200 pixel wide photos in this flickr set:
Opa
1311 Sansom St
M-Sa: 5p – 11p
215.545.0170
Whenever you're involved with planning a meeting [not me in this case, but I've been there before], there are always a few nervous moments of "will they show?". The South Philly Food Co-op's Spring Community Forum brought in 100+ to Neumann-Goretti High School Auditorium at 11th & Moore on Monday night to talk about the co-op to be. They came!
One last shot before the first curious residents started to trickle in.
And then it was a nice steady stream of people in small groups coming in for the next half hour.
People signed in, grabbed a soft pretzel and filled out surveys about their own future involvement in the co-op. With almost 900 surveys collected already, the co-op has a good feel of who's interested and what they can bring to the table to help make it all a reality.
The forum brought out people of all ages, but it was a nearly all white audience. There's still a big area south of Washington Ave and west of Broad St which needs more attention. There is certainly more work to be done. Fortunately, there were a few people in the audience from that part of town and they met to discuss getting the word out. As the word gets out about the co-op, its mission and its purpose, more people from all walks of life will be interested and I'm sure of that. The memberships of other co-ops around town and around the country demonstrate just that.
A person represent each committee behind the scenes at the fledgling co-op spoke. Here's Josh Skaroff from the Outreach Committee talking about what each person can bring to the table. People can host parties, put together bake sales, write about the co-op, fundraising, help out with various IT concerns, help out with a logo and brochures, help train volunteers… Everybody can bring something to the table.
I can't remember who posed the question as to why people want to be involved in the co-op—for the food aspect or the building community aspect—but people raised their hands accordingly. I think it was roughly a 50-50 split.
So what was covered. The slideshow covers it all:
But to summarize, here's what I learned. The first co-op in America was born in Philly at 917 Federal St (pretty sweet), so there's a strong historical tie to the notion right here. Out of the 860 surveys filled out, 87% of respondents indicated they were interested in joining a co-op. Joining the co-op means having member equity. It's a democratic institution and all households have one vote in all matters. The equity contribution is currently going to be set at $200 per household and eight hours per year per household of volunteer work for the co-op. The can be paid through installments and once payments are started, each member/household will have a full stake—you will not have to pay in full to be a full member of the co-op. The volunteer hours are not limited to simply working at the physical store. The store will be open to all as far as shopping goes, but members will have special perks. The special perks have yet to be worked out, but may include sales and discounts on in-store items and from community partners. Members will be able to run for the board of directors and petition for policy changes.
From here on out, the co-op will hopefully open doors by late 2012/early 2013. But first the co-op must incorporate. Josh R indicated that the co-op will incorporate in the next four to six weeks. It will not be a 501(c)(3), but [something else and I can't remember the term]. A membership drive will follow as the co-op cannot legally take equity checks until incorporated. A member survey will be distributed to help glean information for a market analysis where the big question—where will the co-op be?—will be answered. Once that is done, financing will be secured from a bank loan. The member equity alone cannot finance the store, but it will pay for the market analysis and outreach efforts.
There were great questions after the committee members finished their presentation. Real questions from people genuinely interested in this co-op succeeding. Some good bits of info supplied by the answers: Members will not be held liable, the incorporation of the co-op will protect individuals; there will be votes to decide on matters like member shares and possibly products sold; professional managers will be brought in to run the store, it's not going to be left to random members to run the business.
Here's Marsha with a group of 10 or so gathering after the meeting to discuss outreach in the West of Broad St area.
Here's the line at the volunteer table after the meeting. Approximately 40 new people signed up to help out. The core group of people have been at it for a year or so now and the fresh eyes will surely help out a ton.
So now the only thing left is to raise a few thousand dollars, find 500-1000 members, obtain a bank loan, find a space for the physical store, open said store and make it a wildly successful co-op to the envy of the good people in Mt. Airy and West Philly! Time for everyone to step up and get working. And let me note that while Messy hasn't been able to make it to the meetings, she's very much interested in the co-op, but work beckoned and it had to get done.
Some additional thoughts on the meeting from some others who attended:
And here's a slideshow of more images from the night. Click below to launch in Flickr and at 1200px wide!
Above is a short 5-minute film about Zone 7, a newish company bringing local food to restaurants and markets 52 weeks a year.
Zone 7 is a farm fresh-distribution service that connects farmers and chefs. We pick up the highest quality ingredients from New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania farms and deliver them weekly to restaurants, grocers and institutions.
Based in central New Jersey and named after our agricultural growing zone, Zone 7 works exclusively with the region's best organic and sustainable farmers to offer fruit, berries, vegetables, mushrooms, eggs, honey, cheese, grain products and other farm-fresh food.
Our mission is to strengthen our local and regional food chain by enabling restaurants, grocers and institutions to buy from and support small- and medium-sized sustainable farms. Zone 7's role is to act as a direct link between farmers and chefs. We create a new and dependable outlet for farmers and offer a consistent and reliable source of locally grown products to chefs and grocers.
Zone 7 provides goods to my day job at Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market. "Zone 7" refers to the plant hardiness zone we inhabit here in Philly. What is plant hardiness?
Basically, plant hardiness zones are a guide to help you know which plants will grow where you live, so you don't plant things that will soon die just because they can't manage your region's temperatures. Plants vary in the temperature extremes they can endure. Basic laboratory testing can determine the lowest sustained temperature a particular plant type can withstand, but, as gardeners, we still need to know how these measurements relate to our own gardens. BackyardGardener.com
And as you can see in the map above, Philly is in the magical band of light and dark pink which allows for lots of varieties of plants which can grow here.
Anyways, check out the video, it's really well done. Kudos to the Zone 7 crew and the director Brian Hedden.
