October 5, 2009 - Santa Monica Farmers' Market Report – Josie Restaurant 
by Nancy Cipes
 
In honor of dineLA week (Oct, 4-9 & Oct. 11-16) I spoke with Josie Le Balch of Josie Restaurant on Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica, to see what she’s buying at the market this week.
“We buy so much from the Santa Monica Farmers' Market,” says Josie, “it would be easier to tell you what we don’t buy!”  Almost all the farmers Josie frequents grow year round, and offer a different array of produce depending on the season.   “October is a totally schizophrenic month, ” she says. “Tenerelli still has late season peaches, Gloria’s corn and tomatoes are peaking, but at the same time the winter squash is in, and apples and pomegranates!”  Josie’s menu is a combination of traditional French and Mediterranean influence, but at the same time it’s contemporary and very local.  “Right now, we’re serving a salad of peaches with a drizzle of port wine reduction, a few leaves of wild arugula, some shaved parmesan and pickled onions.”
 

 
I am excited to announce that photographer Douglas Gayeton is joining us at our Mozza Scuola di Pizza Charity dinner on the 1st October. As we learn how to make pizza with Nancy Silverton, learn about the wine we are drinking from Joe Bastianich and learn more about the Garden School Foundation from Nancy Goslee Power we will also learn more about what Slow Food really means in a tiny town in Italy from Douglas Gayeton.
This event is totally sold out - thank you to everyone for purchasing tickets. If you would like to purchase Douglas Gayeton's SLOW: Life in a Tuscan Town ($50) and have him sign it with a dedication on October 1st please send an email to me at lucy@edibleLA.com and I will make it happen.
With a preface by Carlo Petrini (the founder of Slow Food) and an introduction by Alice Waters need I say more? This book is not only beautiful to look at it's an inspiration to us all where ever we choose to live and what ever we choose to eat.  This truly is edible food for thought.
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July 15, 2009 
By Nancy Cipes
 
Wednesday is just another day of the week for most of us, but at Suzanne Goin’s Tavern restaurant, Wednesday is Market day with a capital M.   Executive chef Julie Robles and sous chef Sara Woodward make the rounds among the farmers gathered for the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market, tasting and choosing the best produce as they go.  

Over lunch at Ammo the other day the topic of Alice Waters and her wonderful edible education and Schoolyard Garden came up and I was happy to be able to share information about our very own local schoolyard garden here in Los Angeles. I think of Nancy Goslee Power, the powerhouse at the head of the Garden School Foundation, as our very own local Alice Waters. (You can see her in the garden in the video posted above.)  Pourtal Wine Bar was looking for a cause to support for their Angel Shares Happy Hour in July and I was happy to be able to make the introduction - edible LA community building at its best. The pairing of wine (I'll be drinking something local and biodynamic), a local wine bar, a local schoolyard garden and a way to get the word out there about the children who benefit from this wonderful venture is what I love about my job.