Kari A.
Yelp
Recently I discovered an amazing nut butter at this market. It's at the Healthy Butter stand and it's a cinnamon fig almond butter called "Figzilla". Figzilla, where have you been all my life? At 17 dollars for an 11.5 oz jar, it's a bit of a splurge but hey, you only live once and life is too short.
This is a wonderful farmer's market. The ambiance is fantastic. Located right by the Metro Gold Line in the picturesque Mission District of South Pasadena, it has a great community atmosphere.
Today I bought a jar of mixed berry jam, a dozen organic brown eggs, a package of chipotle bourbon beef jerky, a jar of raw honey, a loaf of rainbow colored bread at Homeboy Bakery (to make happy grilled cheese sandwiches) and of course, the Figzilla. The cost does add up after a while since things are not cheap here, but it feels good to support local farmers and businesses.
I chatted it up with many of the vendors, who were so generous in sharing info and offering samples. The vendor from Highway Highlands Farm (a seller of organic jams and jellies) was particularly generous in explaining the ingredients in each of her jams and taking the time to show me her wide selection which included jams made with champagne, zinfandel, and merlot. Cheers!
Even if you don't buy anything, it's fun just strolling around looking at all the beautiful colors and hues of the produce and fresh flowers. I was impressed to see that fresh oysters, beef, seafood, and chicken were also for sale.
As others have said, there is a wide variety of things to munch on here as well: ice cream, rotisserie chicken, corn on the cob, tamales, kettle corn, shave ice, etc. My fave is the huge baked yam with lotsa butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. My son's fave is the tri tip BBQ sandwich at Robin's BBQ. He likes to wash it down with one of their freshly squeezed lemonades. It's especially satisfying on a hot summer day.
But yea, I'll be dreaming about that Figzilla nut butter all night...