The Mission September 12th, 2024
By Nico Madrigal-Yankowski, Food Reporter Sep 28, 2024 - SFGATE
On a recent Sunday morning, a chilly fog blanketed San Francisco’s Civic Center. At 7 a.m., the surrounding streets of Polk, Market and Van Ness Avenue were totally quiet. But walking toward Larkin Street, through the Civic Center Plaza, toward Fulton Plaza, you could hear hustle and bustle. The rustle of plastic bags, the banter of customers, the smell of hot food and fresh flowers. The Heart of the City Farmers Market was just opening up to feed not only the underserved community of the Tenderloin, but anyone shopping for fresh produce. Including chefs.
“You can get anything here,” said Ken Turner, owner of Turner’s Kitchen in San Francisco. The former Zuni Cafe chef shops here every Sunday and Wednesday morning, the two days the market is open, and buys all of his produce for the chef-driven sandwiches that he makes. “What I love about this market is the availability of great produce and that it’s so affordable,” he said.
As he walked from stall to stall, he chatted up the farmers that he has gotten to know over the years. He pointed out the unboiled, raw peanuts, Indian bitter melon and Earliglow strawberries, ingredients not often found at places like Whole Foods, and certainly not for “half as much.” He picked out some figs, which are just coming into season, and took a bite. “You just can’t beat this quality,” he said with a subtle grin.
Turner has been shopping at Heart of the City Farmers Market since he opened his shop, back in 2015. But the market itself, which has been in the middle of the Civic Center since 1981, is known for its remarkable Market Match program, just as much as its chef-approved produce. Despite the challenges that face the Tenderloin, the state’s largest food access program is a bright ray of light beneath a gray cloud of media fear-mongering.
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