Summer Guide 

Page 6 of 9

In Season
Unfazed by the pandemic, farmers market vendors ply their crafted-with-love food products without missing a beat.
By Aimee L. Cook

It's hard to believe but the institution that is the Downtown Farmers Market has been around since 1992. Created by the Downtown Alliance to bring positive vibes to Pioneer Park, the market is now marking its 30th year, offering a vendor "mix" representing more than 100 farms with a three-hours' drive of Salt Lake City.

In that time, the farmers market concept has expanded well beyond downtown: There are now dozens of markets throughout Utah. No longer just places to pick up fresh produce, they've become a "must do" weekly gathering; a social event where you meet local growers, bakers and ranchers—and hundreds of your best friends, or at least kindred spirits. In essence, they represent the heart of each community.

The recent pandemic changed that experience. At least it did for the year 2020. Many markets lost their "nonessential" vendors. Masks and social distancing tamped down the conversations. Lingering was not encouraged; shoppers were encouraged to shop with a list, buy and go home.

This summer, with many more vaccines in arms, shoppers feel more confident to shop farmers markets in search of fresh, healthy food. There is still uncertainty in the air; we're not completely out of the woods yet. But showing up for in-season locally grown produce at an open-air market seems like the perfect way to get our groove back after a year of COVID isolation.

Food writer Aimee L. Cook checked in with four farmers market vendors to find out how they dealt with the pandemic and how things are going for them this year.

Our suggestion: Visit a farmers market in your town this week, and eat a peach!

—Jerre Wroble

A Gerome Family Tradition
Craig Gerome, owner of Gerome's Market, attended culinary school in Pennsylvania and has worked as a chef in restaurants from Japan to Park City. His most recent stint is at The Yurt at Solitude. After realizing the need for great, local sausage in Salt Lake City, he and his wife, Tara Juhl, started Gerome's Market in 2020, following a family tradition that utilizes personal recipes (Craig's father, Michael Gerome, also owns a sausage company in Pennsylvania).

Aimee L. Cook: How's business going?
Craig Gerome: This business has been a huge pleasure for us. Being part of the farmers markets is such a great way to grow our small business. Being able to talk with each customer, explain exactly what we do—how and why—and giving that personal touch and connection to each interaction. We also love the comradery of working next to other small businesses, farmers and artists. Currently, our sausage can only be purchased at the farmers markets (see which markets below). In the winter, we will hopefully grow our online store with delivery options.

What products do you offer?
Some of our popular sausage flavors include Habanero & Utah Honey; Basque Chorizo; Fig, Bacon & Spinach; Lemon, Basil & Pecorino, Jalapeno & Cheddar; Fresh Kielbasa; Cherrywood Smoked BBQ; Barolo, Fresh Herbs & Parmesan; Cumberland; Broccoli Rabe & Sharp Provolone; Herb Roasted Mushroom. The important aspect of our recipes is that there is nothing added to them (gluten, msg, fillers, etc.), and we use natural hogs' casings.

How did the pandemic affect your business?
We actually started Gerome's Market at the beginning of the pandemic, so fortunately, we have done nothing but grow instead of having to recover.

Any parting shots?
We love what we're doing and hope everyone will also love it. The sausage is simple and straightforward. If you're curious what it tastes like, please come check us out. We also want to thank all of our customers for supporting us and continuing to visit us each week. It's important that we all continue to buy local as much as possible, to help our small businesses, farmers and artists—especially through this really difficult time. We can't wait to share our product with more of Utah.

Gerome's Market
Fridays at Liberty Park, Salt Lake City
Saturdays at the Downtown Farmers Market in Pioneer Park, SLC
Sundays at Wheeler Farm, Murray
geromesmarket.com

• Aimee l. cook
• Phillip Massey Bread Riot Bakehouse

Bread Riot's Long Hearth Loaves
Baker and owner Phillip Massey started the Bread Riot Bakehouse after moving to Salt Lake in 2017 as a market bakery only. Dabbling in some local wholesale opportunities during the pandemic, Massey has returned to Downtown Farmers Market with his slow fermented hearth breads using freshly milled, regional and whole grains. The Bread Riot name recalls the Southern bread riots of the 1860s, where lack of money, provisions and food drove citizens to loot stores and warehouses. The bakery maintains a thoughtful eye to traditions of the past, while utilizing modern approaches including the use of regional grains.

Aimee L. Cook: How's business going?
Phillip Massey: Great, thanks to my solid customer base. I (typically) sell out of 500 loaves each market. I am happy to have returned to the food community in this way. Wholesale was not the type of business life that I wanted but it led me back to just selling at the Downtown Farmers Market. To be able to build a business at one location is amazing.

How many varieties do you offer?
Our baguette, Salt Lake sourdough, sesame sourdough, multigrain porridge, 100% whole wheat, whole grain rye, ciabatta, and various market breads for snacking like Bavarian pretzels, focaccia and flavored tordu. That's in addition to a rotating batch of sourdough specials.

Do you have employees?
No, just me. I do this full time.

What got you through the pandemic, when the farmers market was curtailed?
That is when I went into wholesale—selling to restaurants and local stores. It worked out great at the time. Now, I am just at the Downtown Farmers Market on Saturday.

What do you want your customers to know?
I know there are some issues with wait time and lines at the Downtown Farmers Market, I want the entire experience to be good, and maintaining the business is hard, but I focus on quality. At the end of the day, I want to have bread that meets a really high standard.

Bread Riot Bakehouse
Saturdays at the Downtown Farmers Market, SLC
801-252-5022
breadriotbakehouse.com

• Aimee l. cook
• Spicy sauce that tastes like home: Van Kwartel Flavor Science

Van Kwartel's Spicy Sauce
Specializing in Caribbean flavors in drink mixers, sauces, marinades and spice blends, Tracy Van Kwartel started her business of "flavor science" in 2011 after moving to Utah from New York using recipes and flavors she remembered from her childhood. Starting small in an arts-and-crafts market with a couple of hot sauces and a jerk sauce, the response was so favorable, Van Kwartel began creating more products and selling at the Downtown Farmers Markets in 2013. Van Kwartel sauces can be purchased online and also are sold at The Store (2050 E. 6200 South and 90 S. Rio Grande St., SLC).

Aimee L. Cook: How's business?
Tracy Van Kwartel: We are doing really well. We are very thankful to a bunch of loyal customers and new people who are discovering us all the time. Last March was scary, everything shut down, my husband and I are ski instructors at Alta. For us, everything ended at once. We pivoted and did a lot of online sales last year, delivering to people's homes.

What inspired you to find a new approach to business?
We partnered with Alta Ski Area last winter and did a pop-up restaurant in the parking lot. We had Van Kwartel's Cecret Mercantile. We got a shipping container and brought up some of our local favorites plus sold some things that we also made, like burritos and soups—that was really successful for us last winter.

Are your employees returning to the fold?
Contrary to the narrative that nobody wants to work, we had no problem when we started our pop-up restaurant. We needed people to work in our commercial kitchen and also needed people to man our station to keep our commitments. We paid them $15 an hour and everyone was happy. We found the best people. Everyone had a part-time commitment that fit their schedules.

What do you love about the Downtown Farmers Market?
I love the fact that it allows people to discover things that they might not discover on their own.

Anything you want your customers to know?
You can find authentic and different foods in Utah! Come and see what people have to offer at the farmers market.

Van Kwartel Flavor Science
Fridays at the Liberty Park Market, SLC
Saturdays at the Downtown Farmers Market, SLC
van-kwartel-flavor-science.square.site

• Aimee l. cook
• Marin Aguinaga with Beltex Meats

Art You Can Consume
As a whole animal butcher, Beltex Meats prides themselves on having lasting relationships with local farmers and ranchers and offering the finest quality to their customers. Founded by chef Philip Grubisa, Beltex Meats breaks down the entire animal, allowing for the deli cases and Farmers Market offerings to range from cuts to soups. Brand ambassador, trained chef, and farmers market "man," Marin Aguinaga was interviewed for this article.

Aimee L. Cook: How's business?
Marin Aguinaga: It is going good for sure. We made it through the pandemic and that was interesting. It just seems that people are really open to our medium and our style and our approach to being a small butcher shop. The past four or five years, we have worked on getting people to understand that things sell out and [the importance of] having quality over quantity. For us, the farmers markets are great, people are energized, people are spending money and we are doing better than in previous years.

How did you pivot during the pandemic?
Phil is not afraid of change. We don't get hung up, this is who we are going to be. Phil came up with the Butcher Bag delivery, and that is really kind of where we started before going brick and mortar. We just had to break it down and come up with the best cost-efficient way of still going through 1 cow, 12 pigs and 2 lamb in a month, without having the customer come inside and choose their cuts. We had become more versatile. We built a customer base before the pandemic, and they really saved us.

What is your bestselling item at the farmers markets?
Our fennel-parmesan coils, our salamis and our half chickens. Most people have Traegers now, so folks are getting into smoking items. The half chickens are all brined and marinated and pretty straight-forward proteins. With the markets and the shop open, we are trying to keep products in stock for our customers. We hope to bring back our classes, etc., soon.

What do you like about being part of the farmers markets?
For me, I like the marketing and promoting. I feel like we are starting all over again, especially with so many people moving here. I love our product, and it is more like educating than sales to me. I look at it as a great opportunity for us, the shop is doing well, my intention is to talk to as many people as I can, let them know who we are and let them know who our ranchers are.

What do you want your customers to know?
Butchering and food and beverage is so much deeper than buying a piece of meat and consuming it. There are thousands of stories of ethnicity, of trial and error and failure, that go into a pork chop, a chicken or a sausage. Every ounce of that meat—from the rancher to the cow to the fabricator to the salesperson to the consumer—we have put every ounce of love and integrity and commitment into that piece of meat, and if there is something they don't like, I am comfortable enough talking about it. This is the only form of personal art that you can consume in your body and reflect on.

Beltex Meats
511 E. Harvey Milk Blvd. (900 South), SLC
801-532-2641
beltexmeats.com
Various farmers market