LA Farmers Market

Food is very social thing for me. I'm not on the "live to eat, not eat to live" mantra the way my husband is but being on Weight Watchers has made me appreciate food in a new way. Almost like a compromise of my former self and my husband.


I've lived near LA for 30 odd years but I've never been to the LA Farmers Market off of 3rd and Fairfax. There is something VERY wrong with that picture. So today I rectified that travesty. And it was delicious for the eyes and taste buds.

The LA Farmers market is a little hard to describe. It's not a typical farmers market that you think of with stands of vegetables and fruits as far as the eye can see. It reminds me more of Reading Terminal Market in Philly where there are permanent stands for each merchant. But the LA Farmers Market is an outdoor venue vs Reading Terminal Market that is enclosed in a huge building.

Right when I walked in (there are various entrances depending on where you park) I was accosted by the Magic Nut and Candy Company. It took all my willpower to enjoy the sight and smells (0 points!) but walk away from the free samples.




As I was trying to get away from the intoxicating smells, I ran smack into the Ice Cream Shop and Crepe Company. Oy! I really wanted a crepe but...




instead I headed over to the fresh fruits and veggie stand. It was so crowded I couldn't get very close to anything except for the pummelos and tomatoes. I've never had a pummelo but I'm told it's like a sweeter grapefruit. I bought a couple so I'll let you know.




The meat and seafood counters were amazing. I wanted to buy every cut of beef and fish that I saw. Can raw meat smell good? B/c it smelled good to me. Maybe it's the tiger's blood. It flows strong in me! <-- Sorry! I had to get my Charlie Sheen rub in. It was bound to happen.




My absolute favorite place in the whole Farmers Market was the Monsieur Marcel Gourmet Market. It reminded me of a mini Surfas in Culver City.

I loved the cheese counter.



Yes, that's my husband's a$$ bending over the cheese counter. I swear I didn't know it was there when I took the picture. *looking innocent*






There was a variety of salad dressings and mustards.




So many different salts: fleur de sel, sea salt, Himalayan salt (it's the pretty pink one on the top shelf) etc etc.




Yummy honey. Oh... I even found a 0 point caramel dip! How is that even possible? I don't know but I had to buy one. Maybe it's astronaut food. If it gives me a caramel fix then it could be extraterritorial for all I care.




Husband was infatuated with the olive bar. I'm not an olive fan myself but T loves olives. Whatever floats your boat, husband. While Husband was gawking over the 20 varieties of olives I went next door to the Light My Fire hot sauce shop.




I literally spent 10 minutes cackling at all the bottles.




I had to buy a few bottles for my little brother. He's CRAZY about hot sauce and Tabasco. He uses it on everything. I like spicy but not like that. I kinda like my taste buds thank you very much.

I will admit that the only sample I did try was the chocolate pasta at Pappardelle's Pasta Shop.




They were handing out little pieces of uncooked chocolate pasta so you could get a taste for it. They make the pasta fresh and add cocoa powder to the dough. It was yummy. I bet a whole plate of al dente chocolate pasta would be amazing. I didn't buy any for that reason but I did buy some whole wheat orzo. I've never had orzo so I'll have to make it next week for dinner.

About this time, Husband and I were ready for lunch.



There were so many different places to eat but eventually T wanted to eat tapas at Little Spain Restaurant. The wine bar is never ending but unfortunately alcohol is way too many points for it to be worth it for me. My wino friends everywhere are so sad.



Tapas are like appetizers. I figured small plates would probably be better for me portion (and points) wise so I agreed.






We got 4 tapas: (1) Calamari and bell peppers, (2) Croquettes, (3) I can't remember the name of the 3 little bread ones and (4) Fried Egg w fries and ham. (That's not the official Spanish name but again I can't remember the real one.) Don't worry! I made T eat most of the fries.

Because I had to save room (and points) for Pinkberry for dessert!






As long as you get the mini original flavor w fruit (no candy or syrups!), it's 3 points. I got raspberries, kiwi and pineapple. <-- Thanks for googling points for me, Nikki.

All in all an awesome day.

If you ever find yourself in LA, it's definitely a place you wanna check out. And being so close to The Grove is a bonus. I won't tell you how much I spent at Sur La Table, Anthropologie, Crate And Barrel, Nordstroms and Pottery Barn Kids.

That's just between me and my credit card.