Buzz CD Review: Jay-Z Los Angeles Farmers Market

Meet Me at 3rd and Fairfax in L.A. ................... 12.07.06 p.8 ..........................

The Los Angeles Farmers Market is a scene a bit different from the Orange County swap meet

By paul sai edi Daily Titan Staff Writer thebuzz@Dailytitan.com

The sweet smell of fresh yeast doughnuts mixes with the aroma of hot-roasted nuts, spears of beef rotate over open flames and an array of rainbow-colored fruit sits stacked in symmetric towers.

Basking under the warm Los Angeles sun an elderly couple eats steaming bowls of matzo-ball soup and warm plates of brisket. At a table, 5 feet to the left, two tattooed teenagers play scrabble and munch on spicy hummus with marinated olives. Bustling crowds of people devouring tasty treats intermix with those shopping the tiny nick-knack stores.

On the corner of 3rd Street and Fairfax is The Original Los Angeles Farmers Market offering international cuisine, fine meats, poultry, seafood, produce and an array flowers. For 80 years enthusiastic visitors from all walks of life have flocked to the Farmers Market.

Greeting customers with a smile and sample of their world-famous toffee, Chris Larson, 50, a resident of Westwood, stands behind the towering display-case at Littlejohn’s Candy filled with confections of every shape and size.

The Farmers Market is a great place to come for breakfast on a weekday or weekend, Larson said.

“I know all of my customers. I love meeting all the people who travel here from all over the world. People should come check it out,” Larson said.

The sound of wet crunching can be heard as butchers and fishmongers toss buckets of crushed ice into empty refrigerated cases constructing a chilled home for

meats and seafood. Old green and white metal and wooden chairs are full with a never-ending supply of occupants eager to sit and devour plates of slow roasted sirloin or “just-like-grandma used to make,” apple pie.

Like a garden labyrinth from England, visiting guests navigate around tight corners discovering stores like Light My Fire, a shop dedicated to the sale of hot sauce, or Three Dog Bakery, specializing in tasty tidbits for customers of the feline and canine persuasion. The Farmers Market is home to 70 shops and attracts 3 million visitors every year, according to the owners and operators of the Farmers Market.

Grey-haired Bob Tusquellas, 64, owner of Tusquellas Seafood and resident of Los Angeles, leans over the shinny metal counter of his seafood stand, the case filled with bright red crabs and thick cuts of tuna and trout. On an average day, Tusquellas Fish & Oyster Bar sells 3,000 shrimp, Tusquellas said.

More than 90 percent of the Farmers Market shops and stalls are owner operated. The market is a place where families can come and enjoy a relaxing day in the sun, Tusquellas said.

Sitting behind an enormous red paisley-covered purse Louise Myers, an 85-year-old resident of Westwood, sips black coffee and nibbled warm raspberry rugalough while she enjoyed a conversation with friends.

“Things change, places change,

Photo Courtesy Los Angeles Famers Market

but I have to say this place is just like I remember it when I was a kid,” Myers said.

To-go orders are shouted by name and sounds of people laughing and clanking the spring doors of green metal trash bins rumble through the international aroma of Korean barbeque and Chinese stir-fry.

Sounds of crowds at the market echo a past that the Farmers Market played as a venue in the ‘30s and ‘40s for such varied enterprises as boxing, rodeos, wrestling, swimming and even a home to the first professional football team in Los Angeles, the Bulldogs.

The land that the Farmers Market occupies started as a 256-acre ranch acquired by Arthur Fremont Gilmore. Serendipity lent a hand when Gilmore struck oil on the ranch and soon after created both the Gilmore Oil Company and Gilmore Stadium

Today the Farmers Market hosts popular annual events like its Mardi Gras Festival, the Gilmore Heritage Auto Show, The Salvation Army Kettle Kick-Off celebration and a free summer music festival.

“We are one big family here,” Tusquellas said. “We all want to create something special here.”

“You haven’t seen nothing ‘til you’ve seen this,” Myers said.

Visitors to the market can park in one of three parking lots or use the eight-story Grove parking structure.