Grist for the Mill

GRIST FOR THE MILL edible

Even in our exceptionally kind climate, in which new growth sprouts every day of the year, spring can rightly claim to be the über season of new beginnings here on Monterey Bay. As we write this letter, we’re saddened that last night was the final Indy Marketplace—the farmers’ market/food and drink fest/art opening hybrid that, amid Sand City’s big-box discount stores, succeeded in seeding endless new connections between the farmers, artists, food and drink artisans and good food revelers that make up our exciting tri-county foodshed.

But the good news is that the Indy’s organizers have found enough local desire for great, sustainably and locally sourced food and drink—as well as a place to commune with others with the same passion—that they’re now building a permanent market at the site. (And incidentally, they’re still lining up purveyors.)

What’s more, this spring Gabriella Café’s Paul Cocking is moving ahead with plans for a permanent indoor artisanal foods market in Santa Cruz, and Carmel appears to be finally getting its own weekly foodie market off the ground.

To be sure, before all this we already had some of the best farmers’ markets in the state— the Monterey Bay Certified Farmers’ Markets have won multiple awards—as well as no small number of terrific specialty markets. (See our story about New Leaf Markets and its founder, Scott Roseman, for a prime example.)

But these new specialized artisanal markets seem to signal that increasingly our community is embracing the idea that handmade, local and sustainable food is worth supporting and celebrating, and that’s encouraging.

Advocating for these artisans is what we’ve been doing at this magazine all along, and we hope that this issue of Edible Monterey Bay connects you with new farmers, retailers, restaurateurs and activists who are making our area a little more healthful, a little more conscious and a little more fun.

We’re especially excited to announce in this edition our reader-selected 2013 Local Heroes, as we think they’re great representatives of the amazing quality and creativity of our local food community. We’re proud to congratulate them and we encourage you to get to know them if you’ve not already.

We’ll introduce you to some remarkable women and their goats and some inspiring new efforts by forward-thinking local restaurants, hotels and food retailers to reduce global warming and at the same time help produce green power and natural fertilizer—just by changing what they do with their food scraps.

We’re thrilled to offer a sneak peak into Michael Pollan’s latest book, Cooked, which will be published in April and offers his case that perhaps the most important key to eating more healthfully and reforming our food system is, simply, to cook.

And when you’re ready to stop reading and start cooking yourself, you’ll find terrific recipes for using spring nettles, strawberries and pork and lamb chops in these pages, and dozens more on our website, www.ediblemontereybay.com.

Happy spring!

Sarah Wood and Rob Fisher Publishers

monterey bay

PUBLISHER AND EDITOR Sarah Wood Sarah@ediblemontereybay.com 831.238.1217

CO-PUBLISHER AND ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rob Fisher

ONLINE EDITOR Deborah Luhrman

COPY EDITOR Doresa Banning DESIGNER Melissa Petersen WEB DESIGNER Mary Ogle

CONTRIBUTORS Jordan Champagne • Jamie Collins Ted Holladay • Geneva Liimatta Elizabeth Limbach • Vicki Lowell Deborah Luhrman • Laura Ness Melissa Schilling • Kristina Sepetys Rebecca Stark • Carole Topalian Patrick Tregenza • Amber Turpin Patrice Ward • Lisa Crawford Watson Molly Watson

ADVERTISING SALES Shelby Lambert 831.238.7101 Shelby@ediblemontereybay.com Kate Robbins 831.588.4577 Kate@ediblemontereybay.com

DESIGN AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA ASSOCIATE Katie Reeves

DISTRIBUTION Mick Freeman

CONTACT US: Edible Monterey Bay 24C Virginia Way, Carmel Valley, CA 93924 www.ediblemontereybay.com 831.238.1217 or 831.298.7117 info@ediblemontereybay.com

Edible Monterey Bay is published quarterly. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used without written permission of the publisher. Subscriptions are $28 per year at www.ediblemontereybay.com. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our apologies and notify us. Thank you.