Saturday at the Old Town Salinas Market Place (and farmers market)

The last two Saturdays I’ve headed to the Old Town Market Place in Salinas, operating year-round, 9am to 2pm. Located in the parking lot across from the Steinbeck Center, this is where my dad’s office used to be on the 100-block of Main Street. It has a certified farmers market, then a section with prepared food vendors (Sparky’s root beer floats!) with tables and benches, and a general marketplace that includes Avon products, crafts, and a peddler of non-local produce.

Here are some of the scenes from the Market Place (“Carblover”, look at those onions!) -
http://flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/...

Of the prepared foods, I’ve tried a carne asada taco, $2, from the Trolley Car Pizza folks from Castroville. The tortilla is handmade to order and they’re grilling the beef right there. This was a credible job, nice if light seasoning on the beef, though the quality of the meat wasn’t as good as the best trucks here. The salsas were average and without distinction. This was a fair price for a taco on a handmade tortilla.

The barbecued pork skewer from Manila Ranch Market’s stand was terrible. I should have been paying closer attention and not ordered. I had spent so much time eyeing the various items arrayed on sterno trays, I felt I had to buy something when they kept asking me if I wanted anything. None of the other things looked that good, so I asked for the pork skewer as a safe bet. Though there’s a grill set up behind the canopy, this was not grilled. Instead it was slices of pre-roasted pork, similar to char siu, that were strung on a skewer and doused with ungodly sweet teriyaki sauce. Also, it was tepid and had not been kept at serving temperature.

The pollo asado stand manned by the people from Hector’s Bakery in Freedom smells great, though the smoke marinates everyone at the market. A lady sitting in front of a plate of chicken meat that she’d handpulled off the carcass was raving about it. This stand also has a couple racks of ribs on the grill.

I had asked the hot dog cart if the weenies had "snap". He offered us a sample, cutting a bare hot dog in half for my dad and me. This was a soft, skinless dog. I handed him a buck to thank him for the sample, but no-thanks. My father thought it was too bland and needed more garlic in the seasoning.

The roast corn stand seemed to be the most popular, even at $2 per ear. The contraption for roasting is an attraction in and of itself, and I’m sure I’ll try it the next time.

Peninsula Pastries is here. Beckman’s and Nina’s from Santa Cruz County sell here too.

Lastly, a rootbeer float from Sparky’s always makes me smile. Even when its foggy and too windy to enjoy at the fullest.

On the farmers market side, the other patrons have said that the produce is just starting to flesh out a gain. A few of the stands are small, local organic farms that are part of the ALBA program. Broccoli for 50¢, trimmed gorgeous red onions for 50¢, and organic leeks for a buck, and there’s still some dino kale and chard from the winter crops. Lots of strawberries and organic mushrooms too, we bought a basket of criminis for $2. My mom was happy with young and tender white-flower gai lan, a nice hefty bunch for a dollar from the Asian vegetable stand. And, we bought some beautiful cherries from the family farm in the central valley.

Google Street Map of Salinas Street Food,
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/407568