South Looping You in on Market Fun

My first visit to the Saturday South Loop Farmer's Market won't be my last

Cool Neighborhood, Cool Neighborhood Market

The Saturday South Loop Farmers Market, in the same-name Chicago neighborhood just south of downtown, has been around for a few years. I’d been to their Thursday evening markets and the indoor market they launched just this past winter, but somehow the Saturday market had eluded me.

As the one-man band at Local Food Forum — quite possibly the most farmers market focused independent publication in the United States — I felt that I’d shortchanged this market and came into this outdoor season determined to make amends. So today (Saturday, May 18), on their season opening day, Barb and I grabbed the 146 bus and headed down to the stretch of Dearborn Street still known as Printer’s Row (even though the printing companies are long gone).

We were glad we did. The Saturday market packs roughly a couple of dozen vendors into the modestly sized Printer’s Row Park. It is very much a neighborhood farmers market, so while it was well-attended and had a nice buzz going on, it never felt like a human traffic jam. (This made it a nice day out for Barb, who hates crowds in general.)

A little more about the neighborhood below, but first, let’s talk about local food.

In Friday’s Local Food Forum, I reported that I’d purchased my first strawberries of the season the day before at the stand of Los Rodriguez Farm (Eau Claire, Michigan). I cautioned readers that there might be some strawberries at Saturday markets, but we’re far from peak season and vendors might run out early.

I’m glad I followed my own advice. That’s me with the last quart of strawberries that Los Rodriguez Farm had for the day. (Stephanie, whose path I often cross at the farm’s stands during the outdoor season, is on the left.)

That’s Kyle Jacobson, owner and regenerative agriculture innovator at Jacobson Family Farms in northeast Illinois’ Lake County. Kyle was an expert guest on the Local Food Forum “Better” Dialogues webinar about farmers markets that we presented on April 29. Click below to view the webinar recording.

Here’s Sam Zeitlin of Zeitlin’s Delicatessen on the left with his farmer’s market team. Sam bakes some of the best bagels, bialys, challah, other artisan breads and sweet treats. He also revealed that he is a newlywed!

Bialys were brought to the U.S. by Jewish immigrants from the Polish city of Bialystock (which gives these rolls their name). They are often referred to as “bagels without the hole,” but they are extraordinary in their own right. Among their distinctions is the depression in the middle, traditionally filled with onions and poppy seeds (as these were), though Sam gets creative with different seasonal toppings. These treats are very hard to find in Chicago, and Zeitlin’s are among the best I’ve had (and I say that as a native New Yorker).

The market is also a great place to make new four-legged friends, like Eleanor the Corgi.

Here’s our market haul:

From left: bialys and bagels from Zeitlin’s Delicatessen; hakurei turnips and a chicken from Jacobson Family Farms; cornichons from nearby Totto’s Market; and heirloom hothouse tomatoes, purple asparagus and strawberries from Los Rodriguez Farm. Los Rodriguez also sold us the adorable planter full of succulents that is designed after the Marvel Comics character Groot.

Now a little more about the neighborhood. When Barb and I were frequent visitors to Chicago during our 30 years in Washington, D.C., we once stayed in a hotel on Dearborn St. in Printers Row. This was quite a long time ago, and apart from the hotel and the adjoining Prairie — one of Chicago’s first Midwest-focused farm to table restaurants — there was very little going on there, as the area was slow to rebound from the decline of printing and other industrial activities that once dominated the area.

Oh, South Loop, how you have grown. That hotel and restaurant were part of what became a major overhaul, as developers realized the opportunities in a neighborhood that’s just a short walk from downtown and Grant Park, and very near the lakefront, Museum Campus and the Soldier Field stadium.

Many of the former printing houses were architecturally significant and very solidly built, with a number converted in recent years to apartments and business offices. This mural of a medieval print shop in the photo is above the front entrance of The Franklin Building, just south of the market site. The longtime home of the Franklin Printing Co., it is now a condo building.

This has become a decidedly upscale neighborhood with restaurants, bars and shops. Totto’s Market is a lovely little specialty grocery and grab-and-go store.

And you can cap your visit with a postcard view of Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), the tallest building in Chicago.

The Saturday South Loop Farmers Market is located at 632 S. Dearborn and is open each week of the season from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Its Thursday evening market kicks off its season from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on June 13 at a new location in the Roosevelt Collection complex at 150 W. Roosevelt Rd.