An Ode to Our Rogue Market Hosts

 After three exciting months of rogue marketing, we have moved into a weekly rogue market schedule.  For more info on this check out our Rogue Market and Mercato Annibale pages.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank every one of our fabulous rogue hosts who have supported us in this new venture, allowed us to set up shop, helped to promote the events and wowed our taste buds with their carefully crafted dishes.

Sher and Margherita at Piccino Café were our first hosts, the ones who introduced us to the idea in the first place.  The enthusiastic people of the Dogpatch neighborhood and Piccino's superb pizzas got us excited to further develop the concept.   In June, we were joined by Recchiuti Chocolates and their incredible custom chocolates. 

The Rogue Market at Spruce started out with a bang on June 3^rd, and was so popular that we started coming back on a weekly basis. The whole Spruce staff -- Mark, Brent, everyone! -- has been wonderful and always makes us feel welcome.  Every week I look forward to my Spruce burger.  Many of our customers there have become very loyal marketeers and there seem to be more of them joining us every Thursday.

June and July had good Rogue Markets at Gather.  David, Sarah and the crew were very gracious hosts, and the Prather Ranch burger and Wild Boar Sausage pizza were great dinners after chilly Berkeley nights. Starting this month, we will be at the David Brower Center next door every Tuesday from 4-6pm, and we look forward to working with Gather on an ongoing basis. Café Rouge was also a great Berkeley market for June and July.  Rick and Marsha were excited to have me try the steak dinner and kale Caesar salad. I'm glad they were.

A.G. Ferrari got excited to host rogue markets (Mercatos Annibales) after touring the farm with Bay Area Green Tours.  April, Danielle and Paul have all been very supportive and excited to join forces with a local organic farm.  We started with a few boxes at four locations, and have now expanded to all 13 stores.  Customers are able to pick up boxes during operating hours on Wednesdays.

Two of my Friday afternoons have been spent at Frances.  I love chatting with customers while they wait for the doors to open, hoping to get one of the much coveted seats.  Melissa, Patrick and all of the wait staff were very welcoming and, thanks to them,  I’ve tried almost the whole menu: the calamari, beet and avocado salad, house-made challah, white corn soup, chickpea fritters, great desserts and wine by the ounce (great idea!).

Our new Monday RM at The Hub SoMa has been a great place to meet new customers, thanks to Calgary and Tim. We look forward to expanding this weekly location to include more people of the financial district who want to stop by the Chronicle building for a box on their way home.  The Monday markets include tips on preparing all the produce for the weekly Wednesday Sexy Salad Potlucks, and people swap recipes and suggestions. It's fun to see the creative ways customers prepare our produce.

Cibo in Sausalito was a perfect sunny Friday afternoon in July, sipping white wine and nibbling on the incredible Beet Carrot Salad with Basil Salsa Verde and Smoked Salmon Panini. We will be back August 20^th and look forward to trying more of Chef August Schuchman’s dishes. Table Café in Larkspur was another nice Marin Friday afternoon.  Suzanne was a wonderful host and even treated each of our customers to a package of her tasty dosas.

The Rogue Market at Bar Tartine in the Mission was a windy Tuesday afternoon in June.  It was great to meet our customers of this lively neighborhood and to share the early developments of our project with them.  Although the restaurant wasn’t open for service while I was there I am excited to come back for dinner sometime soon.  Chef Chris Kronner continues to be very supportive by buying lots of our produce every week. Greens was another very windy Rogue Market at Fort Mason on a Thursday evening in June.  Chef Annie Sommerville and Todd Erickson were wonderful and brought me a tasting platter of their delicious vegetarian empanadas, asparagus pizza and spring rolls.

Thank you so much to all of the above-mentioned hosts, and thanks in advance to any future Rogue Hosts we might meet in the future!