Rye Gets a Taste of the Market at Le Pain Quotidien

A long communal table full of fresh, locally grown food awaited me when I stepped into Le Pain Quotidien on Purchase Street Saturday afternoon.

In partnership with Community Markets, the Belgian restaurant hosted a "Taste of the Market" where food normally sold at the Rye Farmers' Market on Sundays was prepared into seasonal dishes by the chefs at Le Pain Quotidien.

This was the first "Taste of the Market" event Community Markets has held. Susan Coyne of Community Markets said the organization felt it was an effective to educate residents about the Rye Farmers' Market.

"Our objective is to create awareness of the availability of fresh, local food at Community Market's farmer market," Coyne said.

Coyne said the market has more variety, such as chicken and European style berry tarts, this year compared to previous years.

"As more produce is harvested, the Rye market continues to grow with foot traffic," Coyne said.

The event, held in the intimate warmly lit interior of Le Pain Quotidien, provided a refreshing retreat from the blistering heat. Customers circled around the long table in a dizzying fashion, curious about the food and wanting to sample the dishes.

Walking in the front door, I was greeted by a smiling waiter and the sound of folk music performed by Westchester's Matt Turk. An entrance table displayed advertisements of the Rye Farmers Market, which was established in 2004 with the help of Community Markets, an organization that works with towns, farmers, and vendors to bring them together around local food.  The event also included a coupon for a load of bread from Bread Alone, a participator in the market, and cards featuring trivia questions about the market. Attendees at the event also learned what ingredients local producers, such as Pika's Farm Table in Big Indian, New York and Bread Along in Boicevillve, New York, use in their products.

Attendees who came on an empty stomach did not go home hungry. I opted to try some Le Pain Quotidien organic spelt bread along with a pesto dip. Moving down the table, I sampled a breakfast-like, incredibly soft and sweet chocolate chip bread produced in New York, a sweet but spicy corn salsa, various nuts, and a chocolate pastry that had crunchy underside and berry filling.

Cai Pandolfino, a spokesperson for Le Pain Quotidien, said this was the first farmers' market the company had participated in, but each of their stores interacts with the local community in a different way.

"Le Pain Quotidien maintains a strong focus on providing organic and regionally-sourced ingredients wherever possible," Pandolfino said. "We want to show off all of the fantastic local produce and high quality food products that are offered at the Rye market."

Show off they did.

The event was quickly packed with people talking about fresh food, reaching around each other to try dishes or read signs about the farms. The berry pie from Dutch Desserts in Kinderhook, NY looked sinful and had people inching closer to that part of the table. Many of the people I spoke to at the event hadn't known it was happening. Instead they said the got lucky, stopping in for a cup of coffee only to find a table of local food delights.

"These kind of events create community, drawing like-minded organizations together in support of each other, and the town as a whole," Pandolfino said.

The Rye Farmers' Market runs every Sunday until December 19, from 8:30 am to 2 p.m. rain or shine in the shoppers' parking lot behind Purchase Street.