Chef Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta says her love of ingredients comes from her mother, whom she frequently accompanied to the open-air markets in her hometown of Rome. “She was obsessed. People would always hide things to give her when she came, to make sure she got the best of the best. We have lifetime relationships with those vendors.”
Tosti developed a similar rapport with many of the farmers and producers at NYC’s Union Square Greenmarket, where she has shopped for over 25 years. She makes multiple trips to the market each week to seek out ingredients for dishes at her restaurant and wine bar Il Posto Accanto, which she opened with husband Julio Pena in 1999.
Beatrice & Julio (ph Visko Hatield)
“You can really buy everything, from cheese to wine to meat, pork, chicken, eggs, yogurt, buttermilk, ice cream, fruit, plants...everything besides toilet paper. It’s really very complete.”
Tosti recommends getting there (or to any farmer’s market) early, when the selection is best, and taking a preliminary walkthrough to see what’s available. “Leave home with a bit of plan as to what you need, but browse around looking for inspiration as well.”
This time of year, Tosti is excited about the abundant asparagus (she typically roasts the spears in the oven with Parmigiano Reggiano and bread crumbs), rhubarb, spring onions, green garlic, zucchini romaneschi, and morels “the size of small babies.”
She also adores the agretti from Campo Rosso—“they are the most wonderful green that looks like spaghetti, they are also called friar’s beard, I love them steamed with olive oil and lemon.” Other favorites are the bread from She Wolf Bakery, cheese from Painted Goat Farm, strawberries from Mountain Sweet Berry, and sugar snap peas from Eckerton Hill Farm.
As part of the market’s COVID-19 safety protocols, shoppers cannot touch or sample the products prior to purchasing them, but Tosti says the vendors are very accommodating, “Try to establish a rapport with the farmers and discover what everyone’s specialty is—who has the best radishes doesn’t necessarily have the best onions. So you can spread the love with all the farmers,” she advises.
Although Il Posto Accanto closed temporarily in late March in response to the coronavirus crisis, Tosti hopes to reopen later this month. She has continued her trips to the market and shares recipes and cooking videos on the restaurant’s Instagram feed.
“I am so thankful for the farmer’s market. I don’t know what I would do without it, in these times especially. It brings normalcy into everybody’s life, and they need to be supported.”