Mark Payne is passionate about asparagus. Eyeing a bundle of the freshly-plucked veggies, his eyes lock on the target, and he’s at the vendor’s booth in a matter of seconds.
“When I see fresh, seasonal asparagus, I think, ‘What can I do with this?’” he says, examining the display of purple-tinged produce from Ellis Farms in Benton Harbor, Mich.
“Asparagus is part of the lily family, and they grow seven or eight years,” he continues. “You can tell it’s fresh by looking at the stem thickness.
You want thin stems.” Apparently the selection is up to snuff – he walks away with two bunches at $3 apiece.
For Payne, executive chef at The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, a trip to the Green City Market is as much a treat as it is business. Starting at the first booth on his right, he makes his way clockwise, stopping at nearly every vendor to check out the goods. Next up: spring onions – about twice as big as their grocery-store counterparts – and fresh watercress from Growing Power co-op in Milwaukee, Wis.
“It’s got great flavor, a peppery taste,” says Payne, fingering the leafy, in-season greens. At $4 per quarter pound, he stocks up on the watercress, a key ingredient in one of this week’s specialty Market Menu items at his café: Walleyed Pike with watercress salad.
Browsing through selections of Easter egg radishes, Italian black kale and Chinese garlic chives, he stops next at the beautiful yellow-flowering rapini from Green Acres Farm in North Judson, Ind. “I sometimes mix this with garlic, chives and pasta,” says Payne, half to himself, recalling the delicious concoction.
Relishing the selection of fresh fare, Payne makes sure his picks include the choicest produce. Not that it’s hard: As a gathering place for organic farmers, Chicago’s Green City Market offers only fresh, naturally-grown herbs and vegetables.
As summer progresses, a myriad of mouthwatering fruits will join the mix. Now, in early June, there are a few tomatoes and strawberries for sale, but it’s a fleshy veggie that beckons to the chef’s sweet tooth: rhubarb.
“It’s in season now,” says Payne, picking up a pinkish stalk. “It’s very aromatic and has a great flavor, and when it’s young like this, you don’t even have to peel it.”
Now in its 10th year, the market has grown from a few stands in an alley adjacent to the Chicago Theatre, to a sprawling community effort with as many as 50 vendors during the peak of summer. Farmers from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin make the drive to Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood every Wednesday and Saturday, May through October, setting up shop between Clark Street and Stockton Drive on land provided by the city.
A stone’s throw from the Lincoln Park Zoo, where a red barn and silo looms in plain sight of the market, “we strive for a country feel,” says Brent Rosenbower, a member of the marketing committee. Country yes, but with urban benefits – an outdoor space expert was hired to “feng-shui” the plot, making it more people-friendly, Rosenbower says.
Throw in some live music and regular chef demonstrations and you get what Rosenbower dubs “the ultimate farmers’ market.” USA Today ranked the Green City Market among the top 10 farmers’ markets in the nation last year, and the market regularly draws Chicago’s finest culinary talent out of their kitchens.
While perusing a selection of purple basil (“It adds a bit of color to my salads,” Payne says, “but there’s no taste difference.”), Payne spots fellow chef Sarah Stegner, owner of the Prairie Grass Café in Northbrook, Ill., and a Green City Market board member, and stops for a quick chat. “It’s a community,” he says.
Originally from London, where he honed his culinary skills during a two-year stint at Brooklands Technical College, Payne began working for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in 1997, cooking it up in Las Vegas and New York City before landing at The Ritz-Carlton Chicago.
His original leap across the pond was a bit disconcerting, not from culture shock, but from kitchen shock. “In America, you have a lot of genetically-altered food,” he says, “and in Europe, that’s not allowed.
“As a chef, you’re always looking for the best quality products, and from a flavor point of view, you seek out naturally-grown produce … You want a tomato to taste like a tomato.”
For organically-inclined chefs like Payne, the Green City Market is an oasis in a desert of processed-food retailers. Hitting the market once, often twice a week for work, Payne says his purchases total 30 to 40 pounds for a given week and make up as much as 30% of the ingredients for his summer menus at The Ritz’s café. (Sustainable agricultural co-ops like Homegrown Wisconsin supply the bulk of the rest.)
“I don’t like buying produce and letting it sit in the cooler,” Payne says about the frequency of his market meanders. He likewise encourages his sous-chefs to buy only what they can use that day to maintain freshness.
Business aside, a trip to the market is just plain fun. As a crowd huddles around Fontera Grill’s Rick Bayless at the chef demonstration booth – beginners and pros alike are eager to pick up a few tips from the gourmet Mexican food expert – melodies from Phil Passen’s hammered dulcimer and Rebecca Unger’s banjo cut through the air like the smell of fresh food. (For a complete list of this summer’s Green City Market chef demonstrations, visit chicagogreencitymarket.org.)
Payne – who will bring his chef hat to the market for his own cooking demonstration on Oct. 8 – says he shops at the market two to three times a month for himself, often making the trek from his downtown digs on Saturdays to pick up fresh fare for an evening barbecue with friends.
MARKET MENU
With summer comes fresh, seasonal produce – and field days for chefs and gourmands. Mushrooms, asparagus, baby lettuce and specialty greens are just a sampling of the bounty found at Chicago’s Green City Market, providing fresh fodder for summer menus around town. The Café at The Ritz-Carlton Chicago is no exception: Indulge in Executive Chef Mark Payne’s weekly-changing Farmers’ Market Menu, featuring Green City Market fruits, vegetables and herbs. Here’s a sample of the organic fare:
Crispy Poached Egg:
Wrapped in philo pastry and served with Elmer Beechy Farm asparagus and Hidden Valley oyster mushrooms, this delicious dish is sprinkled with homemade Hollandaise. The sauce is one of the first recipes Payne says he mastered.
Harmony Valley Rhubarb Vacherin:
This decadent dessert is a perfect balance of sweet and tart flavor, says Executive Pastry Chef Eric Estrella. A sweet meringue is coupled with a tangy scoop of lemon sorbet, while ravishing rhubarbs and a speckle of blueberries and raspberries adds attractive, and appetizing, color.
Walleyed Pike:
Topped with Spanish Marcona Almonds and panco bread crumbs, the pike (below) is “a delicate fish, light in flavor,” says Payne. Set over Spring Valley Red Thumb Fingerling Potatoes and paired with a tasty Twinhawks Farm watercress salad with almonds and apples, the aesthetic rivals the taste. “Taste is always paramount,” Payne smiles, “but people eat with their eyes.” – D.S.
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