Tenacious Taste

Check out Saturday’s Chef Demo
with Julia LeRoy – 10:00 am on 9/4
Chef Demos are sponsored by Whole Foods Market

Chef Julia LeRoy believes in the tenacity of nature. We believe in the tenacity of a chef who brought us locavore Mondays and put a grass-fed burger on the menu of a pub on Ponce. At The Bookhouse Pub, Julia proved that it’s cool to support local, sustainable, good food whether you’re sitting on a bar stool, in a fancy restaurant, or at your own kitchen table.

Before her work at The Bookhouse, LeRoy honed her considerable skills at Atlanta heavyweight restaurants like Seeger’s and The Dining Room at The Ritz Carlton Buckhead. She applies her classical training and healthful approach to a culinary inspiration that comes more from an old Southern family or church cookbook than the latest foodie trends.

That inspiration now guides Julia’s plans for a chef-driven, Southern-themed restaurant called LeRoy’s Lunch and Dinner. Looking at spaces in Decatur and Avondale Estates, her vision is for a fifty-seat, upscale, Southern spot to open within the next eight months. In the meantime, Julia is also collaborating with the folks at Fellini’s and LaFonda to develop a frozen yogurt product. Our forks and spoons are at the ready!

Learn more about Chef LeRoy’s food philosophy in her beautifully written article for Local Planet. And don’t miss her delicious demo at this week’s Market!


- Jennifer Maley

Coming up Rosebud’s

Join us for this week’s Chef Demo with Ron Eyester
of Rosebud – 10:00 am on 8/28
Chef Demos are sponsored by Whole Foods Market



As with any good calling, Ron Eyester had a feeling he would make his career in the restaurant business the minute he stepped onto the line. Ron was exposed to great food from his childhood growing up in New York to his college years at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. His addiction to the way of the stovetop was evident beginning in his late teens, when he took his first restaurant job, but it was while working on his Masters Degree back in New York that Ron experienced an epiphany of sorts and decided to pursue a career in the kitchen.

A 16-year restaurant veteran, Eyester credits his bold, creative cooking style to his diverse path in the restaurant world; his nomadic journey ultimately lead him to Atlanta’s Food 101 then to open highly-acclaimed Rosebud one year ago. His skills come not from formal training, but through watching mistakes made in the kitchen and by making a few himself, resulting in a keen sensibility and rockin’ sense of humor. His cuisine is clean, precise and all about enjoying the season’s best at it’s best.

Chef Ron explains his approach to food in his recent feature in Local Planet, “I’m a businessman, a chef and a convinced advocate for local food – in that order. I support buying local, provided it allows me to run my restaurant profitably, take care of my staff and serve the best food possible. Anything else is not sustainable in the long run” according to Eyester. “In the end, it all comes down to individual choices, guided by a sense of community. If local product of equal quality and at a reasonable price is available, then it wins hands-down. As it should.”

Check out Eyester’s fresh take on local food at his demo this Saturday. You know that a Chef who does dinners inspired by the Grateful Dead and the Beatles, and who brings Atlantans Monday night brunch, will get your Saturday started in style!


- Jennifer Maley

The More You Grow

Georgia Organics is partnering with Anthony-Masterson Films to help produce GROW!, a film about Georgia’s young, sustainable and organic farmers. Since April, the filmmakers have interviewed 22 farmers and have traveled 2,000 miles of Georgia dirt. They hope to wrap production in November and show the film at next year’s Georgia Organics conference.

A quick word from the filmmakers: "Our hope for GROW! is to encourage young people to take up farming, to offer a good argument for people with land to turn it over to young farmers, and for communities to support these endeavors."

Follow the film’s progress here and watch clips here!


- Jennifer Maley

Atlanta Tested, First Mom Approved

Don’t miss this week’s demo with Chef Linton Hopkins
of Restaurant Eugene, Holeman & Finch Public House
and H&F Bread Co.



10:00 am on 8/21
Chef Demos are sponsored by Whole Foods Market

It’s been quite a year for one of Atlanta’s favorite chefs. Linton Hopkins was nominated by the James Beard Foundation for Best Chef: Southeast, named by Food & Wine magazine as Best New Chef, and invited to a little home & garden operation known as the White House. He and wife Gina were among a select group gathered this summer to launch “Chefs Move to Schools,” part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign to provide healthier food in schools, to help kids become more physically active and to make healthy, affordable food available in every part of the country.

The Hopkins have long believed in an accessible food community built on support for local farmers and artisans. It’s the same belief that led them to found the Peachtree Road Farmers Market three years ago and to spearhead the movement for local foods in white-tablecloth restaurants like Eugene.

Linton and Gina appreciate food’s history and place in our region’s heart of hearts. Hopkins’ cuisine elevates what are oftentimes thought of as simple ingredients through his thoughtful preparation and technique. As much as can be made in-house, is made in-house. Where folkways traditions meet culinary traditions, that’s where you’ll find Linton and Gina Hopkins.

Come this Saturday to learn about (and taste!) Linton’s famous Pimento Cheese. And stay awhile to talk with him – you can learn a lot from a man who defends the sexiness of a radish.

Keep up to date on all things Hopkins by checking out Restaurant Eugene’s blog. You’ll want to stay tuned for their next addition to the Atlanta foodie community – H&F Bottle Shop is set to open soon!


- Jennifer Maley

In the News

Check out Peachtree Road Farmers Market Manager Lauren Carey, featured in this week’s “Field Notes,” a new Atlanta Magazine online column by Deborah Geering. Lauren reminds us why it’s important to know your farmer and gives great tips that you can take to the Market!




- Jennifer Maley

South City Cooking

Saturday’s Chef Demo features Jeffrey Gardner
of South City Kitchen Midtown – 10:00 am on 8/14
Chef Demos are sponsored by Whole Foods Market

It’s not often that a restaurant draws world-renowned customers like Laura Bush, Usher, and Conan O'Brien, to name a diverse few. But, as we know here in the South, fried chicken is a language spoken by all. And we’re lucky to have such talented chefs as South City Kitchen’s Jeffrey Gardner to spell it out for us.

Hailing from Natchez, Mississippi, Gardner first experienced life in a professional kitchen when he signed up to help cater a fundraising lunch for 1,100 people, including one President George W. Bush, at the Mississippi Coliseum. He then began his career by working under Dan Blumenthal of BRAVO! Restaurant and Bar in Jackson, MS, while also earning degrees in business and Spanish from Millsaps College. Gardner ultimately chose to pursue his culinary passion by attending Charlotte’s Johnson & Wales University, earning his degree in culinary arts with a minor in oenology (that’s wine, y’all).

After graduation, Chef Gardner moved to our fair city of Atlanta where he has served as Sous Chef of Fifth Group Restaurants’ South City Kitchen Midtown since 2009. Under the direction of Executive Chef Chip Ulbrich, he uses local and seasonal ingredients to create contemporary Southern cuisine that draws crowds both locally and nationally. And, you never know, a trip to South City might just include a little star gazing on the side.

Join us this Saturday for Chef Gardner’s demo under our cool new tents!




- Jennifer Maley

Good Produce for All

We’ve mentioned before that your Peachtree Road Farmers Market is the largest producer-only market in metro Atlanta. The fact that everything at the Market has been grown, raised, or made by the seller is something we take pride in as a way to honor our vendors and our customers. You won’t find any products that were purchased elsewhere up for resale, ensuring that what you do find are fair prices and fair competition.

If you’re liking what we’re producing, won’t you please share the love and vote us as America’s Favorite Farmer’s Market? We’re currently in the top 20 with a few weeks to go! The contest ends on August 31, so take time now to click us up a notch.

Last week’s release of the Top 20 leader board was in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Farmers Market Week, bringing awareness to the more than 5,000 farmers markets across the country that are supporting local farmers and farmland. Also last week, Georgia Organics noted research that if each household in Georgia spent $10 per week on local produce, more than $1.9 billion would be pumped back into the state's economy. The new study, "The Local Food Impact: What if Georgians Ate Georgia Produce" – conducted by the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development, funded by Georgia Organics, the Center of Innovation for Agribusiness, and other partners – goes on to say that for every 5 percent increase in local produce purchasing, the state would see 345 additional jobs, $43.7 million more in sales, and $13.6 million more in farmer income.

Now’s the time to support awareness of your Market and its impact on your community! At the end of the contest, one large, medium, small, and boutique-sized farmers market will win the title of “America’s Favorite Farmers Market” for 2010. The reward for the winning markets will be a promotional package including free printing and design services, a shipment of No Farms No Food® tote bags, and more to support their role in bringing farmers, food and the community together!

Cast your vote now at Farmland.org/vote


- Jennifer Maley

Now, that’s what we call a Farmers Market

Market shoppers know that supporting local is a good thing. The food is honest, fresh and it comes to us directly from the folks who produce it, the faces you see each Saturday. It’s a good thing for our health and a good thing for our economy, not to mention that it’s a deliciously fun way to spend a weekend morning. Like all good things, Farmers Markets are something to look after, to protect. Check out this article from the Farmers Market Coalition defining what makes a Farmers Market a Farmers Market.

Did you know that your Peachtree Road Farmers Market has grown from 12 vendors in its first year to 65 vendors in 2010, making it the largest producer-only market in metro Atlanta? Producer-only means that everything at the Market has been grown, raised, or made by the seller, ensuring fair prices for both the vendors and the shoppers.

Due to this year’s increased city regulatory costs, the Market needs YOUR help to continue its success. Please consider a tax-deductible gift to the Peachtree Road Farmers Market. Your gift will be matched dollar for dollar by the Zyman Family Foundation up to $5,000. We have raised nearly $3,000 of the $5,000 needed to meet the matching grant and cover city-required police officer and permit fees! Now is the time to save your Farmers Market when $1 = $2.

To Donate: Tax-deductible gifts to the Market can be brought to the Market or mailed to Peachtree Road Farmers Market, 2744 Peachtree Rd, Atlanta GA 30305. Please contact Market Manager Lauren Carey at 404-365-1078 with any questions or to learn more about Market sponsorship opportunities.

To be eligible for the matching program, the gift must be made by a check and be received by Dec. 1, 2010. Checks should be made out to Peachtree Road Farmers Market.

- Jennifer Maley