Saturday, March 18, 2006

Edible East Bay Article

We were featured in a great article that appeared in Edible East Bay, a new foodie magazine:

If I ever return to live in the Bay Area, it appears that I will have to live within walking distance of the spectacular Alameda Marketplace. There are two reasons for this. The first is that I will not rest until I am the proud owner of my very own whole aging rib loin, displayed in a magnificent meat locker with my name dangling from its haunch on a metal tag at Baron’s Meat & Poultry. The second is that Iwould like to shop daily for new wine discoveries and artisan cheeses with Jeff Diamond at Farmstead Cheeses & Wines.

The marketplace itself takes up most of a city block, and features independent retailers all under one big roof. In addition to Baron’s Meats and Farmstead Cheeses & Wines, these include Season to Taste–gourmet foods to go, the Alameda Natural Grocery, the JP Seafood Co., Sushi King (offering a beautiful display of sushi, salads, and hand rolls), the Feel Good Bakery, Patricia’s Pantry–a gourmet kitchen store, and The Beanery coffee roasters, featuring fair trade coffees.

Where to begin? I went straight for the wine display outside of Farmstead, with lots of great wine bargains for $10 or less, including Goats Do Roam from South Africa and Three Thieves jug wines. Inside the shop, Farmstead’s wine selection is impressive, and includes cult favorites such as Sean Thackrey’s Orion, Sirius, and Andromeda Pinot Noir from Bolinas. In addition to more than 400 wines, artisan beers, and ales from the U.S., Belgium, and Canada, there are 150-175 varieties of artisanal hand-cut cheeses, plus divine olives such as green Provençal, niçoise, picholines, and a Greek mix. Peeking out from the cheeses were French cornichons, Devon cream from England, and membrillo-quince paste from Spain. I coveted the selection of extra virgin olive oils, including Pasolivo from Paso Robles and Olea Farm from Templeton.

Jeff Diamond is the proprietor of Farmstead, and I learned that his motto is: “Relax, it’s just food.” Mr. Diamond’s goal is to demystify wine and cheese for the average consumer, thus the shop features weekend tastings, and offers evening classes on wine, cheese, and wine and cheese pairings, etc....
Posted by Farmstead :: 9:25 AM :: 0 comments

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Saturday, March 11, 2006

Carol and the Snow Pygmy

It snowed in Montclair and Carol made a snow pygmy. 

Posted by Farmstead :: 6:58 PM :: 5 comments

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