Brunch On!
/Your best brunch in the DMV waits at the winter farm markets
Author Gina Chen (center) joins friends for winter brunching at a local farm market.
By Gina Chen, photography by Linda Wang and Gina Chen
As peak farmers market season winds down, there are still plenty of reasons to visit the markets, including really good food. Market vendors make their offerings from the freshest locally sourced ingredients and you can eat at a fraction of the price of what you would find on a restaurant brunch menu.
Think mouthwatering breakfast sandwiches made with bacon from a local hog farm, wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas topped with ingredients from the market stands, buttery pastries filled with seasonal fruits and single-estate coffee made with beans roasted less than three days ago.
As someone who hesitates at paying $30 for a mediocre brunch just to socialize and avoid cooking, I was pleasantly surprised that I could easily put together a scrumptious, multi-course brunch to share with friends for under $20 at the farmers market. The best part is when you brunch at the farmers market, you’re eating the best quality foods while supporting local farmers and entrepreneurs. I explored the best brunch food in three farmers markets in the DMV—here’s my picks to get inspired to go to the market on an empty stomach.
Bethesda Central Farm Market
Out of the farmers markets that I visited, Bethesda Central Farm Market offered the most unique brunch experience. Central Farm Markets founders, Mitch Berliner and wife Debra Moser, have made a point to hand-select vendors for their markets in MD and VA. From farm-raised oysters from Chincoteague Island to Maine lobster rolls to Indian street food, you’ll find options you won’t find at most other markets. And if you’re wondering if it’s worth the trip to Bethesda, consider that when I visited the market on a cold and rainy morning, it was still bustling with loyal patrons, including Chef José Andrés who has been known to take over the “kitchens” of the prepared-food vendors, whip up dishes on the fly and walk around serving them to the farmers.
Toby Island Bay Oyster Farm is a boutique three-person operation that sells their oysters primarily at DC farmers markets. Grown on a 54-acre farm in the waters surrounding Chincoteague, the oysters take from six to 18 months to mature, picking up plenty of fat over the winter. The result is an astonishingly briny shock to the palate, followed by a satisfying umami middle from the fat and a crisp, clean finish from the water that has been filtered by the oysters themselves. A dozen shucked-to-order oysters: $15.
If you’re craving a good ol’ American breakfast, look no further. Before the market opens, Geppetto staff gather ingredients for their menu from various vendors at the market, every single ingredient is fresh from a local farm, even the maple syrup! My vegetable omelet—a paper-thin blanket of egg filled with spinach and finely diced red onion and mushrooms from the produce stand 10 feet away—tasted so elegant that it could have been served on a formal dining table instead of a compostable to-go box. Vegetable omelet with cheese or pancakes with fruit topping, side of hash browns and pork sausage: $12.
Want a real-deal lobster roll? Just go to Bethesda on a Sunday. This family-run business consisting of Nick Kenna, and his father and mother, Ray and Kim, brings thousands of pounds of lobsters from Maine in cold water tanks. At the farmers market, you’ll find fresh uni (sea urchin), wild-caught shrimp, clams, fresh-cut fish of all varieties and scallops. I had never tasted a fresh scallop until Nick opened a shell the size of the palm of his hand for me, only to reveal a single scallop the width of his thumb. It was the best I’ve ever had. Lobster roll: $15.
Josh Anson at Cipolla Rossa is putting generous chunks of the same batch of scallops from Lobster Maine-ia on his made-to-order wood-fired pizzas. With 15 years of culinary experience, Josh developed his own style of artisanal pizza inspired by Neapolitan-style pizza, New York–style pizza and bright, seasonal ingredients. His pizzas are made from scratch with fresh dough and use fresh, local ingredients from his fellow market vendors. Try the brunch pizza with farm-raised bacon, roasted sweet potatoes, fresh basil and mozzarella, over-easy egg, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil and hot honey and finished with sea salt. Brunch pizza: $14.50.
Yoga in A Bowl
You’ll find Liz Chabra’s kati roll stand with the name Yoga in a Bowl emblazoned on a colorful mandala signage. Liz’s cooking is inspired by her upbringing in Kerala, India, known for fresh ingredients and spices and by Ayurvedic nutrition. Try her vegan kati roll with spiced turmeric potatoes, caramelized onion, fresh green bell peppers, spinach, cilantro, mint and homemade tamarind chutney and wash it down with a rosewater-flavored lassi that is not too sweet and perfectly balances out the slight heat from the kati roll. Kati roll: $12. Rose or mango lassi (16 ounces): $5.
Arlington Farmers Market
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the Arlington Farmers Market (AFM) is the second-oldest farmers market in Virginia. “People who come here have been coming here forever, and some vendors have been selling here since the beginning,” says Angela Farkas, market manager for AFM, part of Community Foodworks. One of those people is Marty Jolen, owner of Twin Springs Fruit Farm, located 80 miles north of DC in Orrtanna, PA. Marty was just a boy when his parents started selling at the market. A tall, lanky guy now in his 30s with a big smile and few words, he says he’s seen the market change over the decades with more and more prepared-food vendors, which has drawn more people to the markets.
El Piquin
If you abide by the mathematical rule that a long line + packed house = great food, then take note of the line at El Piquin. One bite of the burrito and you’ll understand the hype behind this Baltimore vendor. Their most popular burrito is the #2 with homemade chorizo, egg, black beans and cheese. But if you want to get some veggies in, get the #3 veggie burrito with spinach, mixed peppers and onions. The crunchiness and acidity of the vegetables contrasts nicely with the softness of the beans and egg, gooeyness of the melted cheddar and saltiness of the chorizo. It’s part of your “balanced” breakfast. Breakfast burrito: $8.
A familiar face at farmers markets across the DMV, Cowbell Kitchen offers a variety of brunch options from bacon breakfast sandwiches to seasonal smoothie bowls to homemade pastries—everything locally sourced and made from scratch at their production kitchen in Leesburg, VA. The fall seasonal smoothie bowl consisted of a pumpkin smoothie base blended to a velvety consistency and topped generously with slivers of chia seeds, hemp seeds, coconut, homemade granola and homemade nut butter. Other popular items include the vanilla bean pound cake and breakfast sandwich with bacon, frittata and cheese on a jalapeño cheddar roll. Smoothie bowl: $12; Breakfast sandwich: $10.5; Vanilla bean pound cake: $4.
Bread is the name of the game at Ravenhook Bakehouse, where owner Chris Girardot has mastered the art of making light, flavorful and nutritious breads over the last 12 years. Baked fresh before the farmers market, think focaccia, scones, muffins and pound cakes. The jalapeño cheddar bread, made from Thai basil jalapeños from a local farm, has a nickname of “crack bread” and sells out every day. Their brioche popover, is a lighter and airier version of a muffin with a moist fruit filling baked into the dough. On this particular day, the filling was inspired by farmers market apples. As I bit into the brioche revealing the jammy center, the taste of fall filled my mouth as frosty powdered sugar covered my lips. Brioche popover: $3.
Based in DC, Qualia sources single-origin coffee from farms all over the world and magically gets them into the hands of customers within three days of roasting. At the market, you can buy a cup of coffee brewed on site or a whole bag of coffee originating as far away as Uganda. The bag resembles a brown paper lunch bag but has more detail about the coffee printed on it than you can imagine—from the exact region of the country where the farm is located, to the values of the farmer, to the distinct notes of the coffee. Hot coffee brewed on site: $2.50; 12-ounce bag: $14–17.
Is this farmers market burger the best in DC? That is up for debate, but the burger at the Smith Meadows Farm stand can rival any Eater-ranked burger in the city in taste and value and, in my opinion, come out on top. The beef is grass-fed, which results in leaner, juicier cuts of meat. The second-most-important element (the bread) is a brioche bun from Lyon Bakery. Everything in between—from the butter that the burger is cooked in, to the caramelized onions and cheddar cheese that it is smothered in, to the fresh pickles and lettuce that it is tucked next to—is superbly fresh. The burger sells for $7, a fraction of what a restaurant would charge for a far less fresh version. The most popular item at the Smith Meadows stand, however, is the sausage, egg and cheese biscuit made from their own grass-fed pigs. Grass-fed burger: $7.
FRESHFARM Silver Spring Market
Located in downtown Silver Spring, the Silver Spring FRESHFARM market offers a fun morning of brunching, shopping and unique family-friendly market activities. As far as prepared food goes, the Silver Spring market is a small world of brunch options with traditional bakeries selling handmade pastries from Turkey, Greece and Austria. But no matter what part of the world the food is inspired from, as a FRESHFARM market, all vendors must source a majority of their ingredients from local farms. The family-friendly market offers activities for kids and adults, including juggling clowns, live music and foodie events.
Photo by Linda Wang.
Audia Farm
Patricia Audia bakes everything from scratch from Hampstead, MD, where she and her husband, Robert, operate a farm and nursery. She freezes fruits and produce at their peak ripeness, ensuring best flavors. Choose from seasonal donuts, turnovers, pies and waffles, all individually sized and packaged to fit in your hand. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but you might be tempted by the butternut squash apple cider donut. They are so delicious that Market Manager Caitlin Tuttle is serving them along with Ho Hos at her wedding as a late-night snack. To warm up over the winter months, try their chocolate apple cider donut rum balls with rum from Tenth Ward Distillery. Butternut squash apple cider donut: $3.
Photo by Linda Wang.
Feride Ozkan, owner and chef of Ozfeka Catering, was inspired by her mother’s cooking to re-create and celebrate the flavors of her childhood in Turkey’s Anatolian Peninsula. Try a piece of a Turkish bagel, called a simit. Resembling a pretzel more than a bagel, it is encrusted with sesame seeds, boiled and then baked in a hot wood-fired oven. Crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, it seems like an ideal street food for a holiday market. For something much more substantial, try the borek—a hearty meat pie made with flaky phyllo dough and lean ground beef. Also available in a vegetarian version with spinach and cheese, it is a whole meal in and of itself. Simit (bagel): $3; Borek (meat or vegetarian pie): $9.
Photo by Linda Wang.
Their red apron logo is now a familiar staple at 10 farmers markets in the DMV, including all three we are feature here, so it’s hard to believe that Little Austria was founded just two years ago by two Austrian women in search of an authentic apple strudel. Today they offer many varieties of apple-based flavors incorporating local and organic ingredients such as apple pecan, apple pumpkin spice and (my favorite) apple blueberry honey. A video on their website shows how the dough is handmade and hand-stretched to be as thin and wide as a white tablecloth and then filled, rolled and cut. The result is a flaky, delicate crust that gives from a slight nudge of a fork, revealing the thick layer of filling. Apple blueberry and honey strudel: $5.
Photo by Linda Wang.
Talking Breads
A trifecta of bakery, farm and mill, Talking Breads offers Old World European breads made with organic and stone-milled flour, giving it more nutrients and stronger flavor than bread made with all-purpose flour. If you’re looking for a quick savory snack that will fill you up, try the pastie. A European pastry that migrated to the Midwest in the 19th century, it was referred to as a “miner’s lunch” because it was easy to keep in your pocket, dense and filling. Miners would keep it against their skin to stay warm, a tip you can use if you visit the market on a cold morning. Other popular items include seasonal scones, muffins and vegetable pasties. Pastie: $4.
Photo by Linda Wang.
DC has an incredibly robust Greek community and Mastiha Bakery caters to this community with its recipes passed down four generations, bringing the tradition of Greek cooking and baking to a new generations of Greek and non-Greeks alike in DC. Specializing in pastries, cookies and pita bread, try their “winter cookie,” a honey-walnut cookie baked with cinnamon, clove, brandy, orange, sugar and honey syrup. Or if you’re in the mood for something savory, go for the generous slice of spanakopita made from flaky, hand stretched phyllo dough. Spanakopita: $8; Honey-walnut cookie (winter cookie): walnut, cinnamon, clove, brandy, orange, sugar, honey syrup: $1 each or $5 for 6.
FRESHFARM Dupont Circle Farmers Market - Honorable Mention Picks
Every magazine article has a word count, and my love of farm market brunching put me beyond limits for our print magazine. But for this digital version I wanted to make sure to include some of my favorites from the city farm market that may be the granddaddy of them all—the FRESHFARM Dupont farmers market on Sundays, open year-round.
SEYLOU Bakery - A true farm to loaf bakery, SEYLOU mills its locally grown grain and seeds on-site. Their whole-grain breads baked in wood-fired oven, including gluten-free options. Bialy (Polish-style whole-grain bagel baked in a wood-fired oven with poppy seeds and caramelized onions): $4.50
O Earth Creamery & Bakehouse - Vegan and gluten-free pastries and energy bars of all fruit varieties. Blueberry-lemon tart or apple-pear tart: $4
Hog Haven Farm - Breakfast sandwich made from pork raised on a hog farm, homemade tomato aioli and homemade English muffin: $8
The Red Zebra - Neapolitan-style wood-fired pizzas incorporating farmers market produce. Breakfast pizza with sweet potatoes and smoked sausage (fresh spinach and mushrooms available for substitute) topped with cheddar cheese, hot honey and a sous vide egg: $11
Patisserie Poupon - French pastries and tarts featuring seasonal ingredients. Tomato tart: $6
Gina Chen
A former marketing exec turned food writer, Gina Chen recently moved to DC from San Francisco to be closer to her family. Currently working as a freelance food writer, Chen is creating content for a food blog and collaborating on a cookbook with her father that will feature authentic Sichuan recipes. Follow her @ginachenart
