Hollywood farmers market draws raves from famously cantankerous chef Ramsay
Everyone’s favorite belligerent chef, Gordon Ramsay, paid a visit to the Yellow Green Farmers Market in Hollywood last weekend with camera crew in tow to shoot footage for the upcoming season of his Fox reality cooking competition, “MasterChef.” The Brit known for his foul-mouthed kitchen outbursts was as nice as could be, vendors and market officials say, and Ramsay showered the weekend-only market with praise after the April 21 visit.
“Had an amazing time … congratulations on a wonderful market,” Ramsay wrote on the Yellow Green Farmers Market Instagram page. “Great people, great product, great food! Bloody well done. I’ll [be] coming back!”
Ramsay shot footage with a South Floridabased contestant who regularly shops at the market. The contestant’s identity cannot yet be revealed because of confidentiality agreements. The new season of the show, which features home cooks and awards the winner $250,000, debuts May 30 and runs through the summer.
“I didn’t get to talk to him, but it was pretty cool,” says Alex Serrano of Serrano Produce, where Ramsay stopped and shopped.
Ramsay checked out some food stalls, eateries and produce stands at the market for budding food entrepreneurs. The open-air warehouse, tucked away on Taft Street just west of I-95, keeps growing in popularity and culinary diversity. It is open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and now houses 130 vendors selling prepared food and othe items; a dozen produce stands and a dozen sit-down restaurants and bars.
“Him coming here means a lot to us,” says Mark Menagh, Yellow Green Farmers Market general manager. “And him leaving such kind words means even more.”
The market opened in October 2010 and has been described as a “food incubator,” with its relatively cheap rents ($250 to $450 a month) and weekend-only hours, allowing those with full-time jobs a chance to launch new food businesses.
“What we specialize in is helping small businesses give it a shot and seeing what they can do,” Menagh says.
Among the businesses that started off by selling wares on weekends at the market: James Beard Award-nominated chef Zak Stern (aka Zak the Baker, now based in Miami), Proper Sausages of Miami Shores, Atlas Meat Free Deli of Miami, and the Alchemist Coffee Shop of Wilton Manors. Krakatoa Indonesian and Kay Rico Coffee have brickand-mortar stores in Hollywood and still operate at the Yellow Green Farmers Market.
The market’s growth and popularity have triggered parking problems, but Menagh says the situation has been helped by the recent addition of a 5-acre lot. The market would like to build a garage on the site but awaits city approval. Menagh says the nearby Parkand-Ride lot at the Sheridan Street Tri-Rail station with a walkway to the market is also an option.
mmayo@southflorida.com, 954-356-4508. Follow my food adventures on Instagram: @mikemayoeats. Sign up for my weekly dining newsletter at SouthFlorida.com/EatBeatMail.