Strawberry season is currently upon us here in Georgia, so Slow Food Atlanta and its student chapter at Le Cordon Bleu-Atlanta are hosting a strawberry celebration at the Morningside Farmers Market this Saturday. There will be plenty of opportunities to sample the super-sweet local strawberries that put those overpriced packages of Driscoll’s to shame. Slow Food volunteers will be serving up strawberry shortcakes made with local berries and local cream from Sparkman’s Dairy. The shortcakes cost $5 for what I’m told is a generous portion, and proceeds go to the Morningside Market and these local chapters of the international Slow Food organization. (Full disclosure: I’m a student at LCB-Atlanta, but not involved with planning this event).
There are often chef demos at the market and in keeping with this week’s theme, Drew Van Leuvan of Trois will prepare a dish with strawberries from Riverview Farms, a weekly market vendor and one of his purveyors at the restaurant. “I don’t even know how to describe it…it’s baked strawberries with gruyere cheese, wrapped in toasted bread,” he tells me. Van Leuvan may not have a name for this savory strawberry treat, but it sounds so good that it doesn’t even need one.
Morningside Farmers Market, 1393 N. Highland Ave.; 404-313-5784; morningsidemarket.com. Saturdays 7:30 to 11:30 a.m.