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Saturday Was First Day at School for The Lincoln Park Farmers Market
- Bob Benenson
- Apr 28
- 3 min read
One of Chicago's Oldest Farmers Markets is in the Lincoln Park High School Lot
Saturday (April 26) was opening day for The Lincoln Park Farmers Market. One of my favorite neighborhood markets in the city — and also one of the closest markets to home — it sets up shop every Saturday through November 22 between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the parking lot of Lincoln Park High School (on Armitage near the corner with Halsted).
Market manager Elsa Jacobson (photo above) is the biggest reason why I'm a fan of this market. Elsa and I had a passing acquaintance during my tenure with the FamilyFarmed non-profit. We started working more closely after I launched Local Food Forum in April 2021.
I quickly learned that watching Elsa at work is a master class at community building and connecting with vendors and customers.
Despite its long history, The Lincoln Park Farmers Market was fading away before Elsa started running it. This photo, taken in May 2021 as we all were just emerging from the darkest days of COVID, shows there were few vendors and lots of open space.
In a short period of time, Elsa has rebuilt it into what is again one of the city's favorite markets. Saturday's lineup included 28 vendors; five more, including most of the seasonal produce vendors, are scheduled to join this Saturday (May 3).
I could only stay for a few minutes this past Saturday because I was headed to a great field trip in Michigan (more on that soon). I'll be back this coming Saturday to linger longer.
I did visit with Ernesto Rodriguez of the El Molcajete Sauces company, based just outside Chicago in Evanston. I met Ernesto at the Evanston Farmers Market last summer, I loved his products, we became instant friends — and I connected him to Elsa. So glad he has joined the lineup.
I also was happy to see Zeitlin's Delicatessen, a great stand to get bagels and bread loaves, and one of the few places in Chicago where you can get bialys (which are dear to my native New Yorker heart). Often described (not exactly accurately) as a bagel without a hole, a bialy is a crusty roll with a depression in the middle that is often filled with flavorings, with the onions and poppy seeds in these bialys probably the most typical.
Watch this space because Local Food Forum will soon be sharing the news of the opening of Zeitlin's first brick-and-mortar store at the far western edge of the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Samples from my small market haul: organic tortilla chips, fried in coconut oil, from El Molcajete, one of those Zeitlin's bialys; and baked donut holes from Daly's Donuts.
One quick note about seasonal produce: I learned on Friday that Mick Klug Farm (St. Joseph, Michigan) was kicking off the massive Michigan asparagus season this past Saturday at Chicago's Green City Market. Alas, it made no sense for me to stop by and buy some, because I had that field trip and it would have been weird carrying Michigan asparagus to Michigan and back again.
The bottom line, though, is that with mild, more springlike temperatures expected this week and more markets opening with the dawn of May, get ready to get your asparagus groove on.
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