At the farmers’ market with a chef

Chef/owner Bill Buszinski of Mr. Rain’s Fun House at AVAM let me tag along with him yesterday at the Baltimore Farmers’ Market under the JFX. So what does a chef buy for his restaurant?

First stop was Gardener’s Gourmet of Uniontown for bags of crisp green spinach and asparagus. Then, we looked over the meats at Truck Patch Farms in New Windsor, where Bill picked up packs of spareribs. We also talked to the folks at Gunpowder Bison. Bill was really excited about the bison marrow bones and has some interesting ideas on roasting them and serving them with little spoons to scoop out the luxurious marrow.

We also talked to Uptown Bakers, where Bill already gets his breads. Then, we headed to Chesapeake Greenhouse to look at their hydroponically grown greens. I bought a beautiful head of Boston lettuce, which Bill predicts will be the "next big lettuce."

Last stop was Brey’s Pure Honey of Brandywine. Bill bought a large jar of raw honey. He said he gets several requests a week from diners for raw honey as opposed to regular honey.

Then, the chef headed back to his restaurant. Bill grew up on a farm near Pittsburgh and has his own large vegetable and flower garden. But it’s great to see a Baltimore chef supporting Maryland farmers.

Photo: chef/owner Bill Buszinski at Mr. Rain's Fun House