Fairfax Farmers Market week two provides multicultural cuisine and fresh produce

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Corina Karr

Produce stands at the farmer’s market offer fresh fruit and vegetables complete with delicious samples.

Fairfax’s Farmers Market opened for the season on May 4 and receives a considerable turnout every Wednesday evening from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Along with farm-grown strawberries and oranges, the market provides a variety of multicultural food trucks and stands for shoppers to fuel themselves. It will run until Oct. 26.

The market has a cheerful atmosphere, mostly visited by local families.

— Corina Karr and Mia DeNunzio

Shoppers wandering around Bolinas Park are surrounded by a globe of cuisine. Options of Himilain food, Romani-inspired tacos, fries, paninis, dim sum, poke, shawarma, hot dogs, paella, and more are available for made-to-order meals. Lines for trucks like Casablanca Moroccan Food wrapped around the grove, making mouths water from the fragrances in the air. Unfortunately, beloved stands from years past like Crepes du Jour California were not in attendance. While taco and pizza trucks seem to be the go-to truck food for typical events, neither were present.

Casablanca Morocco & Mediterranean Foods delicious chicken kabob wrap is full of flavors worth the expensive price

While enjoying the night is a walk in the park, the prices are not. Do not expect to get any kind of vendor food for under $10. Street food averaged $10 to $20; two tacos from Holy Chile Moly cost $12. While this is understandable as they are small businesses, it is a clear reminder that the days of cheap, fast, and tasty food trucks are few and far between, and certainly not in attendance at the Fairfax Farmers Market.

Casablanca Morocco & Mediterranean food truck has a variety of shawarma, kabobs, fries, and falafel dishes. The chicken kabob wrap is pricey at $15 but phenomenally stuffed with hummus, tahini, cucumber, lettuce, french fries, flavorful chicken, and more making the price worth it. Unfortunately, shawarma lovers do not have the choice between lamb or chicken, and instead must have both.

The market offers two dim sum stands, BunBao and Lim’s Dim Sum. BunBao’s food stand provides refrigerated dim sum, which patrons can heat up and enjoy at home. Options included pork buns and potstickers. Lim’s Dim Sum had many of the same options fresh and ready to eat. Four barbecued pork buns cost $15, a decent deal considering their size and the prices throughout the rest of the market. The fluffy buns are stuffed full of sweet pork, but the sweetness isn’t too overpowering, with a mouth-watering flavor that almost anyone will enjoy.

Gerard’s Paella serves paella cooked in large pots that market-goers can enjoy on the grass.

The limited space of the farmer’s market makes it somewhat crowded, but there are still spots available for visitors to relax and enjoy purchases. In the back grove near the food trucks are tables to sit at and music to listen to from a small band nicely shaded by the trees. Unfortunately, the tables fill up quickly due to popular demand. The market has a cheerful atmosphere, mostly visited by local families.

Despite the lack of a few beloved options, the Fairfax Farmers Market offers a wonderful variety of food. Businesses make up for steep prices with delicious flavors and a delightful atmosphere, constituting a four-and-a-half out of five feather environment for Fairfax families and teens to spend the evening.