Transforming the Market Halls Into an Authentic Farm to Cart Festival | The San Diego Public Market Presents Street Food Market 2013


February 23, 2013

Cultures the world over have been served by tiny, portable kitchens that turn out hot, fresh food designed to be eaten in the street.  On Sunday, March 24th, some of San Diego and Baja’s best chefs will come together to honor that age-old culinary tradition at the inaugural Street Food Market at the San Diego Public Market.

The San Diego Public Market is bringing the streets outside in and turning street food on its head. Not only will there be authentic and inspired street food fare, hosts of talented chefs and cooks, craft beer and cocktails, but there will be energy & photogenic excitement, the air rich with exotic and alluring culinary aromas and entertainment reminiscent of a Fellini film. Street Food Market 2013 is Street Market Theatre - food vendors, authentic street stalls, cocktail slingers, chickens, goats, bicyclists, car clubs, street dancers, musicians, Luche Libre and much, much more mingling all under one roof.

Melissa Mayer's Tortarilla "El Gallo"
Photo by Jen Dery Photography
Tickets are available now for the event that will transform the 22,000 square foot former factory at 1735 National Avenue into a bustling, colorful street full of art, entertainment and the smells and tastes of San Diego’s diverse culinary landscape. Mexican tacos, TJ dogs, churros and barbacoa, Salvadoran pupusas, Vietnamese pho, Japanese udon and yakitori, French crêpes, churros and food on a stick from every corner of the globe will be presented and interpreted by local chefs including Javier Plascencia, Hanis Cavin, Chad White, Flor Franco, Shihomi Borillo, and Chef Co-Chairs Melissa Mayer and Andrew Spurgin.

Beverage vendors will offer specialties for adults and children; expect guests to enjoy craft beers, regional wines from California to Guadalupe Valley, aguas frescas and custom cocktails ala Snake Oil Cocktail enhanced with farmers' market ingredients, while enjoying live music from TodoMundo, Bulevar Descarga & more, street art and a myriad of exciting and eventful activities (Lotería or Table Tennis anyone?).

Chef Andrew Spurgin's oyster po' boys from
Taste of the Market
Photo by Jen Dery Photography
Lacking expansive kitchens and cold or dry storage, street food vendors by definition tend to use the freshest ingredients, starting each day with an entirely new inventory of vegetables, meat and fish to be cooked in the original exhibition kitchens. Now San Diego’s favorite chefs and beloved restaurants are bringing it back to the Street.  Here is a sneak peak of participating chefs and purveyors, with more to be added as the event approaches:


Co–Chair Melissa Mayer - San Diego Public Market | Martini Media
Co–Chair Andrew Spurgin - Andrew Spurgin™
Javier Plascencia - Misión 19 | Erizo Baja Fish House & Market | Romesco
Miguel Angel Guerrero – El Taller | La Querencia
Mirta Rodriguez – Mariscos Ruben
Sabina Bandera Gonzáles - La Guerrerense
Kevin Ho and Juan Miron - MIHO’s Stand and Deliver
Jason Knibb – NINE–TEN
Diego Hernandez – El Corazón
Hanis Cavin - Carnitas’ Snack Shack
Chad White - Plancha Baja Med
Jeff Jackson & Jennifer Costa – A. R. Valentien
Jack Fisher – Cucina Urbana | Jack Fisher Confections
Ricardo Heredia - Alchemy
Hector Casanova - Casanova Fish Tacos
Craig Jimenez - KAEN Noodles
Flor Franco - Indulge
Noriyoshi Teruya – Sora
Donald Coffman – Culinary Concepts
Dawn Parks - Wild Thyme
Matt Gordon – Urban Solace | Sea & Smoke
Antonio Friscia – Gaijin Noodle & Sake House
Shihomi Borillo – Azuki Sushi
Lisa Altman – Viva Pops
Ryan Studebaker – The Hopping Pig
James Rauh – The West Bean
Katie Grebow – Café Chloe | Oliver & Rose


Support local purveyors!
The San Diego Public Market will soon be San Diego's full time, permanent market (think Pike Place, Redding Terminal Market or La Boqueria...but better), intending to launch full time in the early summer of this year, filling a high-ceilinged former boiler factory with farm fresh produce and eggs, fish and meats, dining adventures, cheese making, salumi curing, tortilla slinging, chocolate tempering, coffee roasting, bread baking and more. This event will reward some of the 1,379 Kickstarters that donated to support the development of a public market in the region, with limited tickets available to the public.  Outside of special events, the San Diego Public Market is currently open only on Sundays and Wednesdays from 9am to 2pm.

Limited VIP tickets for the Street Food Market event cost $85 per person and entitle the ticket holder to early access and all-inclusive food and alcohol.  General Admission tickets are $55/pp for advanced purchase and include tastes of food from 40+ chefs and vendors, and two drink tickets for local beer, wine and craft cocktails from 6 pm to 8 pm.  Tickets available now online at  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/338833.  Net proceeds of the event will support development of the Market Kitchen, a micro-business incubator and community culinary education center at the San Diego Public Market and the Front Burner Fund.

For more information on the Street Food Market or the San Diego Public Market project, visit the website and be sure to follow on Facebook and Twitter.