Farmers’ market and eatery pave the way

PHOTOS BY NICOLA BUCK AND TAMI CHU

When you’re in the mood to play hooky from work or chores—and who isn’t?—do it on a Friday so you can feed your spirit and your tummy at the Topanga Farmers Market and nearby Café on 27.

The rebooted farmers’ market started spring 2024 and is held on the Topanga Community Center grounds. It has between 40 and 45 food artisans amid some of the best views of any farmers’ market in the Valley. There’s also an alcove with seven or eight artisan clothing and jewelry vendors.

“We look for vendors who use sustainably sourced organic ingredients and vendors who use biodegradable packaging—or as eco-friendly as possible while still being able to transport and keep food fresh,” say co-founders Kate Kimmel and Freddi Swanson, adding they take pride in supporting small businesses and farms that are family-, BIPOC- or female-owned.

Strolling through the market, you’ll find all the fixins’ for healthful, delicious meals with inspired items you won’t find in mainstream stores. I felt like I was in a special club lucky enough to access small producers like ApotheCulture with its offerings from grain- and nut-free pancake mix to fire ciders (lacto-fermented, probiotic tonics).

And Häsi’s wild fermented sourdough with golden and blue marbled loaves. Made from organic, freshly milled grains, their color comes from heirloom turmeric and butterfly pea flower powder mixed into the dough.

Along the way, I sampled pickled vegetables from In a Pickle. (“The pickle lady,” Janet Song, taught a pickle workshop the day I visited.) And cilantro-mint sauce from Topanga Curry House, Nalwaya Foods’ cultured ghee and Dancing Crow Vineyards wines, among many other tempting offerings.

There are also farmers’ market staples including fresh produce, proteins and ready-to-eat meals.

Under the canopy of an old oak tree at the bottom of the hill, there are activities like guided movement experiences or children’s sing-alongs.
In the spring, there are plans to add more children’s programming and health and wellness workshops and classes.

“Our goal is to create a community gathering space where customers can feel at home and where they can have access to resources to live more sustainably,” say Kimmel and Swanson. “And a place where we can exchange ideas and engage with important environmental and social issues.”

Parking is limited, so you may find yourself hoofing it up the steep street to the market.

Look at it this way: at least you’re getting a dose of cardio.

Bring a cooler to protect your purchases as you head to Café on 27 for lunch.

Topanga Farmers Market
1440 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga
TopangaFarmersMarket.com

FIRE UPDATE: The Topanga Farmers Market reopened on Jan. 31 with many resources to support the community: The Community Brigade came to talk about their groundbreaking partnership with Los Angeles County Fire to bridge the resource gap between professional first responders and local communities during disasters, and to share information about their mission and training opportunities; shoppers could sign up for a home-hardening check. Healing practitioners were invited to create space for comfort and restoration with services like chair massages, reiki and other self-care offerings. Local businesses, nonprofits and community groups with services or information were gifted a free booth. And the farmers’ market partnered with World Central Kitchen to provide a free bag of fresh, local produce to anyone who was impacted by the fires

Café on 27 is perched on the edge of mountainous State Route 27 (AKA Topanga Canyon Boulevard). Unassuming from the street, it segues into multi-level shaded seating areas that serve up spectacular canyon views as you dine.

Whimsy flows like feng shui through the main floor with a parked motorcycle near a wall-mounted “complaints hotline” above an antique phone and a tangerine-colored mini vehicle that’s great for selfies.

Beyond that is a serious menu borrowing from Latin, Middle Eastern and American cuisine for inspiration. Organic items are used as much as possible, says owner Amir Rofougaran, who embodies Topanga Canyon’s down-to-earth vibe.

“I don’t advertise [the organic ingredients], I just let the [diner’s] body feel it,” he says.

Rofougaran calls himself the restaurant’s “design captain” (more on that later) and strives to create dishes with “gut balance” and a combination of the four basic tastes (sweet, salty, sour and bitter). He leaves out one of the four “for intrigue.” “Your body is looking for the fourth flavor,” he says.

Choose from a large selection of breakfast dishes, topped toasts, sandwiches, salads and soups. The lunch entrees are heartier, like an eight-ounce rib eye steak with mushroom sauce, or Butter Citrus Salmon Delight, an eight-ounce grilled Scottish salmon fillet marinated in lemon butter.

The Chinese Mountain Salad is a satisfying mound of cabbages, fried wonton, mandarin oranges, sliced almonds, teriyaki chicken and sesame dressing. It’s a gut-balanced dish of hot and cold, and soft and hard, says Rofougaran.

Pastrami Paradise Sandwich includes an organic, pasture-raised over-easy egg, jalapeño coin, Havarti cheese and a “secret sauce.” The accompanying french fries are fried in “gastronomically happy” avocado oil, one of the quality basics Rofougaran calls out on the menu.

The sandwich comes on sliced sourdough but can be ordered with gluten-free bread. Menu items with nuts or that are gluten-free, vegetarian or vegan are denoted, making it easier for diners with dietary restrictions.

Rofougaran did a stint at a San Francisco–based culinary school and studied biology and Eastern culinary history before embarking on Café on 27 in 2019. These elements are reflected in the menu and how the restaurant is run. It’s not organized in the traditional hierarchical structure; instead, there are teams with captains—hence Rofougaran as the design captain.

Because the teams meet daily and have a free flow of communication, the restaurant runs more smoothly and has a “pretty chill environment,” he says. It’s something Rofougaran is proud of.

“The idea is to come to work and you don’t feel you’re imprisoned for eight hours,” he says, introducing me to other captains, who rave about their work.

For all these reasons, it’s good to get outta Dodge for the day.

Café on 27
1861 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga
Cafe-27.com

FIRE UPDATE: The restaurant was evacuated during the Palisades Fire. It will be closed for construction until March 5, but it looks like it was undamaged!