August may signal the end of summer, but it’s also the season at its most bountiful: a golden moment for tomatoes, corn, melon, peaches, and plenty of other summer produce.
Fifty years since New York’s very first Greenmarket in the summer of 1976, the farmers market remains a beloved resource, both as a community hub and a place to buy produce directly from the people who grow it. It’s also where many of the city’s best chefs shop for the seasonal ingredients that make their menus come alive.
At Hags, a fine-dining restaurant in the East Village, the farmers market is the ultimate muse, says chef and co-owner Telly Justice. “It is our most central inspiration,” Justice tells Vogue. She and her team go to the market three times a week, and write their menu based on its offerings. Justice says that the dishes the team conceives while shopping and talking to farmers are often “the biggest hits.” For example: a Niçoise-inspired salad with “gorgeous cucumbers,” ripe summer tomatoes, potatoes, and herbs from Halal Pastures, one of Justice’s favorite vendors.
Many chefs note being inspired by the produce they source. Patty Lee, the chef at Lei—the wine bar that won this year’s James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant—tells Vogue she loves to shop the fruit stands and markets in the bar’s Chinatown neighborhood.
“There’s always something I’m crushing on,” Lee says when asked about her favorite produce and stands. At the moment, it’s Sycamore Farms’ yellow beefsteak tomatoes. “I think they’re oftentimes overlooked tomatoes because the heirlooms are more sexy—they’re prettier, they’re the more showy ones.” Lee uses the beefsteaks as a backdrop for her snapper crudo, and says they’re the perfect pair.
While we can’t all be award-winning chefs, we can learn a lot from how they source ingredients and think about cooking. To that end, Vogue asked six of our favorites—Telly Justice, Patty Lee, Nick Tamburo, Daniel Boulud, Jay Kumar, and Igor Almeida Cabral—about their favorite stands, market-inspired dishes, and how they shop for the best produce. Below, read their advice on how to make the most of the farmers market.
Illustration by Shimeng Jiang
Engage your senses
The farmers market is “one of the most vivid and important places to spend your time if you’re even a little bit serious or curious about food,” says Justice. “Go early, take exactly what you need, go often, and just experience it in a sensual way,” she advises. In short: “Engage your senses.”
