As many Bay Area restaurant owners prepare to return to take-out and delivery service only, a street vending program in Pacifica has taken on even more importance.
The city created a program to pay local restaurants to host pop-ups at a farmers’ market, which has turned out to a big help to both the chefs and the market itself.
“We don’t usually sell at the farmers’ market, but they did sponsor us here to support local restaurants so we’re selling our clam chowder here today,” said Jason Yeafoli, owner of Moonraker Restaurant in Pacifica.
With outdoor dining closing, he is going to have to rely more and more on his blue and yellow food truck to supplement that business.
“It’s really difficult for a small business when we’ve been opened and shut down numerous times, and the only way we’re surviving now is by selling outdoors on our food truck with our outdoor dining,” he said.
And business at the farmers’ market has been good.
“We did sell out last week in about an hour.”
Erin Tormey, organizer of the Coastside Farmers Market, says that was the idea behind the city program, but it has been good for the market too.
“Because we’re kind of at that part of the season where certain farmers are dropping out cause their crops are going away. And this has been an incredibly expensive experience to operate a market with the conditions that have been required, so having just this little opportunity to bump their bottom line and keep the market semi-solvent has been really helpful. It’s been a really symbiotic thing.”
Having more stands filled draws more crowds to the market, particularly at the end of the season.
The program is coming to end soon, with the farmers’ market closing for the winter next week.