Local Cottage Food Makers Pop-Up at Flowerland, December 18

A trio of salsas from Tienda Salsita, a Pear and Almond Pie from a Pie in the Sky, three Tacos Sincero dishes, two of Gigi’s One Bite Wonders, gingerbread from Sesame – A Tiny Bakery, and a Pickles ‘N Smoke Croissket. (Photos courtesy of the makers)
Because we are always interested in small local cottage food artisans, and because Albany’s Flowerland is bringing a bunch of them together on Sunday, December 18 at their “first annual open-air market of culinary offerings,” we’re heading to 1330 Solano Avenue from 11am to 4pm to meet these creative makers and see what they’ll have for us to eat:
“I want to use tasty pies to bring people together,” baker Veronica Chin of a Pie in the Sky wrote on her blog when she first started selling her creative pies in 2019. Look for her Pear Almond Pie, Apple Streusel Pie with Salted Caramel, Sweet Potato Pie, Apple Persimmon Galettes, and Pear Pomegranate Galettes.
A love of barbecue brought a group of folks in Richmond together to create Pickles ‘N Smoke, a small catering business. Get your appetite ready for loads of tasty pork back ribs, mac ‘n cheese, Croisskets™ (brisket, cheese, mustard wrapped in house made croissant), Sammiches (meat, vinegar slaw, sauce, brioche), plus barbecue sauce, barbecue rub, and house-cured and smoked bacon.
From his kitchen in West Oakland, Justice Sincere makes his Tacos Sincero burritos and tostadas with a distinctive Asian flair. We first learned about this creative cook from this article in Nosh.
Ever since 2018, when we published our story (with recipes) on home-based baker Marykate McGoldrick, we’ve been following her journey with Sesame – A Tiny Bakery. We’re looking forward to another slice of her gingerbread cake and hoping to snag one of her charming little cookie boxes before they’re all snapped up.
At Gigi’s One Bite Wonder in Pinole, Gigi and her “Mamma Bear” work together to make cinnamon sugar–coated brioche doughnuts filled with handmade custards including arroz con leche, Nutella, pistachio custard, and coffee custard. These decadencies will be very hard to pass up, so we are asking you to eat them all up before we get there.
A former designer, the Confectionist Seth Bain switched to making handcrafted bonbons. He’ll also have his chocolate-covered caramelized almonds, various dark chocolate bars, and his award-winning pistachio-orange toffee.
It’s all handmade and spicy at Tienda Salsita. Catalina makes her salsas in classic Mexican styles using Sonoma County produce and we can think of a few people who would adore these as gifts.
There’s practically no one in the Bay Area who is not smitten with the breads from Berkeley’s esteemed Acme Bread company, but here, they will be plying us with holiday sweets like Rustic Couronne Bordelaise, Herb Couronne Bordelaise, Lemon Spelt Olive Oil Cake with Roasted Cranberries, Chocolate Ganache Buttons, and Chocolate Peppermint Marble Cookies.
As we peruse Flowerland’s wealth of garden-themed gifts, we’ll pretend we are hummingbirds as we enjoy sipping from some of the organically farmed Northern Californian wines that Vintage Berkeley will be selling by the bottle or the glass.
Note: Many of these shops encourage placing preorders on their websites, so click the names above if you’re a fan of certainty.
Flowerland Food & Wine Pop-up
Sunday December 18, 11am–4pm
1330 Solano Avenue, Albany