The farm-to-table concept has found a unique home in Temecula. Local renowned Chef Leah Di Bernardo opened E.A.T. Marketplace and Café earlier this year. E.A.T. was launched as an off shoot of her previous catering company Delytes Fine Foods. Extraordinary Artisan Table (E.A.T.) was put together to honor those who embrace sustainable eating. Offering local fresh food to-go from a kitchen with farm-to-table ideals, E.A.T. will be open Tues. thru Fri. from 8am – 4:30pm. Guests may dine in their convivial communal dining area or take their orders to go.
Riverside county combined with San Diego County has more small organic farms then any other county in the Nation. Hence finding amazing foods to create seasonal dishes, is at our finger tips. Marketplace will offer olive oils, maple syrups, tapenades, mustard, spices, micro roasted coffee’s, heirloom grains and organic candies (to name a few).
The Cafe menu holds many treats from cupcakes, morning baked goods to EAT’s lunch menu featuring hearty sandwiches, farmers market salads, daily made soups and heritage lasagna and flat bread pizza’s. Order and pick up dinner-to-go from their daily specials menu. Dinner options are fresh, healthy, and convenient without paying the consequences of typical fast-food options.
The marketplace café is the perfect solution for our undeniable fast-paced fast-food busy lifestyle. There’s something about high-quality, just-picked produce that satisfies hunger while tickling the senses – something that over-packaged, preservative-rich, fast food meals try to do with lots of unhealthy ingredients.
With a Come and Get It resonating ring, sans the dinner triangle bell, E.A.T. stirs up visions of the Ponderosa or Little House on the Prairie and warm wonderful memories of family traditions, in a modern day way. Meals available from E.A.T. will rekindle the spirit of those simpler times and might even start a brand new family tradition, a way to get your family back around the table and eating healthier! There is such disconnection today, people have forgotten how good food can be. Some of the best times in your life are spent over food around the table with family and friends.
“We source a vast majority of our products from our local food shed, creating menus based on the season. We do our best to honor those who grow the ingredients by paying the price of real food. As a result, our clients can expect the food we serve to be healthy, honorably grown and cooked with a respectful simplicity. Our food vision is off the farm, out of the pan, and onto your plate!” deliciously stated by Chef Leah. She and her crew are out to create a new platform of discussion and awareness within our local food system and our community. There are no boundaries with food – everyone has the right to good food, and to enjoy the pleasures food offers us!
Providing locally-sourced meals means connecting people to what they eat and to the people who grow what they eat, in addition to supporting local communities, and, very often, healthy. Local food is fresh, making it nutrient-rich, and it is chosen on the basis of being free of harmful chemicals. And, this food movement is about more than just fruits and vegetables.
Did you know? Only eighteen cents of every dollar, when buying at a large supermarket, go to the actual growers. Eighty-two cents go to various unnecessary middlemen. Cut them out of the picture and buy your food directly from your local farmer – it’s a win-win for all locals and you feel good about knowing the face behind your food! For the average person, changing just 25% of their food to locally grown and raised will lower their carbon footprint by more than all of their glass, plastic and metal recycling combined. 
Whether farmed, foraged or plucked from the Pacific, you can’t get much fresher than California’s earthy ingredients. have an abundance of farmers and food artisans, many of them right here in Temeucla. You are able to help the local economy thrive and you know where your food comes from when you buy local … it truly matters.
People are slowly turning away from eating out of boxes, out of the freezer or hitting up the drive-thru and are finding a new love for real food, the art of cooking and bringing people together to share in nature’s bounty.
When asked “Why buy local/organic?” Chef Leah offered up some food for thought – “By buying local you’re helping to preserve the environment, and you’ll be strengthening your community by investing your food dollar close to home. There is something really beautiful about knowing that your supporting your local farmers, cooks, olive oil producers, wine growers – and that their families that work incredibly hard right here in our community – are then benefiting from your purchase.”
Cheap energy and agricultural subsidies facilitate a type of agriculture that is destroying and polluting our soils and water, weakening our communities, family heritage and concentrating wealth and power into a few big greedy hands.
Chef Leah is also the founder and president of Slow Food Temecula Valley, initiating Edible and Academic School Garden Programs in the Temecula Valley. This group of volunteers work to bring locally grown food to the family table. Like a garden rake, Slow Food Temecula has a multi-pronged approach. These people, including farmers, gardeners and just plain food-lovers, have found fertile ground in the region for their return-to-roots movement.
EAT is a community hub for locals and out of town guests alike. A great place to learn and share in what our community has to offer.
Dinner’s ready, come and get it! at E.A.T. Marketplace and Café – located at 27535 Jefferson Avenue, Temecula, CA 92590. (951) 694-3663. www.eatmarketplace.com
When you eat real food, you don’t need rules!
xo
