Gourmet Slop Club: Local Finds: TABLE Local Market in Bedford

I'm starting a new "Local Finds" series on this blog, which you'll see more of in the coming months. Not only is it a challenge to me to venture out of my usual food-obtainment zone, but hopefully it will encourage lots more folks to get more local food hot spots on their daily radar. Specifically, I'll be focusing on providers of local produce and goods, and farms in and around Westchester County.

My first stop in this season-long journey was TABLE Local Market in Bedford, which is kinda-sorta-but-not-really on my way home to Cortlandt Manor from work in Pleasantville, but absolutely, 200% MORE than worth the trip! The store itself is earthy and welcoming, with smiling helpful staff behind the counter, ready to offer samples and answer your questions. After a few minutes of food chat, I was ready to invite them all over for dinner.

I visited the produce section first, where I picked up some fresh eggs from a farm in Bedford Corners, NY, a handful of gorgeous minneolas (a member of the tangerine family), and some bright green pea shoots, all local and organic. In the case next to it, I found gorgeous creamy glass-bottled half & half from the Meadowbrook Farms Dairy. When I later took my eggs to the counter, I was informed that the eggs had been gathered and delivered THAT MORNING, and laid within the last 24 hours. It really doesn't get any fresher than that! I also picked up some Hudson Red cheese from Twin Maple Farms in Ghent, NY - a delicious and flavorful washed-rind soft/medium raw cow's milk cheese. I was also excited to see it the next evening, on the Birdsall House Tavern's local cheese plate!

TABLE's culinary team churns out incredible dishes -- we tasted everything from the freshest guacamole to flatbread pizzas, to the most unbelievably moist, tender, and fragrant Cardamom Coffee Cake. Sorry there's no picture of that -- I ate it too quickly! I think we can sum up from the photo at left that their baked goods move pretty quickly.

Some more photos from this wonderful market, including some inspiring quotes on the walls.