The Farm to Table Tour was created to highlight farmers markets around the country and the benefits they offer their communities, and to celebrate the food produced by each market’s farmers and vendors.

This event will pair local chefs with local farmers to prepare special tastings showcasing their partner farm’s fresh ingredients and visitors will have the opportunity to sample the chefs’ creations while also learning more about the market vendors, their products, and how to buy and eat seasonally. Chefs will serve samples from 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Here are the participating chefs:

• Michael McKinney of Chew Restaurant
• Eddy Escriba of Uptown Market
• Nick Robson of Eleven South
• Sam Efron of Taverna
• Eric Fritsche of Pastiche
• Richard Nunn of News 4 Jax
• Damon Burch of Biscottis
• Brian Vandenburg of Burrito Gallery
• Brian Siebenschuh of Orsay
• Floyd Slyman of Café Du Marche
• Rodrick Smith of Sweet Pete Catering
• Tom Gray of Bistro AIX

Sam Efron of Taverna, one of the chefs, will be a guest on Urban Jacksonville Weekly Tuesday night at 5:30. We’ll talk about Sam’s new San Marco restaurant, his involvement in the the Farm to Table Tour and the importance of buying and eating seasonally. Read Taverna reviews on Yelp.

In addition to free tastings, visitors will have the opportunity to select potted culinary herb plant starts at the Mobile Garden Highlander Hybrid, and can also enter for a chance to win a unique culinary prize package. Toyota will also provide interested market goers with the opportunity to take a ride in the 3rd Generation Prius or a 2009 Highlander Hybrid and take home a John Boos cutting board as a thank you gift.

Toyota is dedicated to using eco-friendly materials throughout the tour and will be purchasing carbon credits through TerraPass to offset the impact of the tour’s carbon footprint. In addition, to further support the market, Toyota is making a financial donation to the Riverside Arts Market, LLC, the organization that brings the Riverside Arts Market to life each week.

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You can now listen right on the blog, click the play button above. This has been one of my favorite shows. Rapid fire topics with lot’s of great information and insight. We’re redefining content in the city!

Topics

• Jacksonville Jazz Festival – Rain or Shine
• Downtown Demolition – 118 Main Street
• Convert the Shipyards to a mixed income Transit Oriented Development
• World Cup in Jacksonville
• Free Burritos at Hightide Burrito
• Sanctuary Community Garden at 8th and Pearl in Springfield
• Wine Cellar at Three Layers in Springfield
• Times-Union Addresses Morris Publishing Woes via @editormarilyn on Twitter
• Johnny Rotten becomes Jonathan Rotten
• Jacksonville Observer and Hyperlocal Journalism
• Kids Fest at The Riverside Arts Market with Justin Roberts
• Yo Gabba Gabba

Recommendations

• Joey: Infrastructurist.com
• Jonathan: Smashing Magazine
• Tony: Streetsblog.org and My Commute Sucks

Topics

• New Plans for Cafe Carmon
• RAMifications of too many artists in Jacksonville
• Mayor’s got a Facebook account

Recommendations

• Joey: Wired Magazine – May Issue with guest Editor J.J. Abrams
• Jonathan: Follow @editormarilyn on Twitter. Assistant managing editor for the The Florida Times-Union.
• Tony: RAP Tour of Homes April 25th and 26th

Show Links

• Jax Politics – jaxpoliticsonline.com Abel Harding from Jax Politics will be in the studio next week as our guest host.
• Couple eager to remake Cafe Carmon into go-to spot
• Sign up for Riverside Arts Market email list
• John Peyton Facebook page

Editor Note: Earlier today my blog feed was removed from Jacksonville.com. I changed the headline to remove the word “Fuck” so my blog headlines will continue to appear on Jacksonville.com. I feel like this is a good compromise because Jacksonville.com is a good source of traffic for this blog and a good partner for allowing us to record Urban Jacksonville Weekly.

This is the first contribution from Riverside as Fuck. You can follow him/her on twitter, that’s where the cool kids hang out now, right. We’re protecting their anonymity so don’t ask.

Let me first say that the Riverside Arts Market is f’ing awesome. A wise man called it a game-changer for the city, and while I won’t go quite that far, it is a big very big deal, and it is excellently executed and perfectly run. All the people involved in planning and putting on the market deserve a pat on the back, a vegan hot dog, a pack of Parliaments, and a Sparks in congratulations.

So, I spent my Saturday at the market. To begin with I parked my bike with the bike valet. Totally awesome idea that I took advantage of, but I was shocked when the dude in front of me valeted his, like, 20-gear $5 million dollar mountain bike— the valet actually acknowledged that such bikes exist and he parked it. I mean, totally unacceptable, yall: that bike had BRAKES and GEARS. LAME.

Plus, there was no alcohol or smoking?! WTF?! No Sparks/PBR/* and no cigarettes? What, do they expect us to starve while we’re there or what?

Anyway, after valeting my bike I went into the Market and it was awesome. Saw some kid on a 10 foot high unicycle juggling flaming machetes while signing opera. It was so awesome because the unicycle was a fixie.

The only problem I had after that was that I didn’t know where to hang out— if someone would’ve had the vinyl, Sparks, cigarettes, and vegan funnel cakes booth, I would’ve posted up all day. But, the way it’s set up, I was rushing from booth to booth, trying to figure out where I was supposed to be; where the coolest tent or booth for someone to see me shopping was; where would I possibly get my picture taken and put in Folio, some ‘social media’ blog, or on some pervy party-pic taker’s blog? Someone needs to blog about the coolest booth to be at when you’re at RAM so we will all know where to go when we get there.

So, after trying to find the cool booth, I decided to just check out the live music. It was okay, and I wanted to enjoy it. But, I was only enjoying it ‘ironically’ and there was no way to communicate to the Ortega/Mandarin/Southside denizens that I was only listening to the same music as them so as to make a joke about how someone like me, clearly so much cooler than them, is only listening to the same music as them so I can imply that I am somehow like them, when I really am not. ZING!!! on them, right?

Plus, didn’t anyone tell the organizers that beautiful open-air parks on the river are SO not the place to host live music? Couldn’t they have set up a satellite venue for the live music inside of a gas station or the bathroom of Einstein’s or the stairwell of the Fidelity parking garage? You know, a ‘cool’ place to be seen listening to ‘cool’ ‘noise’ music? That would have made it so much better.

Anyway I was watching the music and I started talking to someone I thought was a Riverside cool bro— wearing jorts, was bald and fat and had a beard, and kind of dirty— about fixies and TSI and Sparks and vinyl, but it turned out he was just a fat redneck who drove there with his 11 kids in his minivan. You know, he wasn’t the ‘cool’ fat and dirty where you squeeze yourself into waaaaay too tight jorts and don’t take a shower and have a homeless beard and your only exercise is sitting around drinking, writing your blog, watching your bros play bicycle games, and playing in your noise rock band. This guy was uncool fat where it was because he drives an SUV** and eats non-4th-level vegan foods. SO GROSS YALL. Once I realized his fatness was not a fashion statement, I left to keep wandering the market.

And that was when I found the cheese/produce/plants area of the market. The plants were beautiful and the produce looked delicious, but it was perplexing: Cheese? Fresh produce? Is that cool? I thought I read that being poor was what was cool now? SO CONFUSING YALL.

My only other gripe was with the art: there was not a single screen printed piece there. Don’t the organizers and artists even know what art is right now? Who would want a beautiful professionally done water color instead of another poster on Obama/Change/bikes/H8 conservatives and money/beer/ I am cool/ironic internet meme? Someone needs to get on that.

I never was able to find the DJ booth, either.

*insert your favorite cheap-ass beer to drink to be ‘ironic’ or to ‘comment’ on the ‘recession’

**we’re still hating those, right?

Listen Now

For Urban Jacksonville Weekly Episode #9 we were lucky to have our first guest on the show, ever! Doug Coleman from the Riverside Arts Market and the hosts talk all about this weekend’s big launch.

Don’t forget to valet your bike!

A big happy blog birthday for our neighbor blog JaxScene. One year in Springfield and still going strong!

Art in Action at the Old Library Basement was fun last night. It also re-affirmed my opinion that it is the best new Art Walk venue. I took some pictures with my phone that turned out pretty well and you can check those below. I’m sure JaxScene will have some good photos and I’ll link to those when they come online.

New limited prints from Armageddon Visuals:

This print is very limited edition to only 12. It’s a signed and numbered 3 color screen print. 19″x25″. Due to the short run and the custom ink job this print might come out again in the future in a different color way. $25 with shipping.

You Might Find This Stuff Really Useful

Logan Zawacki has opinions on the Jacksonville Art Scene. This is the first in a series of interviews from new blog Zeller.Press

I feel like the art scene is exploding with talent and so much of it is going unnoticed and unappreciated. As for local jax blogs the only one I check frequently is TheOuterBox.com. I find it’s the only local art blog that is truly focused on helping local artists.

The Riverside Arts Market is set to launch Saturday, April 4.
Riverside group marketing an idea for Saturdays
JTA is installing cameras on the Skyway
Why you should know bike laws (Bike Jax)
Peyton exerts pressure in backdoor Waste Management deal (Jacksonville Politics)

New Organic Shirts from Arturo Clothing. Organic t-shirts are environmentally safe and manufactured under strict conditions, resulting in a pesticide, herbicide, and chemical-free product. Thanks for the buttons Arturo!

Now that Art Walk is over there are three more events you need to concern yourself with this week.

1. First Friday in Five Points
2. The Comic Book Show at Bogda
3. Relondondo (Tallahassee) and Buff Clout at Shantytown

Finally I posted Episode 3 of Urban Jacksonville Weekly. Besides this week’s topics you learn the story behind the Origin of Tony’s nickname, Biggie Tea.

Urban Jacksonville Weekly Topics

1. Morris Publishing hires legal, financial counsel and gets extension
2. Jazz Festival Moves to Laura Street
3. Golds Gym Moves Downtown