Atlanta Underground Market

You may have heard of underground food markets in San Francisco.  Well, recently, Atlanta decided to take this trend to the East Coast with the Atlanta Underground Market.  The concept?  Lots of local food vendors get together to provide generously sized samples for reasonable prices.  The catch?  The event is kept very hush-hush.  In fact, the marketing was so minimal, the location of the Underground Market was announced through private emails 24 hours prior to the event.  I absolutely ate up the exclusivity of it all.

I found out Friday night that the Underground Market was to be held at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, which happens to be a pretty significant site here in Atlanta.  The Sweet Auburn neighborhood was originally settled in the late 1800s as part of "Shermantown," Union-occupied land.  The Georgia Railroad led to great expansion in and around this area.  The community grew, and later became home to a guy named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The Curb Market, then known as the Municipal Market of Atlanta, was first established as a tent in what was the very center of Atlanta in the early 1900s.  The market was destroyed in the Great Atlanta Fire of 1917, then later rebuilt as a brick building.  Atlanta was not yet integrated at this time, so African Americans were prohibited from entering the market.  Instead, they sold their groceries on the curb.  The curb market became a place for cultural celebration, carrying everything from exotic spices to good old comfort food.  Today, the entire market both inside and out is referred to as the Curb Market.  It symbolizes diversity, unity, and harmony.

Now that my obligatory history lesson is out of the way, we can get onto the food!  I arrived with Dave and my dad (who lives OTP) around 6:30PM to find a line wrapped all the way around the building.  Fortunately, the line moved pretty quickly, and we were inside less than an hour later.

The first dish I had was by far my favorite dish of the night.  It's not that the rest were bad; this one was just that good!  I enjoyed some Spicy Sweet Potato Soup with Cream and Chocolate-Covered Bacon by Chubby's Kitchen.  It was served with a Rosemary and Goat Cheese Biscuit.  Chocolate?  Sweet potatoes?  Biscuits?  Goat cheese?  Bacon?!  I don't think I've ever had that many of my favorite things sitting in front of me in a bowl before.

Next, I tried some vegan Mexican food from Skinny Dip: Fresh Sauces.  The platter consisted of chips with fresh pico de gallo, as well as an enchilada stuffed with your choice of rice and beans or rice and tofu. I went with the rice and beans, because I'm a sucker for frijoles negros.  The inside of the enchilada was delicious, but the sauce that coated the tortilla was the best part by far.  It was tomato based, with hints of roasted red pepper, cilantro, and just the right amount of kick.

We decided we'd had enough savory and opted for a sweet dish.  We headed over to Sugarloft, a Latin food booth, for some of Dave's comfort food.  Now, keep in mind that we are both originally from South Florida and Dave is of Cuban descent.  We're usually pretty picky when it comes to this kind of fare.  I decided to save some room for cake, but Dave ordered a guava pastelito.  With a mouth full of gooey fruit and flaky pastry, he mumbled, "If you want a bite, you'd better get it now!"  Yeah, I think it met our expectations.

We stopped by the booth for Iced, a cupcakery.  I had a Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcake and my dad had a Caramel Chocolate Sea Salt cupcake.  They were both pretty good, though a little dry.  I love this trend of sea salt with caramel and chocolate, but after making Martha Stewart's, I feel like nothing else will be as good!

I finished up my evening at the Atlanta Underground Market with one of my favorite local street food vendors, the King of Pops!

And what flavor of delicious, organic, handmade popsicle did I get?  Why, peach of course!

{all personal photos}

Another perk of the evening was that entry was only $2, and most dishes were $2-3.  Additionally, many vendors donated some or all of their proceeds to Field of Greens.  Field of Greens is an annual festival here in Atlanta geared toward promoting sustainable farming.  A good cause, some good food, and some fun local people definitely made for a good night!

Have you ever gone to an underground food event?  What'd ya think?