Life Experience

Item Description

Shopping and tasting for Party of Ten (10) at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and Ferry Building Marketplace on the Embarcadero in San Francisco! Round trip Ferry from Vallejo. Guided by Culinary Chef, Educator, Local Fresh Produce Grower and Leader of Slow Food(tm) Solano.

• Our Expert guides will lead you and your Party of Ten (10) through the Farmers Market.
• Teach you about selecting the freshest, ripest food available.
• Give you ideas on preparing fresh food, share a favorite recipe or two.
  
• Guide you on how to Buy Local and Eat Fresh!
  
• Offer tips on nutritional value of fresh foods.
• Make suggestions about planting and growing your own edible landscape.
• AND leave you plenty of time for fine dining and shopping at the Marketplace, as well as the Farmers Market
  
• And you don't have to drive.
• The Ferry Boat alone costs $28 per person round trip and that's included. $280 value added.

But wait, there's more!

• You and your friends will enjoy the fresh salty air of the San Francisco Bay. One hour each way crossing the bay to San Francisco on the Ferry. Time to talk, relax, see the sights, love life.
  
• Slow Food is the opposite of Fast Food.
• GOLD Enjoy the company of your group of old friends - Slow Food style. Over a cup of San Francisco coffee or a scrumptious Market Place Lunch (Sorry, that's your expense. We are picking up the Ferry ride, after all.)
  
• SILVERMake new Friends.
  
• PLATINUM Shopping with old friends and new.

But wait, there's more!

• Enjoy a sensory experience you and your friends (10 people) will talk about for a long time.
• See an explosion of color - food, flowers, sky, sea.
• Touch the foods in the market and learn how to test them.
• Smell the delightful aromas of fresh fruits and vegetables, freshly baked breads and coffee.
• Taste a variety of foods that will please your palate.
• Hear the hustle and bustle of the market, the music.
• Learn the fascinating history of the Ferry Building, circa 1898, including its recent $100 million renovation.
  
• Stroll the waterfront.
• Visit with the farmers.
• Tour the renovated Ferry Building and the marketplace booths and stores.
• Time for Shopping at the Ferry Building Marketplace.

Don't forget to bring your camera!

Don't forget - SHOPPING, SHOPPING, SHOPPING!

Includes round trip tickets on the Ferry from Vallejo.

Experience is for a group of Ten (10). Get all your buddies together and bid! Or buy it and give your friends a treat.

Your Guides:

• Alexis Koefoed, Slow Food(tm) Convivium Leader for Solano. Grower of excellent fresh foods in Pleasants Valley, near Vacaville. Olives, herbs, chickens and eggs, etc. Teaches cooking classes. Extremely knowledgeable. See article below.
  
• Mario Moratorio, PhD. University of California Davis Small Farm Advisor for Solano and Yolo County. But he's on his own time as a gift to the SCC Foundation. Mario is a general bon vivant and gourmet chef in his own right.
  
• Joy Warren. Organizer and scout. Strategic Philanthropy. Public Relations, friendraiser and fundraiser.

Ferry Building Market Place - Shopping and Dining

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

Another site for Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

By Kathy Garvey/Special to The Reporter

Alexis Koefoed poses on her farm off Pleasants Valley Road in Vacaville. Koefoed leads the Slow Food Convivium and grows olives, raises chickens and teaches cooking classes. (Reporter file photo)

Product profile Organic in Solano: 28 farms on 2,187 acres in Solano County were organic in 2005 - an increase of three farms and 193 acres from the previous year Organically grown items include: According to the Organic Trade Association, www.ota.org, the U.S. organic industry grew 17 percent overall to reach $14.6 billion in sales in 2005. Organic foods grew 16.2 percent in 2005 and accounted for $13.8 billion in consumer sales. (Organic nonfoods include personal care products, nutritional supplements, fiber, household cleaners, flowers, and pet food.) Fruit and vegetables account for the largest portion of organic sales: 39 percent A 2004 survey found that 66 percent of U.S. consumers use organic products at least occasionally Almonds, apples, apricots, barley, beans, cherries, cut flowers, edible flowers, endive, herbs, kiwi, mandarins, melons, microgreens, mushrooms, peaches, persimmons, plums, sprouts, tomatoes and walnuts

Vacaville's Alexis Koefoed is passionate about food that's good for the soul and good for the soil.

Koefoed grows vegetables, herbs and olives, and raises free-range chickens on her family's 55-acre certified organic farm in Pleasants Valley. Her seven breeds of heritage chickens, ranging from Rhode Island Reds to Delawares to Silver-Laced Wyandettes, produce eggs that sell out quickly at area farmers' markets

"I can't keep up with the demand," says Koefoed, who sells produce at the Vacaville Farmers Market on Saturdays and the Napa Farmers Market on Tuesdays.

This is the Soul Food Farm, home of Alexis Koefoed, her engineer husband, Eric, and their three children, ages 19, 16 and 13.

"Working with nature, farming with nature" is what it's all about. In keeping with her animal conservationist and sustainable food passions, Koefoed has led the slow food movement in Solano County for the past year. The Solano County chapter of Slow Food joined with the Morningsun Herb Farm to host "Tomato Day" in August, with proceeds going toward sending a farmer in a developing country to the international Slow Food movement conference later this year in Turin, Italy.

The Koefoed family bought the old Christopher Ranch four years ago, moving here from Vallejo. "We raised our family for 10 years in Vallejo," Koefoed said. "When I heard the old Christopher ranch was for sale, I gave my husband no peace until we bought it. We lived in a trailer until we built the house."

The farm is anchored by two original barns, built with first-growth redwood and dating to the late 1800s.

They now lease part of the property to Ted Fuller of Davis, owner of Highland Hills Farms, which specializes in grass-fed beef. He raises heritage animals, including Scottish Highland cattle, Dorset lambs and red wattle pigs, which he sells at San Francisco and Berkeley farmers' markets.

"It's a perfect relationship, farming with nature," Koefoed said. "The free-range chickens eat the bugs from the cattle droppings and aerate the soil."

Koefoed grew up in the Danville countryside. Her father, an engineer, and her mother, from Peru, instilled in her a passion for the land.

Now married to an engineer ("Eric helps out on the farm whenever he can, but I try not to ask too much of him"), Alexis is happier on the farm in rural Vacaville than in a city. Vacaville exudes a safe environment "and is a good place to raise the family. A farm calms you down and releases tension. I think we're a better family for living on the farm."

Thalassa Skinner, a partner in Common Greens of Napa, which operates farmers markets in Vacaville and Napa, praised Koefoed for her "passion for the land and locally grown, organic food."

"She is locally minded and environmentally driven," Skinner said. "Soul Food Farm is a farm with an absolutely true soul. Alexis lives and breathes her work, as she is dedicated to doing the right thing environmentally, ethically, flavor-fully inside and out. She and her family live on a stretch of land in Vacaville that allows her to raise happy organic chickens and the bulk of her work at this time (at the market) is in their egg-laying prowess."

Koufoed plans to expand her chicken project from 700 to 1,500, and launch an olive oil company, "Terra Sole," with her sister. They will begin harvesting olives next year. Other plans call for opening the farm for educational tours, lectures, dinners and chef demonstrations.

Right now, she's busy selling basil, heritage tomatoes and eggs at the farmers' markets.

Area residents also can buy eggs and other produce directly from her farm. She usually posts a sign welcoming business Thursdays through Sundays.

To get to the Soul Food Farm from east or west-bound Interstate 80, take the Pena Adobe exit, turn left on Cherry Glen Road and right on Pleasants Valley Road. The farm is about a mile from the Cherry Glen Road exit.

Item Special Note

Read the following carefully for important information.

• Tour will be on Saturday August 11th, 18th or 25th 2007, to be mutually agreed. Alternate dates anytime in 2007 would be considered. Just ask. Farmers Market, however, is only open on Tuesdays and Saturdays year round.
  

• Lunch will be at the Ferry Building Marketplace. Your choice of locations. Cost of lunch not included in auction item. Lots of GREAT places to eat.
  

• Cost of Ferry Boat round trip passage ($280) from Vallejo is included in auction item.

Approximate day schedule:

• 8:30 AM. Meet at the Vallejo Ferry.
• 9:00 AM. Leave by Ferry for San Francisco.
• 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Tour the Market with Alexis and Mario.
  
• 1:00 PM to 3:00pm. Lunch with your friends on your own at one of the delightful Marketplace restaurants, deli's or food stands. Time for shopping.
  
• 3:00 PM. Last round up for questions for Alexis or Mario or for special requests or shopping.
• 4:00 PM. Return to Vallejo by Ferry.
• 5:00 PM. Arrive in Vallejo.

• Auction winner should contact Joy Warren, organizer and scout, to arrange tour. Phone number given at close of auction.

Royal Visit to the Ferry Building

The Royal Visit to Equity Office's Ferry Building on Monday, November 7 increased the worldwide recognition of the Marketplace as an artisan food destination. "The phone call came to our office in late August," said Ferry Building senior property manager Mary Hunter. "Matthew Goudeau, Mayor Gavin Newsom's chief protocol officer, explained, in hushed tones, that parties representing His Royal Highness, were interested in hosting an event at the Ferry Building and to expect a phone call shortly from the city's British Consulate." A few days later, representatives from the Royal Staff arrived at the Ferry Building, including The Royal Highnesses Private Secretaries and the British Consulate. Members of Scotland Yard, US Secret Service, San Francisco Police Department as well as the Mayor's Officer of Protocol also attended. The group discussed with the Equity Office building team how the Ferry Building might figure into the royal visit. The group then went on a building tour to discuss security concerns, points of interest and feasible space for the event. After the tour, the Prince's Private Secretary exclaimed that the Ferry Building was perfect for the planned agenda. The mission of the Marketplace, to be a celebrated source of local, sustainable food, would fit perfectly with the ethos of the Prince’s visit – a focus on organic farming and environmental concerns. A phone call a day later confirmed that all parties agreed that the Ferry Building's grand hall would be the perfect venue for His Royal Highness's luncheon and official keynote speech. On Monday, November 7, Equity Office's Regional Sr. Vice President Mark Geisreiter and Ferry Building Communications Specialist, Jane Connors met the Royal Party at approximately 12:50 pm at the entrance to the Ferry Building's back plaza. "The roar of the crowd indicated the Royal Party had arrived. After a quick walk through the crowd on the back plaza, Charlotte Schultz introduced Mark and myself to the Royal Couple" said Ms. Connors. The Prince immediately asked, "Where are the food stalls?" The Prince and the Duchess were able to connect with several of the merchants in the Marketplace, including: Frog Hollow Farm, I Prefert Di Boriana, Far West Fungi, Prather Ranch Meat Company, Recchiuti Confections, Stonehouse Olive Oil and The Gardener. At each store the Prince was able to engage in conversation about products and farming practices. At the end of the Marketplace tour Mark Geisreiter bid farewell and offered the Prince a pictorial history book of the Ferry Building inscribed by the author Nancy Olmstead (granddaughter of famed landscape architect Frederick Olmstead). The Prince remarked on how impressed he was with the historic restoration and the sustainable standards set forth in the Marketplace. Mark Geisreiter, the consummate dealmaker, took this opportunity to offer His Royal Highness a kiosk at the Marketplace that would feature His Royal Highness's line of organic food products – Duchy Organics. The Prince eyes brightened and he exclaimed "Really? Could we? Here is my Private Secretary's card. I'd love to have a shop here. Where could we do it?" Looks like a consummate Equity Office dealmaker has struck a royal deal.