Where to shop in San Diego: Specialty Produce, Atlas Market & Siesel’s Meats

I finally broke down and went to Specialty Produce. My friend and colleague, Michele, had been telling me to go for over a year. I was on the hunt for salsify and a specific type of melon so drove to what is, essentially, old town to take a look. I didn’t find either of those items but bought a few really interesting things:  purple peppers, polar berries, asparagus lettuce. I bought some very interesting tomatoes that ARE supposed to be partially black and a type of bok choy I have not seen before. 

The produce in this place is out of this world. There were so many things I had NOT heard of and so many things I had-the meat/cheese selection was amazing and they had every variety of spice a person can want. I can tell that I will be there again.  Today’s visit got me thinking that it might be nice to post about Specialty Produce but also about Atlas Market and Siesel’s meats. 

With my addition to trying to cook all the things on the 1000 things list if I can’t find them to purchase, has lead me to need some rarer forms of meat.  Enter Siesel’s Old Fashioned Meats. They have venison, boar, antelope, and kangaroo.  You name it and it is red, they mostly have it. The beef selection is overwhelming.  I can’t even take Ivan, he would actually loose his mind.  I almost did and red meat is not such a thing for me. 

Next we have Atlas Market which Ivan discovered.  I really can’t begin to explain the draw but they have food from Eastern Europe/Middle East and Asia and, once again, things I don’t even know. I find myself standing in the checkout line asking people “Ah, what are you buying?  What it is if for? How do you cook it?  How do you spell the name of it?”.  While it is all overwhelming, I do think my favorite parts are all of the variations of Turkish delight, the bins of Pelmini and the frozen dumpling section. They also have a food court and while I have tried very few things there, I have tried the Korean fried chicken (another of the 1000 things) and it is REALLY good.

A large number of the rarer ingredients I have needed can be found at one of these three places and even if you don’t buy anything, they are all three really fascinating to just go and see how many ingredients the world has that we know nothing about.