Food Paparazzi

It's been awhile since I've been to the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market, so this morning with the sun shining bright, I ventured across the bay for some local sustainable shopping. Who else was there? Why, it's celebrity chef, cookbook author, "Iron Chef" competitor Elizabeth Falkner.

Falkner rose to fame specializing in desserts, with many of her creations satisfying the sweet tooth of patrons at her restaurant, Citizen Cake. Her cookbook, Demolition Desserts, is a bonanza of chocolate and more. But in the last few years she's focused on the savory as well, and earlier this year opened the widely anticipated Orson Restaurant in SOMA, a grand space that Falkner has used as a backdrop to her Iron Chef-like culinary creations. (The approach has received mixed reviews; some people loving the creativity while others feeling lost. I have to say, I have yet to visit her Orson Restaurants although I've been to Citizen Cake years ago and she does make a mean brownie.)

I spotted Falkner at one of the fruit stands that was overflowing with fall-time pears and apples. I think I saw in the plastic bag she was carrying some crab apples. Maybe for tonight's desserts at Orson?