The Original Farmers Market - Twilight Savings Time Mon-Fri 5-9pm!

"Early Bird Gets the Worm" has always been a foreign concept that I understood only in theory.  For whatever subconscious reason, I am perpetually and ridiculously late to almost everything - as if I had an 'off clock' gene hardcoded into my DNA that will not allow me to observe time like regular people do, every day. 

On special occasions, however, I will miraculously go against the grain.  Last night was one of those 'blue moon' nights, where I actually arrived at The Grove for dear friend Bicycletta's birthday dinner 20 minutes early.  Looking to kill time (and get validation for parking :P) without being tempted to blow money I don't have clothes/shoe shopping - I headed over to Farmers Market to browse for snacks or produce / fruit to bring home. 

The Original Farmers Market is one of my favorite places in LA - the vibe for some reason reminds me of an open air market in Hawaii, very laid back and full of fun finds.  Though Sunday is by far my favorite day to hit up local farmers' markets, I love The Original Farmers Market for the fact that it's a permanent fixture, open 7 days a week for your produce / foodie retail therapy needs. 

And last night, my love of the place rose to a whole new level when I happened to spot a flyer by the entrance that introduced me to the "Twilight Savings Time" Specials (offered Mon-Fri 5-9pm) at select restaurants and merchants in the market!  I love a good deal, and deals on good eats at my fav places are even better!

Until May 20, 2011, a fairly long list of participating restaurants are offering deals from discounts or free drinks / discounted appetizers with meal purchases, and merchants are putting out special offers like 10%-25% off purchases.
See the images of the flyer below for details!

Some of my favorite vendors are included, like Monsieur Marcel (25% off store label goods including wine).  I could spend hours at the eclectic little store, which offers gourmet foods, wines, spices, jams, teas, truffle butters, chocolates and cheeses from around the world - in exquisite bottles, jars and beautiful packages - some of which is hard to find at any other shop in the city.  Paulette macarons are also sold here!  M. Marcel also offers store label spices, mushrooms, preserves, jams with original flavors like raspberry jalapeno and orange papaya, olives, nut spreads and sweet and savory snacks.

This time around, I took advantage of the 25% discount and got a tin of store label porcini mushrooms, and a jar of guava jam.  I was excited to see that Saltistry artisan infused sea salts, which come in handy pillbox samplers were available - and couldn't resist snapping up the "Classic Sampler"  which includes "genmaicha", "smoked chili" and "lemon thyme" salts.  Yes, it was a splurge at $24.95, but I did afterall get discounts on the other store label goods.  And after sniffing all the 'tester' ceramic cups of NoMU spices (no MSG, additives, preservatives or artificial flavours!), I had to take the One-for-All rub home.

Anyways, that's not all, folks - beyond the deals, don't forget to enter the sweepstakes for chance to win grand prize of $500 in Farmers Market certificates as well as numerous other Farmers Market related prizes (fill in entry form at participating vendors)!

On top of all this, I saved on parking with validation at Monsier Marcel for my purchases (giving 2 hours free parking - so I ended up only have to pay $3 for the third hour).

So, my trip to The Grove has reaffirmed opposing concepts for me - being early did get me the 'worm', but at the same time, I learned that I would be fine to maintain my own pace - as you don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn to get great deals at the Farmers' Market, the best deals are at "Twilight" when I can stroll through at a leisurely pace after work!

Will definitely plan to be back, often, over the next few months!

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The Original Farmers Market
6333 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Ph: 323.933.9211     

Website: farmersmarketla.com
Twitter:  twitter.com/Farmersmarketla
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