Enter the Fair

Chef Cathal Armstrong’s wine bar and market, Society Fair, is my fantasy food trip down the rabbit hole of “epicurean delights.”

“Love thy Butcher.” From fish to fowl, the butchery at Society Fair has nearly every meat  product one can imagine- even those that can make most of us a little queasy: whole chickens, eggs,  organic turkey, squab and quail, antelope and boar, suckling pig and goat, cooking fats such as duck, lard, clarified butte, head cheese, blood sausage,  and of course, innards and offal ( liver, tripe, kidneys, brain)

“Curds and whey, toe of Gummy Frog – you never know what magic you might find at the Society Fair Market.”  The market features homemade cheeses, pickles, curds, yoghurt and puff pastries, as well as sandwiches made to order like the Andouille sausage with etouffee on potato roll or lamb shoulder with lemon yoghurt and spinach on flatbread.

“Fairy cakes and donuts…”  Baguettes, ciabatta, challah, foccacia, nicoise sour olive, Old Town sour, potato rosemary, fresh hot chocolate, almond and cheese croissants, naan, bagels….more and more and more still. Fluffy cakes and sweet treats come from the Majestic and Restaurant Eve. Below is a recipe for buttermilk tarts, created by Society Fair’s own, Nathan Hatfield.

“Baguette in hand, stroll over to our wine bar…” and meet the “Big Bad”…cheese of course, which is a board composed of meat, cheese and other SF favorite nibbles. “The Cheese Touch” for those in a cheesier mood unites a selection of  cow, goat, sheep, blue and…stinky? And zee wine. The Bodegas Pujanza Rioja from Laguardia, Spain off the wine menu immediately caught my eye:  sweet-n-sour cherry,cranberry,mushrooms,roasted chestnuts,modern, and claret-esque. And with 120 win selections, there is certainly room for other winners.