Slow foodies, rejoice: Pike Place hosts first Artisan Food Festival

With all the buzz over the farm-to-table movement, it's obvious what Pike Place Market needed to do and what it should have done a long time ago, says Marlys Erickson, executive director of the Market's foundation: Launch a slow-food extravaganza.

So this weekend, Pike Place Market will host a two-day Artisan Food Festival, focusing on local food and its purveyors, with the ambitious goal of turning the fair into one of the biggest annual food fests in Seattle.

Organizers are modeling it after the famed Salone del Gusto, the food festival in Torino, Italy, presented by the Slowfood organization.

The Market's food festival will have about 50 local artisan chocolate, coffee, cheese, bread and meat vendors, 23 wineries and about a dozen chef demos, in addition to two stages of live entertainment and a beer garden.

The event should highlight the best things about the Market — the food and the food purveyors, says Erickson, and this "festival marries nicely with the mission of the Market."

But the replacement of the annual summer craft festival with the artisanal fest has angered other kinds of vendors. The craft festival "is always a record-breaking weekend for me every year," said glass artist Kyle Kinsey, a participant in the last seven festivals.

Artists weren't invited this year. And for artists like Kinsey, who have year-round licenses to sell at the Market, this weekend means business as usual at their stalls instead of prime real estate out at the street festival.

The craft festival, officially known as the Street Festival, was started in 1971 by the Pike Place Merchants Association. But five years ago, the association announced it didn't want to run the festival anymore, Erickson says, so her foundation stepped in to keep it alive.

Festival proceeds go to the food bank, clinic, seniors and other human-resource services in the market.

In recent years, foundation officials believed the festival needed to be updated and contemporary. The slow-food movement was a natural theme for a market that features so many farmers and artisan food producers, foundation officials said.

Established local brands such as Estrella Family Creamery, Salumi Artisan Cured Meats and Theo Chocolate will be featured along the brick-paved street in front of the market, with samples and food for sale.

Local chefs from nearby Le Pichet, Steelhead Diner and Café Campagne will hold cooking demos.

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com