Harvest Market
Supremely Convenient Quality Food Stewarded by the Legendary Margaret Fox
by Holly Madrigal
Anyone who has walked through the doors of Harvest Market can tell you that there is something special about this place. It feels more creative than your traditional fluorescent lightbulb, anywhere USA stores that carpet the nation. Harvest harkens back to the mom-and-pop markets of the past, but with a decidedly modern-day twist. Natural light fills the store, solar panels create power, and exhaust heat from the coolers helps to warm the space. Curated groceries, beer and wine, pet supplies, home goods, and just about anything you need line the shelves. But what has put this market on the must-stop list of anyone who visits the coast? The food.
The Culinary Director of Harvest Market, Margaret Fox achieved legendary foodie status as a former Chef/Owner of Café Beaujolais in Mendocino Village. Having purchased the restaurant in 1977, the then 25-year-old set about serving distinctive breakfasts and lunches out of the yellow house on Ukiah Street. “Luckily, I didn’t have enough experience to even imagine how hard it would be, or I probably wouldn’t have done it. But Mendocino was different back then. It was a quiet and sleepy town,” says Margaret. “A good thing, because I could (and did) make mistakes, and no one paid much attention. But yes, it’s probably good that I didn’t know how much I didn’t know.”
Within a month, Café Beaujolais began serving dinner. Creativity and commitment to exceptionally good food eventually made it a culinary destination. Two cookbooks, Café Beaujolais and Morning Food, were published in 1984 and 1990 respectively, created with co-author John Bear. “I wrote those cookbooks by hand! That’s how long ago it was,” laughs Margaret. “And it was so quiet and rainy in the winters that I could devote the time.” (Margaret revised and republished Morning Food in 2006, re-testing all the recipes and updating the photos and design.)
When the time came for a new chapter, Margaret decided to sell Café Beaujolais. Her daughter was young, and Margaret relished having time to walk her to school and volunteer in her classroom. She did some business consulting and thought that she might end up doing something unrelated to food when Tom Honer, owner of Harvest Market, came calling and asked, “How would you like to be our Culinary Director?” “What does a Culinary Director do?” queried Margaret, and he replied, “I don’t know. We’ve never had one. You have to make that up yourself.” But Margaret loves a challenge, and she jumped right in.
Margaret enthuses, “Tom is a genius. He always had such a vision for what Harvest Market could be. His finger has been on the pulse of our community. Since I grew up with a hardworking, entrepreneurial father and knew from my personal experience what it takes to run a successful business, Tom’s energy just really resonated with me. He foresaw organic and embraced local farms way ahead of his time.”
Margaret developed many of the aspects that make Harvest what it is today. While the deli is her main focus, she also has significant influence in other parts of the store. Thanks to her Beaujolais breakfast past, she was a natural at baking. She developed new recipes for the bakery that achieved immediate popularity. Her buttermilk cinnamon coffeecake was already legendary, and she made it available at Harvest. Margaret developed several cookie recipes which customers have enjoyed for years. Now frozen cookie dough can be purchased to bake at home. Margaret also had an instrumental role in furthering the expansion of the cheese department that was initiated by former Department Manager, Julia Conway. “I was really lucky that Julia, local chef and caterer, had preceeded me, bringing her vast knowledge of cheese and educating customers about a broader range of products.”
The pandemic of this past year has required Harvest Market to make significant changes in how it operates in order to keep customers and employees safe. Dedicated entrance and exit doors were established, plexiglass barriers were installed between shoppers and clerks, directional arrows eliminated crossing paths in the aisles, and delivery and curbside pick-up all work to this end.
Margaret had to re-imagine how to continue providing the excellent food they had become known for. She explained, “Like the entire world, we were trying to figure out how to move forward.” The deli case and prepared salads and meals were able to continue with some minor adjustments. The extensive self-serve options, including the salad bar and olive bar, daily themed meals from Indian, Chinese, and Mexican cuisines, along with traditional comfort food and hot soups, had been a huge draw. Given the new safety protocols, all of this had to go.
“When I returned after the first stay at home orders, I was a little apprehensive, but our team adapted. We had to learn what people would feel comfortable with,” Margaret remembers. “Our customers still wanted good food, so we started to make more prepared items. We set up a whole grab-and-go case with full meals, salads, and breakfast. Although people were cooking at home rather than going out to restaurants, it’s always nice to have alternatives and variety, and not have to do all the work yourself.” The “Best of Harvest” case, where you can buy individual entrees or select from dishes such as creamy polenta with roasted squash, samosas, and grilled asparagus, continues to be very popular.
Challenge is a large part of what keeps Margaret creatively interested, and she’s also been inspired by her team’s talents. Their combined efforts have resulted in an experience for locals and visitors to the area that has garnered Harvest Market a very devoted group of customers. Harvest’s offerings are always evolving. Margaret and the deli staff love trying new recipes. “For example, one of our cooks experiments with Asian-influenced cuisine and sauces, and we’ve gotten enthusiastic responses,” she shares.
There are also aspects of Harvest Market that have not changed. Certain dishes are sacrosanct. “If we ever stopped offering our kale salad, there would be a revolution,” Margaret laughs. When asked if there have been dishes whose reception surprised her, she mentions a roasted sweet potato with a shallot and miso topping. “It sounds unusual but it’s so good. We cannot make enough of them. I’ve had people leave messages of love for that dish on my phone.” In normal times, Harvest caters parties and events, but this past holiday season, they doubled down on single-serving Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. They sold more than 70 full Thanksgiving dinners with roast turkey, green beans almandine, mashed potatoes, and lots and lots of homemade gravy, which made people happy.
The enhanced culinary aspect of Harvest Market has become a major draw over the years. “We want to make it accessible to people. I want everyone to be able to enjoy good food and not have to pay an arm and a leg for it. Such a cross-section of our community comes through our doors every day. We actually see people who visit the area year after year, and we’ve formed relationships with them,” adds Margaret. “And we love our locals. At the end of the day, we need and want all our customers to feel taken care of. And I love that we can provide that at this moment.”
The love shines through. There is a reason that Harvest Market’s vision has succeeded all these years. The dedication of the owners, the quality of the goods on offer, and most important, the wonderful frontline staff who keep us all fed and taken care of have set this local business apart. So next time you find yourself picking up an adult brownie (nothing taboo here, just perfectly decadent chocolate) or a buttermilk coffee cake from the bakery, add some sesame salmon or grab-and-go biscuits and gravy to your cart. As we continue to adjust to this new paradigm, some things will remain the same, like stopping at Harvest for more of that incomparable kale salad.
Harvest Market
Open daily 7am–9pm (hours subject to change)
171 Boatyard Drive Fort Bragg
(707) 964-7000 | HarvestMarket.com
Holly Madrigal is a Mendocino County maven who loves to share the delights of our region. She enjoys her work as the Director of the Leadership Mendocino program and takes great joy in publishing this magazine.
