The Saturday morning Farmers Market on East Washington Street (7:30am-noon) features locally grown produce, the choicest of meats, incredible coffee, amazing crafts, and some of the best breakfast in town. Matt Georges' 'Griddle Me This' food stand leads the traditional breakfast motif by serving pancakes, omelets, and stir-fries, while also cross-promoting another aspect of local community: cycling.
Stationed under a Kona-brand tent, 'Griddle Me This' is a two-to-three person operation, overseen by Matt Georges, who first conceived of the idea for a breakfast stand in January of 2011. "I wanted a project which could express my creativity through cooking. A friend of mine at the New Pioneer Co-op had a side business selling tarts at the Farmers Market. Through her, I was able to make the right contacts and was able to set up a stand for last year's Market.
"I saw a gap: there were no regular breakfast foods being served, only burritos and burgers; I feel that breakfast is really important: it starts people off on the right foot."
In addition to expressing his love for food, 'especially breakfast', Georges sought to represent another strong passion in his life, that of cycling. He cites Iowa City's The Broken Spoke, a bicycle retailer and repair shop, as being instrumental in '"getting [his] rig in shape", as they provided the Kona tent as well as preparing his bike to be able to haul all parts of the stand, from the tent to the food to the grills. It was also there where he found his main business partner and fellow flapjack-flipper, Pete Gustav-Hartley.
"I want to be able to show what's possible with a bicycle. People don't believe you can carry so much until they see it happening."
Georges makes sure that all of the ingredients of his meals are all natural, and to the best of his ability, local as well. "I do most of my shopping at the Farmers Market on Wednesday [5-7pm] to use on Saturday. Thus, my 'Market Omelet' is what it says it is. I also make sure that my syrup is natural as well, containing no corn syrup."
'Griddle Me This' and The Broken Spoke will be teaming up next week in celebration of Bike to Work Week (May 14th-18th), by providing a free lunch in front of The Broken Spoke, on Thursday, the 17th, from 11am-1pm.
So stop by Griddle Me This on Saturday and the delicious taste of community. If you cycle there, be sure to mention that to Matt Georges, as you will receive $1 off your meal, a deal he happily provides all summer long.
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