ABOUT US
Patty Pan started serving tamales at Seattle-area farmers’ markets back in 1997. The local foods movement grew and our business grew along with it. Over time we developed strong symbiotic relationships with the farmers who are our friends and neighbors at the markets, shaping our menu around their surpluses and their growing seasons.
At the beginning of 2013 we became a worker-owned cooperative: a democratic, collaborative workplace where we share responsibility, successes, and challenges. In 2014 we bought a building in Shoreline where we built a commercial kitchen with an adjacent dining space for monthly community dinners. Along the way we’ve diversified our business model, supplying our products to likeminded grocery stores and catering large and small events. For us business isn’t just business: it’s also a way to sustain ourselves while doing good work and challenging ourselves daily to shop, cook and eat with integrity.
MEET THE OWNERS
LITERATURE
In addition to masterminding various food-vending ventures, Devra Gartenstein, Patty Pan's founder, has somehow found time to author several books.
Cavemen, Monks and Slow Food
Subtitled A History of Eating Well, this book tells the story of our relationship with food. Starting with our earliest ancestors, who improved their diets using tools and fire, it traces the long history of ways we have changed our food, and ways our food has changed us. It provides a long range perspective on the question of why we tend to have so much trouble making sensible food choices even when we have a basic understanding of what it means to eat well.
You can get a copy of Cavemen, Monks and Slow Food at the market booth and on Amazon as a paperback and on Kindle.
The Accidental Vegan
You don't have to be vegan to eat vegan food, just like you don't have to be Thai to eat Thai food. There are many good reasons to eat fewer meat and dairy products, from health to carbon footprint, and this cookbook takes a laid back approach to helping you learn a range of easy, satisfying meat-and-dairy-free recipes.
Buy The Accidental Vegan today!
Local Bounty
Organized by season, Local Bounty offers a year-round cornucopia of ideas for bringing out the best in fresh, local ingredients. Inspired by Seattle's markets and Western Washington farmers, this buffet of straightforward recipes will inspire you to try new fruits and veggies, and re-experience familiar ones.
Buy Local Bounty today!
