Fresh from the Farmers Market: Chef Penny Stanley

Usually Monday is a day off for a professional chef, but for Penny Stanley, a professional private chef to the stars, it's just the first day of the week.

"I'd love to talk to you, but I've got fish in the car," said Stanley when I approached her for an interview. "I just ran back because I forgot the corn."

I'd been watching Stanley leap from one stall to another, touching, squeezing and smelling. She just always seems to be thinking, or deciding what she was going to do with an ingredient that surprisingly appeared that week at the market.

"I'm going to use these ears for a spicy corn soup," said Stanley. "First I grill the whole cob and then cut the kernels off. It will be like a pizole, but with fresh corn."

Stanley is the owner of Sunstan Epicure, a private catering company where she is the personal chef to a list of private clients.

"I'm a huge farmers market shopper," said Stanley. "As a chef, it's important for me to know where my food is coming from. I also know my clients can taste the difference when I buy stuff from a grocery store."

Stanley began her culinary career at an early age where one of her chores was taking turns cooking dinner for her family of seven.

"Cooking became a natural progression for most of my life," said Stanley. "I can't say that I knocked out some great meals for my family, but I did learn to get dinner to table on time."

Stanley became a flight attendant for Pan American Airlines and during that time the attendants received training from Le Cordon Bleu, the esteemed French culinary school in Paris.

"You know, back in the good old days of air travel when people got dressed-up to fly?" Stanley reminisced. "We were offered a very generous gift of continued culinary education from Le Cordon Bleu, so I took it. When I wasn't flying, I was learning how to cook. It was an ongoing and adventurous education."

Although Stanley no longer works for the airlines she still does continue to travel and is always grateful to come back to Los Angeles.

"We have a cornucopia of ingredients so readily available at our markets," said Stanley. "We have fresh, we have variety and we have lots of it. It's a great city to cook in and I love to cook at home for a house filled with family and friends. It's one of life's greatest treasures."

Stanley showed me a very long list of items she purchased from the market. Most of it was for her clients, but of course for her own kitchen at home. She explained how each person develops their own rapport with the vendors and develops routines.

"I have my own names for the farmers and their stands," said Stanley. "I know them as Pete's seafood, Vickie's oranges, the Vietnamese veggies and that guy at the cheese truck. Luckily the stands are always positioned at the same place and once you become familiar you can fly through this market if you have to."

The West Hollywood market on Monday's is the perfect source for Stanley to stock up ingredients for the start of the week. Here she finds all of the staples such as fruit, vegetables and fresh fish.

"There's no replacement for the farmers markets," said Stanley. "Farm fresh is as good as it gets and this market in Weho is one of the best and it makes me feel happy to be a part of it."

The West Hollywood Farmers Market is held every Monday (rain or shine) from 9 a.m to 2 p.m. It is held at Plummer Park, 1200 N. Vista Street, West Hollywood, CA 90069.

This August the market celebrates its 24 year anniversary. It is in the North Parking Lot next to the tennis courts. Parking is limited, so allot time and be patient. Information for the market may be obtained from Beth Smith, the market manager at 323-848-6534.

David De Bacco is a writer living and celebrating life in Los Angeles. He has worked for some of the world's most famous chefs and restaurateurs, and along the way he became a little savvy about food and wine. He has published articles and cookbooks for the Shibata Publishing Co. in Tokyo and is a contributing writer for Edge Publications. He is also the creator of the Cookin with Mama blog, a meeting place to share recipes from our mothers.