Pizza & Espresso For Breakfast: Sam Rogers
how to shop strategically at the Farmers Markets, the LA Pizza Alliance, and more...
Good Tidings Pizza Tourists!
Pizza & Espresso for Breakfast is an interview series that explores the philosophy of sprezzatura — the effortless charm and quiet struggles behind craft, entrepreneurship, and travel. Discussed among friends with whom we love to share a slice.
This month’s guest is SAM ROGERS, from Sam Loves the Market! Below you’ll find her guide on how to strategically shop at the farmers market.
But first a quick note…
This past week, I went to the LA Pizza Alliance held at LaSorted’s in Chinatown. The pizzerias of Southern California were to unite for one day and make pizza for those in need.
It started around this time last year as a response to the LA fires. Pizza makers coming together to feed displaced Angelenos. I was in a weird, tender place back then and wrote about it here….
Coming back this year felt different: Bigger. More grounded. North of 50 pizza makers showed up and there were two different shifts of people making each other’s dough, cutting, putting pizza in boxes, drinking beer, giving hugs.
I found my anchor spot by the wood-fired oven with my friends Aydan, Christian, and Thomas. David Turkell, who produced the event, ensured that we could “Pedro Pascal” it and he would hold my hand if I was feeling anxious (Pedro and I share social anxiety) – the “Crazy Bois” had my back. And you know…just knowing that was enough.
The pizza family is real. Yes, it can be competitive. Craft usually is. But underneath it all is a deep sense of care. I saw old friends. I made new ones. I left smelling like smoke, my face sunburned by the oven, and feeling steadier than when I arrived. That’s the thing about pizza. It gathers people.
And now — let’s move on to our lovely farmer liaison! Here’s a quote I pulled after asking her about the public perception that farmers markets are “too expensive.”
Farmers’ market produce is different. Using lettuce as an example: it’s grown in its ideal temperature, often interplanted with other crops, in soil where health actually matters. It isn’t pumped full of chemicals to make it grow fast and huge (which is mostly just water weight). It’s healthier and far more nutrient-dense—which means it will last longer in your fridge than people expect. These are the things we forget to consider when we talk about price.
- Sam Rogers
When I first met Sam Rogers at the farmers market, I squealed with excitement like for a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time. I already knew her name, having read about her in Bon Appétit, and it quickly became clear why. Sam is quietly responsible for some of the best produce moving through Los Angeles kitchens.
She has spent most of her adult life as a produce liaison, working closely with small family farms and thoughtfully matching them with chefs based on menus, dishes, and real kitchen needs. With a background in farming on both the East and West Coasts, she brings a rare combination of hands-on knowledge and intuition to her work.
Following Sam around the farmers market is a joy. She’ll stop abruptly, hand you something, and insist you try it. A fresh winter carrot that “loves the cold” and crumbles crisply in your mouth, the fresh and mineral-y Bloomsdale spinach that feels “oh so bouncy”, a peach variation (you’ve never heard of…or tasted) so fragrant and plump.
Farmers greet her with huge smiles and warmth. Sam is also a generous and insightful writer. If you’re a chef, or simply someone who wants to understand what quality produce really looks and tastes like, you can check out her Substack here.
I asked her a few questions….
INTERVIEW WITH SAM ROGERS:
Ines: If you could throw a dream pizza party, tell me about it…where would it be?
Sam: A farm on Orcas Island, Washington—right on the water—though, somehow, all my favorite Southern California farmers and ranchers have magically found their way there. There’s a DIY pit on the beach. I’m imagining full old school Chainsaw era– Karla’s aesthetic is my perfect dining space. Dough wife —Courtney Storer. Ines, your topping the pies with Leo (her son). Husband on grilling veg. Helen from Helen’s Wines is overflowing wine glasses. Meats from Peads and Barnett and Autonomy Farms. Sophia and Josh from Tutto are helping Max. Really relaxed, but fun– also theatrical but never precious. But also a little nautical?
Ines: I’m in…. Favorite travel tradition?
Sam: Antique markets—
Ines: Has travel ever changed the way you approach your work?
Sam: Of course. America—especially Southern California—has a very particular, and often polarizing, relationship with food. On one end, there’s the hyper-local, organic-label–obsessed crowd; on the other, the big-box, one-stop-shop devotees.
But in so many other countries and cultures, people are simply passionate about food and about making it together. It’s deeply ingrained. There’s a familial love for a tomato—or even an onion—that you don’t really find here, organic or not.
So the question becomes: how do we encourage that kind of love? That kind of perspective on food? Because neither of the polarized approaches we’ve adopted in the U.S. is really working.
Ines: You work closely with chefs, schools, and farmers. Is there a moment you see again and again…like when someone tastes a piece of produce and suddenly understands why seasonality or edible gardens matter?
Sam: It’s always in the moment when someone tries something that has been specially grown by a farmer who has been doing it for generations—grown in the perfect conditions for that variety. Take an avocado, for example. We all think we know what an avocado tastes like, but have you ever tried a Nabal avocado from Laura of J.J. Lone Daughter at peak season, at peak ripeness? Because it will change how you understand flavor.
My own switch to this world happened on a friend’s farm in upstate New York. I had been eating bagged arugula from who-knows-where my whole life. Then I tried my friend’s arugula, straight from the garden, and it completely changed the trajectory of my life.
I probably owe my son’s life to that fucking bite of arugula.
Ines: What is a cheese that describes your personality?
Sam: I eat so much effing goat cheese (shot out to Drakes.. The G.O.A.T). I want to pretend its something much more esoteric and interesting,, but I effing love chevre specifically— and I love flavored chevre. I crave it, I am it.
Ines: Let’s talk Sprezatura…What’s something you do that looks effortless to clients and friends, but actually takes a ton of work?
Sam: Relationships. So much of what I do is maintaining, building, and nurturing long-standing relationships with farmers, chefs, ranchers, and growers. These people have become family, which makes what they create that much more meaningful to me.
Many people assume this work is simply about understanding seasons, but it goes far deeper than that. There are microclimates, nuanced farming practices, and countless small details that shape how food is grown and how farmers and chefs become who they are. Knowing those details—and the people behind them—is the real work.
THE SAM ROGERS’ FARMERS MARKET METHOD:
Before you even leave the house, take inventory of what you already have “in stock.” Knowing what’s in your fridge and pantry helps you shop smarter and avoid doubling up on things you forgot you owned.
Set your budget. Stick to it. Farmers’ markets are often dismissed as “too expensive,” but the real issue is not having a plan. This limits overspending driven by excitement and prevents waste—while still leaving room for that basket of mulberries you’ve always wanted to try, or the cheese that quietly upgrades every breakfast. Give yourself a budget the same way you would at the grocery store. Because so much of the farmers’ market runs on cash—or Venmo or Cash App—it’s easy to lose track, lose focus, and overspend. Come in with a number. Make it work.
