A Basque Treat Amid San Luis’ Farmers Market

The Thursday farmers market in San Luis Obispo is a hoot. For one thing, it’s a night farmers market, starting up about 6 p.m. when Higuera Street, one of the town’s main drags, is closed to traffic. But well before that, vendors are busy setting up bed-sized barbecues on street corners. Drifts of smoke and the scent of meat cooking over red oak--Santa Maria-style ‘que--get everyone a little hungry.

Come 6 p.m., it looks as if the entire town has turned out for a stroll and an orgy of street food. How could anyone resist? People sit on curbs eating ribs, handfuls of sugared popcorn or juicy plums and peaches.

This market is more than food, though. Booths proffer everything from Libertarian handouts to face painting and hippie jewelry. My favorite: Bible Quiz--Win Candy! Or the Bible IQ booth right next to a canopied stand offering massages. It’s come one, come all.

Farther down Higuera Street are the farmers selling old-fashioned peaches (think fuzz and that deep, sun-warmed taste), herb and lavender plants, heirloom tomatoes, freshly dug potatoes, fabulous dates and tender lettuces.

Some people around here make it a weekly tradition to shop for produce and either cook at home that night with friends or stop in at Le Fandango Bistro right in the midst of the hullabaloo. It’s just across from a fine wine shop called Central Coast Wines, which has a terrific selection of local wines, plus a tasting bar in back.

Le Fandango has a couple of sidewalk tables out front, and a chalkboard listing the day’s specials. Inside, the Basque flag hangs above the open kitchen, where chef Michel Olaizola turns out robust French Basque dishes. He came to look up a friend three years ago, went back to Paris to sell his restaurant there and then waited patiently for this space to be free. The bistro’s brick walls feature vintage black-and-white photos of Basque life.

What’s to eat? “Everything on the plate,” a beautiful platter of finely sliced serrano ham, paprika-tinged chorizo sausage, and lomo , or cured pork loin. It’s incredibly generous for $9.75. Shrimp and scallops Fandango style served in a terra-cotta cazuela or casserole is earthy and delicious. Use your bread to soak up the garlicky tomato-tinged juices.

Main courses include a duck confit that tastes like the real thing, seafood marmite (a melange of shrimp, mussels, scallops and fish cooked Basque style with fresh tomatoes, sweet basil, garlic and a little hot pepper), and roasted free-range chicken with a mess of red and green peppers and onions. For dessert, don’t pass up the gateau basque , a lovely low cake with a heart of almond-scented custard.

Le Fandango is a San Luis Obispo treasure, an authentic Basque bistro where the chef is always in.

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Le Fandango Bistro, 717 Higuera St., San Luis Obispo; (805) 544-5515. Open daily for dinner; Tuesdays to Saturdays for lunch. Dinner appetizers, $2.75 to $10.95; main courses, $9.95 to $18.95. Central Coast Wine, 712 Higuera St.; (805) 544-8761.