Michael’s chef-owner Michael McCarty has had more than 30 years to fine-tune relationships with farmers, and his connections were certainly on display at the Santa Monica Farmers Market (and on the plate) for his latest Market Meet-Up. Once a month, McCarty leads a pack of people through the bustling market while executive chef Mikey Stern forages raw materials. Then he directs proceedings back down the Promenade to the sunlit patio of his iconic restaurant, where he holds court while Stern prepares two market-driven dishes. On November 10, the day that they invited me to the Meet-Up, both dishes incorporated parsnips from Weiser Farms. The first dish that Stern made featured caramelized Nantucket bay scallops, blanched Bloomsdale spinach, parsnip puree and Mangalitsa pork belly lardons. McCarty said their modern riff on clam chowder was inspired by the origin of the sweet scallops.

The Michaels developed a very good seasonal dish, but what really piqued my interest was the Mangalitsa. McCarty passed around an iPad with a photo of the woolly beasts, which are born in Virginia and grown from piglets in New Jersey, a fact that gave me a brief, fleeting burst of state pride. McCarty said this strange animal is “the Wagyu or Kobe of pork,” best used for prosciutto, belly and lard. Why are they furry? As McCarty said, “A lot of things happen in the field at night.”

Dose of Vitamin P spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.