All of Cap’n Mike’s sandwiches are served open faced on Acme Sourdough with homemade cream cheese spread. They all feature slices of Cap’n Mike’s premium fish, available next door at Cap’n Mike’s Holy Smoke. Sadly, Mike Hiebert and wife Sally were on vacation in Switzerland, but the people manning the booth were still friendly. A dry erase board listed the day’s four offerings, which included Northwest Style Red Lox or Extra Smoky Red Lox with thin sliced red onion and a fat slice of tomato; and Cold Smoked Sliced Sturgeon with lemon, capers and pickled red onion.

We went for Option #4: Albacore Tuna Lox ($10) with silky sliced albacore, discs of roasted golden beet, toasted walnuts and thin shaved pickled red onion. All sandwiches are available finished with an optional sprinkle of Eatwell Farm lavender salt. Of course we got that sprinkle, and it added to the aroma.

Aidells

Bruce Aidells founded Aidells Sausage Company in 1983, and has been selling sausages for all the years I’ve been coming to the San Francisco farmers market, even before it moved down the street.

My father ordered a sandwich of the Maple & Smoked Bacon Breakfast Link – chicken, turkey and bacon, flavored with maple sugar and sweet potatoes.

Eatwell Farm

Eatwell Farm specializes in lavender, including lavender salts and lavender products. They also sell bunches of wheat, which I’m guessing are decorative.

Roli Roti Gourmet Rotisserie

Thomas Odermatt parks his silver truck on the east side of the Ferry Building. Rotisseries turn Rows of Sonoma Select Free Range Chickens from Fulton Valley Farm. Juices from the bronzed birds drip down on the potatoes, adding to the flavor. On the bottom right spit, they were cooking pork knuckles. Sadly, they weren’t ready yet.

It was far from lunch time, but I couldn’t resist ordering a Roli Combo ($6), a juicy quarter-chicken with a side of addictive rosemary-roasted potatoes. A lime wedge added some acidic bite to the proceedings.

The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market has become so popular that it’s a grind to be there much longer than an hour. This is especially true in the summer, when the Ferry Building is swamped with tourists. Still, the market remains a can’t miss San Francisco dining opportunity that’s worth an even higher level of aggravation to experience.