Last Friday evening, as he put the finishing touches on hundreds of pluot puff pastry tarts and strawberry turnovers with brie and thyme, along with giant sheets of peach focaccia, Jason Cosentino finally took a minute to consider the sheer insanity of what he’s gotten himself into.
He was preparing for one of his pop-ups at J&P Cosentino Family Farm in San Jose, along with his mom Janine Cosentino. The farm has been in the family since it was founded in 1945; Jason’s grandfather Phil Cosentino, who had been running it since 1970 with his wife Jean (they are the J&P in the name) handed it down to their daughter Janine and her sisters Kari Cosentino and Mary Forman a few years ago.
With that passing of the torch came some new ideas for how to develop the historic urban farm near Highway 85 and Camden Avenue, which sells the produce from its hundreds of fruit trees at a farm stand at the edge of the property. It’s one of the last remaining orchards from a time when Silicon Valley was an agricultural Mecca known as the Valley of the Heart’s Delight, but the sisters knew it needed to be brought into the modern era—and Jason had plenty of ideas.
One of them was the jams, honeys, dried fruits, scone mixes and other culinary items he has been creating for sale at the stand using the farm’s produce. Another was the pop-ups, at which Jason—a seasoned chef who grew up working on the farm, then went to culinary school and into fine dining before returning to make it his full-time passion, along with his mother and aunts—uses fresh fruit from the farm’s most recent daily harvests to create a menu of seasonal sweet and savory pastries. The Cosentino pop-ups began in 2021.
He does the pop-ups through the summer months and into fall, and while at the beginning they were mostly a smaller neighborhood affair, they exploded in popularity last summer after being visited by some social-media influencers, who brought their selfie sticks and introduced a whole new audience to the events.
Now, the prep for a Saturday pop-up starts on Wednesday, when the butters and honeys and syrups that will adorn the various pastries and breads get made. On Thursday, he and his mom mix every every sheet of dough by hand and put them in a bucket to prove.
But Fridays is when things really get crazy. Keep in mind that Jason is also harvesting fruit at the farm when he and Janine are not working in the large Scotts Valley industrial kitchen where they do their prep.
“I worked at the farm this morning ’til noon, then went straight from the farm to the kitchen. And then, yeah, we’ll be here until we’re done, which is usually around 9. Then it’s really get a good night’s rest, and get ready for a big day,” Jason said. “Tomorrow starts at 4:30 a.m., I wake up and go to the farm and pick for, you know, five hours. And then after I’m done picking, I set up for the pop-up.”
Then he works the grill, heating up his creations as they’re ordered and putting on any toppings. Items run around $10 or more each, and customers can take the food to go, but many prefer to eat them at the many tables that have been set up within the orchard. The popularity of the events, which run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. or until the items sell out, has meant that many family members and even some of their friends have been drafted to work the pop-ups.
“It’s definitely like a marathon,” said Kari Cosentino. “But we’ve gotten better at it. Those first few pop-ups where we had some big social media hits, we didn’t know how to handle the crowd as well. And now, I mean, we’re a well-oiled machine. I’m thankful for that. Like, when myself, Jason, my sister Mary, my sister Janine, when all four of us are here, we’ve got it. And we have a team of young ladies that are rock stars, you know—these teenagers who work for us, they know how to handle a high-stress environment. I would say that we’ve just gotten better at it. We know how to pace the week.”
The family’s 93-year-old patriarch Phil can usually be found sitting near Jason’s culinary set-up at the pop-ups, talking to his fans—and he does have fans. He’s proud of what his daughters and grandson have done, and he certainly doesn’t take any credit for the events.
“When they first started talking about it, I said ‘you got to be kidding,’” Phil admitted last Saturday. “I’d never heard of any such thing. ‘What the hell is a pop-up?’”
A number of people who took part in last weekend’s pop-up are farmstand regulars who live in the neighborhood or not too far away.
“It’s a community thing. It’s awesome. It brings the neighbors together,” said Brian Jones of San Jose, after ordering pastries. “We’ve lived in the neighborhood for 24 years, just a few blocks down from here. So we go on walks all the time by the fruit stand. We’ve bought, you know, honey and fruit, and we follow their Instagram posts all the time.”
Though the pop-ups are normally every two weeks, Jason will be holding a second consecutive one this Saturday, Aug. 24, featuring his loaded mixed stone fruit cobbler with Madagascar vanilla whipped cream, focaccia with basil pesto, sun gold tomatoes, and eggplant with confit garlic farm butter, as well as wood-fired guandilla peppers tossed in garlic oil, farm spice and pecorino cheese. The event will also feature special guest Chromatic Coffee, who will be offering their seasonal cold brew Heart’s Delight.
The latter is one of the farm stand’s growing list of partnerships with other local businesses. Patrizia Pasqualetti, gelato chef for Valley Fair’s Eataly, sources the peaches for her peach gelato from Cosentino Family Farm. Milk Belly Bakery in downtown San Jose uses Cosentino’s fruit in some of their own pastries. Devine Wine and Cheese makes peach toast with the farm’s peaches. The latest addition is the Bay Area pop-up Pop Nation, which will be picking up some of Cosentino’s fruit for their popsicles.
“It’s exciting,” said Kari of their new connections. “We’re a local business that, if it wasn’t for great word of mouth, we wouldn’t be around. We’re not in an easy-to-find spot. So other businesses promoting us, we’re happy to do the same in exchange.”
Back at the prep kitchen, Jason knows he has some more long hours ahead of him. But the thing is, he doesn’t mind at all.
“When I’m doing this, I’m not stressed, I’m not worried about anything,” he said. “I’m actually really happy. Because this is my passion. Food and farm is my passion. So I could cook all day, and not be tired. When I put in the focaccia, or if I’m doing tarts or crumble, when things come out and I see the outcome of it, I’m just so happy, because what makes me happy is bringing food to customers that’s going to make them happy. Food is love. Food makes happiness.”
This particular food also helps extend the farm’s selling season, which Kari said is vital to their survival—too many customers still think of them only as a summer fruit stand, when they need support through their fall, winter and spring cycles of produce to stay in business.
If the family was hoping the pop-ups would also promote the fruit at the stand, then Jessica Revino and her daughter Hazel Revino, sitting at the pop-up last Saturday with their friends Merav Branitzky and Netta Branitzky, would definitely consider them a success.
“You know, you Venmo for (the pop-up items), and then all of a sudden on the way out, she’s like, ‘Oh, we need strawberries and peaches,’ so that’s another Venmo,” said Jessica, gesturing to Hazel.
“You’re the one with the peaches,” said Hazel.
“I do love the peaches,” admitted Jessica. “You like the strawberries, The strawberries have never made it home — they get eaten from here to the house. We usually walk, and those strawberries are gone.”
The next J&P Cosentino Family Farm pop-up is Saturday, Aug. 24, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 15025 Carter Avenue San Jose. There will also be a pop-up on Saturday, Sept. 7, and farm tours on Sunday, Sept. 8, at 10 a.m., 11:15 a.m., and 12:30 p.m. For more information, menus and pricing, go to facebook.com/CosentinoFamilyFarm.
Source: www.mercurynews.com