Sometimes, it’s not just serendipity. Sometimes it takes a friend to push and pull and tug—and make a firm date.

I love Farmer’s Markets, being introduced to the Saturday phenomenon for the first time in San Francisco thirteen years ago. Equaling it might not ever happen, but who knows. One has to try.

Inching along Castell Avenue, looking for a parking place, I begin to realize that the New Braunfels Saturday Farmer’s Market is a bigger deal than I anticipated. No wonder Kathleen insisted I be here.  

Krause’s Cafe

After a short five-minute walk, we open the door to Krause’s Café and look around for our friends.  We find them in the biergarten at a long table, made for large groups holding frothy mugs on high—singing. Laughing. Cooling fans whir overhead. Blooming bougainvillea climb the screened-in area beyond our table.

“Eating outside is part of the Saturday Market experience,” I’m told.

The experience looks like it will be a good one, as the four of us peruse the menu, putting all healthy thoughts aside for the next hour. Kathleen opts for the smoked salmon board. Her husband leans toward the Eggs Benedict. Michael and I go for the rustic—Corned Beef Hash with fried eggs, and a meat lovers special, a Holzmacher Skillet with bacon, sausage, ham, potatoes, onions, peppers, cheese, topped with two eggs and served with a side of biscuits and sausage gravy—whew! We order House Made Brioche French Toast for the table.

As I said, we put healthy thoughts aside.

Smoked Salmon Board at Krause’s Cafe in New Braunfels

Eggs Benedict at Krause’s Cafe in New Braunfels

Holzmacher Skillet at Krause’s Cafe in New Braunfels

The New Braunfels Saturday Farmer’s Market

After indulging in breakfast, instead of heading for home and a nap, which I definitely need, we walk through the biergarten door into a foodie wonderland.  Fresh vegetables I expect, but there is so much more. Piles of fresh bread. Artisanal cheeses—they have labna, a Middle Eastern staple. I taste the proffered sample which is soft and velvety, a tangy cream cheese-like spread, “I’ll take it,” I say as I am handed another sample of horseradish-cheddar-pecan, “I’ll take one of those too.”

I nearly fall over with excitement as I see a table of micro-greens, almost impossible to find, even at Central Market; and black garlic. Feeling as though I have stepped through the gourmet looking glass, we walk from covered stall to covered stall. Eighteen-year-old balsamic vinegar. Lemon flavored avocado oil. Handmade gourmet chocolates. Turkey jerky.  Beef jerky.  Dried jalapeno sausage. Flavored whole-wheat pasta. All Texas grown. All Texas made.

There are arts and crafts vendors; grass-fed beef, chicken, eggs, and spice rubs. I sample ginger kombucha and regret not having a large container to fill—it’s delicious. And it is too bad I’m no longer hungry because the Saturday Market has an array of prepared foods for sale, many tables and benches for sitting and munching—and music. And roasted coffee beans.

We walk and sample and talk and fill our bags, and I am so glad I have a friend who knows what I like more than I do myself, and pushed and pulled and shoved—and insisted. Almost in my own backyard, I think this may become a monthly must do.

Krause’s Café

• 148 S Castell Ave,
• New Braunfels, TX 78130
• Phone: (830) 625-2807
• Open for Breakfast Lunch and Dinner
• Monday – Thursday: 7 a.m – 10 p.m.
• Friday: 7 a.m. – Midnight
• Saturday: 7 a.m. – Midnight
• Sunday: 8:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.

New Braunfels Farmer’s Market

• 186 S Castell Ave, New Braunfels, TX 78130
• (Behind Krause’s Café)
• Open Every Saturday 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Every Sunday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.