Chocolate Bundle of Delight

For several years now, I have frequented the farmer's market at Wooster Square in New Haven. For anyone unfamiliar with the Elm City, home of Yale University, the Erector Set and the hamburger and the best pizza in America, Wooster Square is the city's Little Italy (although arguably the entire region, having one of the heaviest concentrations of Italian-Americans in the nation, is one giant Little Italy).

The Farmer's Market on DePalma Court is a delight. Every Saturday (every other in winter), growers from throughout the state arrive to sell locally raised beef and pork, "happy" eggs, as my wife calls them, honey, maple syrup and all manner of produce. depending on the season.

But perhaps the biggest delight of any trip to the market is a stop at Sono Bakery's table of pastries, pies, breads and other yummies. My favorite is the chocolate bundle, a decadently flaky puff pastry filled with chunks of semi-sweet chocolate and topped with sugar crystals. For a serious chocoholic like myself, it's close to heaven on earth.

As you would expect this time of year, the pickings were pretty slim today: some organic garlic, greens at Two Guys from Woodbridge, potatoes, frozen pork and beef. But the turnout was still heavy, with long lines for eggs and fresh milk.

One of the longest waits was at Sono. After buying my eggs and Romaine lettuce (a must for my daughter's school lunches), I along with about dozen others stood shivering in a stiff breeze and temperatures in the mid-20s, patiently waiting for our bundles of sweet goodness. After a stop at the fish store for arctic char, I arrived home to devour my bundle in the kitchen.

The perfect ending to a perfect Saturday morning.