Original Farmers Market groups build community one coffee at a time
By Bennett Graebner
Before the tourists arrive at the Original Farmers Market at Third Street and Fairfax Avenue, a group of regulars has already gathered around a table. They have been meeting here every Friday morning since the 1980s. This morning, donuts, cards, and small gifts sit among the coffee cups as they celebrate Gary Mosher’s birthday. Mosher is a longtime member of this group, known simply as The Table.
GARY MOSHER (right) celebrates his birthday with fellow members of The Table. From left: Saul Ilson, David Poland, and MC Gainey.
For Mosher, who has been through a series of personal losses in recent years, the weekly gathering has become an important part of his life. “I stumbled upon them and they just invited me in,” recalled Mosher.
He’s not alone. Nearly every morning, unofficial groups get together at the Original Farmers Market. Some have been meeting for years. Others for decades.
OLD GUY’S BREAKFAST founder AJ Johnson (right) greets friends Friday morning at the Original Farmers Market. From left: David Sobel, Bobby Kim, Kelvin Coze.
Among them is the “Tai Chi Five,” led by Jim Evering, which meets twice a week after morning exercises at Park La Brea before heading to the market for coffee and conversation. Despite the name, the group can draw as many as 20 people.
“It’s a legendary location for the Hollywood community,” said Andrew Marlowe, who belongs to a Wednesday crew known as the TFT Group or This F’n Town Group. “So, when we come here it’s a great chance to get together, but also a great chance to soak up history. But mostly it’s a chance to foster a community.”
For TFT regular Mark Burton, the market’s appeal stretches back to his childhood. He grew up coming to the Farmers Market and later brought his own children there.
“I would see the veterans having coffee,” Burton said “So it was like, ‘Oh, I’m here. I’ve arrived at this group.’”
MEMBERS OF THE TFT GROUP gather Wednesday mornings. From left: Andrew Marlowe, Peter Iliff, and Gregory Poirier.
Writer Gregory Poirier founded and named the TFT Group. Each week, he makes the drive from Moorpark to see a handful of old friends: screenwriters and producers whose credits range from “Point Break” to “Air Force One” to “National Treasure.” “I wasn’t seeing people,” said Poirier, “so I made a deliberate attempt to see the people I wanted to see.”
Friday mornings bring together the friends who make up Old Guy’s Breakfast, started and christened by Windsor Square resident AJ Johnson in 2024.
A FEW OF THE “TAI CHI FIVE” gather at the Original Farmers Market. From left: Karen Schetina, Jim Evering, Elenore Welles, and Tony Messina.
“I’d been working from home for eight years, and it got pretty lonely,” said Johnson. “Once you get older and you don’t exercise that communication muscle, you can lose it. So, I started this thing. At the beginning, I was afraid if I didn’t show up that the group would die,” Johnson recalled of the early days. “There were days when I was there by myself.”
Old Guy’s Breakfast survived—flourished, even. Now a rotating group of acquaintances sits down each week to catch up on family, argue about politics, or commiserate over a recipe that flopped at home.
“If this group is still here 30 years from now,” Johnson said, “then I’ve won. I’ve filled my soul.”
There was nowhere Mosher would rather spend his birthday than at The Table. The Farmers Market institution was once anchored by legendary filmmaker Paul Mazursky (who has a table dedicated to him) and today draws industry veterans of all ages and backgrounds. But The Table goes deeper than just trading stories about the business.
“This has been very therapeutic for me,” said Mosher. “Coming here, since I live alone now, it’s been great just to be able to interact with actual human beings, and they are incredibly supportive.”
“If anyone gets sick, we all show up at the hospital,” said David Poland, a fixture at The Table who lives just a few blocks away.
“If anyone passes away, we all go to the funeral together. It’s definitely a family.”
Category: Entertainment
