On May 20, Ancestry transformed Original Farmers Market into an immersive celebration of heritage, entrepreneurship, and generational storytelling through “The Stories of US: Generations at The Original Farmers Market,” spotlighting the families behind one of Los Angeles’ most iconic culinary destinations.
Hosted by celebrated chef and 2026 James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Nancy Silverton, the evening served as a media preview ahead of the public launch over Memorial Day Weekend. The self-guided walking tour, created in partnership with Ancestry and the market, highlights multi-generational vendors and the histories behind their businesses through archival records, photography, and personal storytelling.
The activation felt especially fitting in Los Angeles, a city built on immigrant communities and small business culture. Throughout the market, guests moved from merchant to merchant learning how families passed recipes, traditions, and businesses down through generations while adapting to the ever-changing identity of the city around them. The evening also featured a progressive tasting experience that highlighted several of the market’s multi-generational vendors.
Guests sampled comforting homestyle dishes from Magee’s Kitchen, including the brand’s famous corned beef sandwich alongside mini French dip sandwiches and mac and cheese. Nearby, Charlie’s Coffee Shop served brunch-inspired bites including French toast, mini grilled cheese sandwiches, and cheeseburger sliders that reflected the diner’s decades-long presence inside the market. Guests also stopped by Bennett’s Homemade Ice Cream for small-batch ice cream tastings while Huntington Meats & Sausage offered a bratwurst sampler featuring traditional white bratwurst, smoked cheese sausage, and smoked cheese jalapeño sausage. Even non-food merchants were incorporated into the activation, with Sticker Planet inviting attendees to select stickers inspired by family memories and personal storytelling themes tied to the campaign.
Original Farmers Market business
Photo Credit: The Knockturnal
One of the standout moments of the night came during Nancy Silverton’s live cooking demonstration, where the legendary chef blended storytelling with technique in a way that felt personal rather than performative. As attendees gathered around the demo space, Silverton reflected on food’s ability to preserve memory, culture, and connection across generations, themes that echoed throughout the entire experience. The tasting portion of the evening concluded with Silverton’s family-inspired egg salad sandwiches, a recipe connected to memories of lunches prepared by her mother. The finale tied together the event’s larger themes of food, nostalgia, and generational tradition in a way that felt intimate rather than staged.
Nancy Silvertons cooking demonstration
Photo Credit: The Knockturnal
Beyond the culinary aspect, the event also leaned into Ancestry’s broader mission of preserving family stories. Guests were invited to participate in genealogy sessions with Ancestry experts, giving attendees the opportunity to explore pieces of their own family histories while surrounded by the stories of others. It created an unexpectedly intimate atmosphere inside one of LA’s busiest public spaces. The featured merchants added another layer of authenticity to the evening. Rather than simply spotlighting businesses, the activation emphasized the sacrifices, risks, and family dynamics that helped sustain them over decades. Hearing directly from vendors whose families helped shape the market reinforced why places like the Original Farmers Market continue to hold cultural significance far beyond tourism.
The timing of the activation also aligned naturally with Small Business Month. Los Angeles reportedly has more small businesses than any city in the United States, and the experience served as a reminder that many of the city’s most recognizable institutions began as family-run operations built through generations of persistence and community support. Ancestry also tied the initiative to future entrepreneurship efforts through a partnership with the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. For every person who shares and preserves their family story through the campaign, Ancestry will sponsor a local student’s participation in NFTE’s entrepreneurship program, connecting the preservation of past stories to the development of future business leaders.
What made the evening work was its balance. It never felt overly corporate or overly nostalgic. Instead, the activation successfully blended food, history, community, and storytelling into an experience that felt genuinely reflective of Los Angeles itself. For longtime Angelenos, it was a reminder of the people behind the institutions they’ve visited for years. For newer visitors, it offered a deeper understanding of how culture, migration, and family legacy continue to shape the city’s food scene today.
Nancy Silverton’s Family via Ancestry
