Foodies of the world, rejoice: the food crave is upon us.

In San Francisco recently, an "underground" night market popped up. This night market, held in the midnight hours, is a farmers market with a twist. It presents aspiring chefs and cooks and restauranteurs in a setting where anything goes. It's an opportunity for food-obsessed people to both try out new recipes as well as sample some of the more intriguing choices creative people are putting out there.

By sidestepping health  regulations for food carts and traditional outdoor markets, the underground food crave test drives different takes on traditional food, without much financial risk or need for lots of product. The results can be satisfying.  For example, how about stir-fry pork bellies? If that's too tame, what about red beet ice cream?

It's happening in the Bay Area, springing up in a somewhat spontaneous way, and may spread to other communities as people with a deep and abiding interest in food push the limits and make the unusual commonplace. After all, bacon-topped chocolate cupcakes had to start somewhere, right?  And someone, somewhere, had to be the first one to think that baking a ham in cola results in a pretty tasty meal.

Of course, you don't need to wait for a food crave to appear (like a flash mob). Start your own version by experimenting with food favorites. You love chocolate and you love whole grain bread: can you find a way to put them together beyond a nutella spread sandwich or bread pudding? Maybe a grilled chocolate sandwich topped with toasted coconut, filled with cream cheese and studded with dried cherries? You'll discover lots of foods that you love individually are excellent matches for each other if you think beyond the obvious. Now that's the way to satisfy a food crave!