Posted Oct 14, 2025
For more than five years, Noble Fat has been a staple at Green City Market, where customers know them best for their bao, lumpia, and meat skewers, all freshly made on-site using seasonal ingredients sourced from our farmers and inspired by the owners, Eric Arce and Agnes Capili’s Filipino heritage.
The name Noble Fat itself reflects their philosophy of honoring bold, honest flavors. Early on, they experimented with rendering tallows and lards from local farms, embracing the idea that flavor comes from using every part of the ingredient. That spirit still defines their cooking and shows up in each of their dishes today.
At GCM Lincoln Park, you can find them every Saturday, connecting with their customers and serving up delicious flavors such as pork belly chashu and five-spice mushroom. Behind the scenes, Eric and Agnes are a creative force, collaborating on both the business and culinary aspects of Noble Fat, while leading a team that supports them at the various farmers’ markets across the city and their recently opened brick-and-mortar cafe just a mile away from GCM Lincoln Park.
Agnes first began her culinary career running a catering business in Elk Grove, where it was during this time that Agnes and Eric began building out their dream to start their own food business that celebrated Filipino flavors while highlighting local, seasonal ingredients.
“We wanted to showcase the food we grew up with, but through what’s available here in the Midwest,” Agnes shared in a recent interview with Green City Market.
When the opportunity arose to join the market in 2019, this marked a turning point for Eric and Agnes.
“We feel very lucky,” Agnes reflected on being GCM vendors. “We really liked the energy, the connections we made, and being surrounded by other people who shared the same ideas about food and sustainability.”
For Eric, who handles most of the guest-facing side of the business, the market became a space to connect with the community, using the food they served as a conduit for conversation and sharing stories.
“People are curious,” he shared. “They’ll come up and ask, ‘What is longanisa?’ or ‘What’s in this sauce?’ and it opens up a conversation about where the dish comes from and how we use local ingredients to make it.”
“You get instant feedback,” he continued. “Someone takes a bite and says, ‘This reminds me of home,’ or ‘I’ve never tasted anything like this before.’ It makes all the work worth it.”
Since its beginning, Noble Fat has made a commitment to locally sourcing its ingredients, one of the core practices of our Ready-to-Eat and Prepared Foods vendors. While that means adjusting some of the traditional ingredients in their dishes, the team has found a way to strike a balance.
“Even traditional Filipino ingredients can be reimagined with what’s seasonal here,” Agnes shared. “Sweet potatoes, cabbages, green beans…it may not be strictly traditional, but it’s authentic to both the culture we come from and the place we are now.”
From the start, Eric and Agnes forged longstanding relationships with GCM farmers and producers, such as Jake’s Country Meats, where they source the majority of their meats used in their bao and banh mi, and River Valley Ranch, where they source mushrooms for their vegetarian options. These relationships they have built have become integral to their business and one of their favorite parts of Green City Market.
“The best part has been the community,” Agnes shared. “We’ve learned so much from other vendors, and visiting the farms really connects you to the food in a deeper way.”
Running a booth at one of Chicago’s busiest farmers’ markets hasn’t been easy. In their first year, the couple did everything themselves, including cooking, loading, serving, and breaking down.
“It was exhausting,” Agnes shared. “We were wearing every hat.”
But that experience shaped their understanding of what it takes to run a small food business. By their second season, they had built a small but mighty team, including members who still remain with them today.
“We’ve gotten the chance to see many of these kids grow,” Eric shared. “Some have moved on from the market and gone on to school, while others have started families. So as we grow, they grow, which is our ultimate goal.”
This growth for both the team and Eric and Agnes has led to an exciting new chapter. Just a few months ago, they opened a cafe in Lincoln Park, which has since been a thriving space for customers to visit outside of the market and try a range of seasonal dishes and drinks.
“At the market, we learned how to connect with people, how to tell our story, and how to listen to what folks want,” Eric shared. “We carry that same energy into the cafe every day.”
The opportunity itself came unexpectedly. After their son’s graduation, a spontaneous drive led Eric and Agnes to a vacant space that seemed meant to be. Within 40 days, they had signed a lease, painted the walls, and opened the doors.
“It wasn’t planned at all,” Agnes laughed. “I wish I had more time to prepare, but sometimes you just have to jump.”
Looking ahead, Noble Fat hopes to deepen its roots by expanding its menu, strengthening farmer partnerships, and one day hosting evening dinners that spotlight local, seasonal ingredients with its signature Filipino influence.
Through it all, Green City Market has played a central part in their journey.
“We wouldn’t be here without the market,” Agnes shared. “It gave us exposure, confidence, and community. We’ve been blessed, and giving back, whether by being part of Chef BBQ or continuing to work with our community of farmers and vendors to share local food through our menu, remains core to our business.”
Learn more about Noble Fat at their website here and follow them on social media here. You can find Noble Fat at GCM Lincoln Park every Saturday from 7 am-1 pm. Their new cafe is located at 2221 N Lincoln Ave.
At Green City Market, we believe farmers' markets are a powerful instrument of a local food system, and we're dedicated to creating widely accessible marketplaces for local food in Chicago where farmers can make a living wage and connect directly with their customers and the culinary community like Agnes and Eric at Noble Fat. Visit our calendar for upcoming market dates and support our nonprofit work to deepen support for Midwest farmers here.