Grocery Stores around the country.....

[shroomgirl]

I've talked at the Small Farm Conference a few times, this year was on how to sell to restaurants. Sat Morning was the last farmer's market of the season for Columbia, it was cold and there was alot of great stuff. Got my priorities together and got up at 7am headed over to UpRise Bakery and followed them to the market.

Cordi Bros used to rock my world. Stores in Walnut Grove and Berkley were a treat....heirloom dried beans 20+ years ago. Fairway Market in Harlem....cryovaced beets from France and asceptic olive oil years ago, really fun walk-in fridge with meat and dairy.
Zabar's, Balducci prior to selling, Garden of Eatin was an amazing flukey find....years ago I wandered in on my way to the airport and saw so many wild shrooms, tried aged gouda for the first time, saw some of the most interesting go-food in NYC......
Grace's Market, oh Portland has some cool ones too. Central Grocery in New Orleans and of course Schwegmans where you pop a beer to "make grocerys".
Houston has some fun ethnic ones, as well as some of the toniest stores I've ever been in....now what was the name????!!! think think....black and white prodominate colors......hmmmm oh Pan can you help out here I'm sorta lost....
Fiesta was a delight.....hmmmm oh yeah Southern Season's in Chapel Hill, gotta be one of the top 5, and I count it as a grocery store....walls of chocolate....walls....chocolate......
Eli's Garage is fun, good yogurts from Europe.

Co-op funky places are a hoot too.....
When my kids were young I had a Sat route that included 150 year old pretzel place that had little nubby rye salt pretzels 12 for a $1 by a scruffy guy in a wife beater that was scooping um out of the water vat.
Off to Soulard Farmer's Market which is very very live.....live chickens, bunnies both pets and food.....about 100 stalls with an inner corridor that has killer brats cooked to a crisp....farmers and brokers it is a discount market where you can hear many different languages within 50 ft.
Then on to Pan Dora's Bakery for orange poppyseed bread called hobbit loaf my middle child adored and other fine treats.....since closed.
Cruise on down to Jay's on S. Grand for any and all ethinic food....especially Asian but not limited at all.
Make our way over to the Hill for ice box cookies,Italian cream bread, Volpi's sausages and anything Italian.
Head home with a loaded car and satiated children. Try to figure out what to cook first.

Washington DC has really fun markets also. OLD ones.

[Suzanne]

KYH- I certainly wasn't asking for sympathy! Just pointing out that what really IS available "at any market" -- meaning pretty standard American processed stuff -- is not always found here, mainly because our stores are so much smaller. (Witness the fact that Wal-Mart just gave up on opening here; the hassles were too much for them!)

I have a theory (and I'm sure it's not original) that if you really want to know what a town is all about, visit its supermarkets. How extensive and well-stocked are the "ethnic" aisles? And what unexpected items are mixed in on the regular shelves, such as breads? That gives you powerful clues about the population makeup, even without seeing any shoppers. If there is nothing but "white bread" available, then there is not a critical mass of "others" with sufficient economic power to be recognized by the establishment. This is different from the appearance of ethnic groceries that cater only to specific populations; their presence indicates a genuine need, but not a strong enough power base to be recognized as an economic force. To me, those observations are much more powerful than looking at the makeup of the local government and maybe even the local newspapers.

Anyway: thank goodness for the Internet! That is truly the global marketplace.

And as to that mango slicer: I know I just saw something about it -- might have been a couple of weeks ago in the NY Times (Dining & Wine - New York Times), or online. Definitely not "in the flesh," though.

[shroomgirl]

that if you really want to know what a town is all about, visit its supermarkets. How extensive and well-stocked are the "ethnic" aisles? And what unexpected items are mixed in on the regular shelves, such as breads?


Yep, great minds think alike. Especially flat breads, are they mass made or "handmade" by Mom & Pop producers. Are there alot of small producer products on the shelf.
I equate that to Farmer's markets also, are they attractive, do they have a customer base, is the signage good, do they certify organic, do they have recipes, samples, cooking demos, is there a community space, is it an alive market, is there a balance in products, do they have interesting products or just "bigger is better dirt farms", is the meat fresh or frozen, are there events.....oh what you can learn from a farmer's market tells you alot about the community at large.

[KYHeirloomer]

Part of the situation in New York City, Suzanne, is that until recently there were no supermarkets or box stores. They were against the law. So New York became a Mecca for small, specialty food stores.

Schroomgirl, sounds to me like you're describing central markets rather than farmer's markets. Nothing wrong with central markets, so don't get me wrong. But farmer's markets are both defined and operated by some rather strict laws, and many of the things you describe are not allowed. In many venues, for instance, samples (other than whole items) are not permitted, and cooking demos are absolutely verbotten.

Meats of any kind---fresh or frozen---also are banned at many farmers markets, and processed and value-added products are strictly controlled, either by law or by that markets' bylaws.

Then, too, there can be the question of which market you attend. Take the Lexington (KY) Farmer's market, which is held four days a week, at three different locations. The main market, on Saturday, appeals primarily to a foodie customer base. Tues. & Thurs. is a more ethnically diverse (and poorer) base. Sunday is more of a healthy-foods base. So, if you drew conclusions about Lexington by attending just one market, you could be seriously off.

[Cheri]

So whose DREAM acation would be to travel all across the US going to everyfood festival possibel, attending small flea markets and farmers markets? Am I the only one that dreamed of attending the fancy food show as a child, walking by Moscone center? I know I'm not the only one who knows crazy food facts and things about a country based on their food history, like the varied ways different ethnicities cook pig entrails or chitlins?

[Ninja_59]

I,m pretty lucky here in Montreal, we have practically everything, very etchnic

[shroomgirl]

Schroomgirl, sounds to me like you're describing central markets rather than farmer's markets. Nothing wrong with central markets, so don't get me wrong. But farmer's markets are both defined and operated by some rather strict laws, and many of the things you describe are not allowed. In many venues, for instance, samples (other than whole items) are not permitted, and cooking demos are absolutely verbotten.

Meats of any kind---fresh or frozen---also are banned at many farmers markets, and processed and value-added products are strictly controlled, either by law or by that markets' bylaws.

Then, too, there can be the question of which market you attend. Take the Lexington (KY) Farmer's market, which is held four days a week, at three different locations. The main market, on Saturday, appeals primarily to a foodie customer base. Tues. & Thurs. is a more ethnically diverse (and poorer) base. Sunday is more of a healthy-foods base. So, if you drew conclusions about Lexington by attending just one market, you could be seriously off.

Until Last month I managed....co-founded, ran, etc a growers market in Clayton, Mo. Clayton Farmer's Market....middle of affluent STL.

Growers only, cooking demo everyweek with burners in the middle of the road, until last year raw milk, farm eggs, fresh meat (chickens) but mainly frozen, samples by farmers with a premit from the Health Dept....but I sampled out demo shtuff every week. At least 3 events a year....kids day, peach ice cream day and heirloom tomato fest......visiting chefs, lots of fresh prepared food.....
Omelet booth was run by Dietitic students from SLU....cooking in the middle of the street!!!!
I'm not sure what will come up but google Clayton Farmer's Market or Julie Ridlon and see if photos/stories show up.


Oh and i love Bardstown Farmer's Market in the parking lot....I was there one Spring with morels, stinging nettles, cheeses, spring veg....fun selection.

[Suzanne]

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer

Part of the situation in New York City, Suzanne, is that until recently there were no supermarkets or box stores. They were against the law. So New York became a Mecca [mecca, you mean, per CMoS] for small, specialty food stores.

Just curious: what is your source of this information?? And how recently is "recently"?

Schroomgirl [her name is Shroomgirl], sounds to me like you're describing central markets rather than farmer's markets. Nothing wrong with central markets, so don't get me wrong. But farmer's markets are both defined and operated by some rather strict laws, and many of the things you describe are not allowed. In many venues, for instance, samples (other than whole items) are not permitted, and cooking demos are absolutely verbotten. [verboten, that is]

Sounds like farmers' markets I've seen in other localities, as well as in those in NYC that are run not by the city but by the Council on the Environment (a privately funded not-for-profit), or by the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation (a CDC).

Meats of any kind---fresh or frozen---also are banned at many farmers markets, and processed and value-added products are strictly controlled, either by law or by that markets' [market's] bylaws.

But not at all; as you say yourself, rules vary.

Then, too, there can be the question of which market you attend. Take the Lexington (KY) Farmer's market, which is held four days a week, at three different locations. The main market, on Saturday, appeals primarily to a foodie customer base. Tues. & Thurs. is a more ethnically diverse (and poorer) base. Sunday is more of a healthy-foods base. So, if you drew conclusions about Lexington by attending just one market, you could be seriously off.

And this is why writers like you need editors like me!

[Jayme]

Wow has this been good reading on this thread.... heck I can spend 1 1/2 hours in a typical grocery store...LOL Here in Sacramento, we have a large Russian population, so there are many markets that call themselves European Markets that sell russian foods, and we have many middle eastern markets also- there is one next door to my school- dried fruits, figs, tahini, lavoshe bread, etc... all kinds of interesting items! A big seller around here is wine- from both the Napa Valley as well as local vineyards... I guess that is the new trend now- outerlying areas are opening up new vineyards all the time. Amazing how big and yet how small the culinary world is......

[KYHeirloomer]

>And this is why writers like you need editors like me! <

No, Suzanne, it's why writers like me marry copyeditors.

Seriously, while it's hard to believe from that post (which, just to mitigate, was written coming down from 36 no-sleep hours), most editors will tell you I provide some of the cleanest copy they recieve.

But I sat behind the editor's desk too many years to do otherwise.

[Mezzaluna]

Suzanne:
Is this what you're asking about??

[Suzanne]

Yup, that's what KYH is asking about, not me. Not my type of gizmo; I prefer a good knife.

KYH: you're not my husband!








Are you?

[shroomgirl]

Talk about interesting grocery stores, Louisville KY has some really interesting co-op/more health centered grocery stores. I really like that little cosmopolitan town.

Not been to Lexington.....sounds interesting.

My love affair with food stores goes back to childhood in Sacramento (yes it's a small small world) when we would shop at the produce stand, go to the Health food store, hit the winery, Raleigh's grocery and sometimes Cordi Bros, I can still recall going to a World Market type place for fun Japanese crackers and various other goodies. At 16 I was shopping in Memphis at the fish store, cheese shop, couple of bakeries, International store....and a cross section of groceries stores for various things they specialized in.....
At 19, my Mom took me to NYC for a week and said I could pick our agenda....chocolate shops....Krons, Tschelers (?), etc... Zabars, Balducci, Fairway etc....only at that time I didn't haul ice chests back and forth....there's only so much a non-foodie mom would put up with.

How about the rest of you, when did the passion for food hunts start in your world?

And I'm so glad you guys don't agressively edit my posts, grammer is not a strong point, neither is spelling and hopefully content makes up for all the horrible nails on the chalkboard typos.

[KYHeirloomer]

Don't sweat the spelling and grammer, Shroomgirl.

Look at my header, and look at Suzanne's, and you'll understand what's going on.

And if not, the best way to comprehend it is with a riddle:

Why don't sharks attack editors?
Professional courtesy!

>Are you? <

Not so's anyone would notice, Suzanne.

But Friend Wife used to be a copyeditor, and I count on her a lot to check my spelling---cuz I'm the world's worst---a product of the New York school system when they tried to believe that English was a phonetic language, and actually taught spelling that way.

Uh, huh. And just how many ways can you spell the sound A, as in 8?

[Suzanne]

All in good fun. Hey, if it all writers were perfect, I'd be out of work.

Shroom -- and everyone else -- I would never edit your posts for spelling, grammar, or punctuation, for several reasons:

1. How you write your posts is what makes you YOU. And I don't want to change you one bit.
2. I can't read your minds. Well, actually, I sort of can, but what if I'm wrong?
3. There aren't enough hours in the day for me to do that, my own work, and take care of my household.

I look at posts with the view of "if I can sound it out and it makes sense that way, it's fine." Besides, some of the most knowledgeable posters here couldn't speel there weigh out of a papper bag. No way I'm going to touch their stuff.