Do You Know Where the Brussels Sprouts Are?
My parents called me the other day to tell me the big news: They'd gone to Wegman's. I had no idea what they were talking about. They couldn't believe I hadn't heard about it (even though I live 200 miles and 3 states away) but the fact is that I actually had heard about it, I'd just forgotten. I'd heard about plans for the superbig supermarket chain opening a store in Hunt Valley (20 minutes on the highway away from my parents house) when I was home 2 months ago, because people were ALREADY anticipating it then.
Apparently this store is so big that according to my mom, "you could fit the entire Giant (another rather large supermarket) into the cheese section." The store offers 5 different kinds of shopping carts: regular, baskets, carts with a seat attached so that your shopping companion can push you, motorized vehicles with small baskets attached, and wheelchairs with baskets attached.
I CANNOT WAIT TO VISIT THIS STORE!
I love grocery stores. When I go someplace new, I always visit the grocery store or market first. I love how different cultures have different ways of arranging and selling foods, I love watching how people select what they're going to buy, I love how people in New York shop in very different ways from people in Baltimore.*
So as you might imagine, I spend quite a lot of time in the various supermarkets here on the glorious Upper West Side. My favorites, I think, are Fairway (both locations, but the uptown one is so much more pleasant--in fact, I have on multiple occasions sworn off shopping in the downtown Fairway because it's just insane in there sometimes), Zabars (for the people, not the food), and of course my very own Garden of Eden.
The thing is, I'm becoming a regular at Garden of Eden, so much so that other shoppers have started to ask me questions. I can't go there without having a conversation with some stranger about produce. For example, the other day I was shopping for ingredients to make enchiladas with tomatillo sauce. I was selecting tomatillos when this hippie-looking woman wearing a tunic came over to me and asked "What are those?" I explained that they were tomatillos and she said "Oh I've never seen those before. They're like tomatoes?" I tried to explain what they tasted like (and its not tomatoes) but before I could, she started repeating, "Oh I've never seen those before, Wow, What are you making with those?" When I said enchiladas, she looked at me like I was from a different planet and backed away slowly. (When I went to pay, I had the exact same conversation with the cashier, which made me feel like maybe I was on a different planet)
And a week ago, a man asked me if the carrots that were clearly in the non-organic section were organic. I said no, the organic ones are in that area labeled ORGANIC. He asked if I'd ever eaten an organic carrot and did it really taste different from conventional carrots, to which I replied, Yes, if it had been picked recently, which I later realized made no sense at all since recently picked anything will always taste better than old anything.
And yesterday, a man asked me where the broccoli and brussels sprouts were. And of course I knew the answer, I told him that there was no broccoli, at least it wasn't in its usual location, and that the big brussels sprouts were for some reason pre-packaged and in the herb section. He then chose a mesh bag of "baby" brussels sprouts which were RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM WHEN HE ASKED ME WHERE THE BRUSSELS SPROUTS WERE. (Also, they looked like little green eyeballs.)
Maybe these are just examples of Upper West Side crazy people...but why do they all come to me asking these ridiculous questions? I'm afraid to speculate...but perhaps it's because I too am slowly descending into the world of Upper West Side crazy lady? Do they flock to me because I am one of them?
Gak!
*Of course I feel superior to other people when I see what they're buying compared to what I'm buying. And don't deny it--I know you do too!
Apparently this store is so big that according to my mom, "you could fit the entire Giant (another rather large supermarket) into the cheese section." The store offers 5 different kinds of shopping carts: regular, baskets, carts with a seat attached so that your shopping companion can push you, motorized vehicles with small baskets attached, and wheelchairs with baskets attached.
I CANNOT WAIT TO VISIT THIS STORE!
I love grocery stores. When I go someplace new, I always visit the grocery store or market first. I love how different cultures have different ways of arranging and selling foods, I love watching how people select what they're going to buy, I love how people in New York shop in very different ways from people in Baltimore.*
So as you might imagine, I spend quite a lot of time in the various supermarkets here on the glorious Upper West Side. My favorites, I think, are Fairway (both locations, but the uptown one is so much more pleasant--in fact, I have on multiple occasions sworn off shopping in the downtown Fairway because it's just insane in there sometimes), Zabars (for the people, not the food), and of course my very own Garden of Eden.
The thing is, I'm becoming a regular at Garden of Eden, so much so that other shoppers have started to ask me questions. I can't go there without having a conversation with some stranger about produce. For example, the other day I was shopping for ingredients to make enchiladas with tomatillo sauce. I was selecting tomatillos when this hippie-looking woman wearing a tunic came over to me and asked "What are those?" I explained that they were tomatillos and she said "Oh I've never seen those before. They're like tomatoes?" I tried to explain what they tasted like (and its not tomatoes) but before I could, she started repeating, "Oh I've never seen those before, Wow, What are you making with those?" When I said enchiladas, she looked at me like I was from a different planet and backed away slowly. (When I went to pay, I had the exact same conversation with the cashier, which made me feel like maybe I was on a different planet)
And a week ago, a man asked me if the carrots that were clearly in the non-organic section were organic. I said no, the organic ones are in that area labeled ORGANIC. He asked if I'd ever eaten an organic carrot and did it really taste different from conventional carrots, to which I replied, Yes, if it had been picked recently, which I later realized made no sense at all since recently picked anything will always taste better than old anything.
And yesterday, a man asked me where the broccoli and brussels sprouts were. And of course I knew the answer, I told him that there was no broccoli, at least it wasn't in its usual location, and that the big brussels sprouts were for some reason pre-packaged and in the herb section. He then chose a mesh bag of "baby" brussels sprouts which were RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM WHEN HE ASKED ME WHERE THE BRUSSELS SPROUTS WERE. (Also, they looked like little green eyeballs.)
Maybe these are just examples of Upper West Side crazy people...but why do they all come to me asking these ridiculous questions? I'm afraid to speculate...but perhaps it's because I too am slowly descending into the world of Upper West Side crazy lady? Do they flock to me because I am one of them?
Gak!
*Of course I feel superior to other people when I see what they're buying compared to what I'm buying. And don't deny it--I know you do too!
posted by Emil at 1:52 PM
4 Comments:
How can you afford to be a regular shopper at the Garden of Eden? I've been to the one on 14th street a couple of times to buy food-gifts for people and it struck me as insanely expensive.
You should go on an antropological expedition to the Park Slope Food Coop.
Its actually not that expensive for produce...and I don't buy any of their pricey things like cheese or desserts (unless its a treat). Usually we buy cheese on sale at Zabars and do a big Fairway uptown trip with the car for staples like beans and couscous and rice and yogurt, and go to Garden of Eden for produce (Vegetables rot in my kitchen/fridge if not eaten immediately.)
I have also done an informal study and have concluded that for produce, GOE is actually cheaper than the other nearby supermarket option, the evil D'Agostino, about which I will post more later.
I love going to supermarkets too! But the huge ones with video rentals/pharmacy/Dunkin Donuts inside kind of scare me. The best was one in Italy with all of the cute little old ladies dressed in black hovering around the door first thing in the morning. Second best were the supermarkets in Puerto Rico...I travel for supermarkets.
Yeah, I left that neighborhood right as the D'Agostino was pushing out West Side Market.
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