the richie-rich supermarkets and specialty shops you like to go to

branching off from Taking sides - poor people's supermarkets?

or substitute "would like to go to" if you're stuck with like c-town or food for less.

http://www.thefoxisblack.com/blogimages/mpreis/sarrasine1.jpg

http://www.thefoxisblack.com/blogimages/mpreis/niederndorf1.jpg

http://www.thefoxisblack.com/blogimages/mpreis/telfspuite1.jpg

http://www.zavodbig.com/sl/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/market_4.jpg

http://www.zavodbig.com/sl/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/market_6.jpg

where are these places?

http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/02/Climate-Protection-Supermarket-Love-Architecture-13.jpg
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austrians in having supermarket game

first three were austrian, second two slovenian. this last one (two views) austrian, and supposedly self-sustaining, energy wise.

Was gonna say those look like Western Austrian supermarket architecture -- but they are perfectly normal supermarkets! Have been in one which contained a sort of Austro Shoppers Food Warehouse before! My fancy ass supermarket is http://www.meinlamgraben.at/page.aspx

Julius Meinl am Graben is great.

If i'm ever in Kensington i'll generally drop in to the Whole Foods Market store there to buy outlandishly coloured salt or something. It's a remarkable place - the size of two aircraft hangars stuck on top of each other and always practically empty. I don't think i've ever seen more than about ten people, usually the waif-like wives of visiting diplomats, in there at the same time.

i used to get the hookup when i had a friend who was the cheese buyer for Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor.

http://curdnerds.com/files/zingcounter-lg.jpg

we are still friends btw. he no longer buys cheese for them.

Spar is pretty basic around here (referencing the last of contenderizer's Austrian supermarket wonders).

There are complicated reasons for why supermarkets in Western Austria look so cool (tax breaks for low-energy, little Alpine tourist towns more likely to approve development if there architecture is attractive), but they are otherwise perfectly normal supermarkets. Non-Austrian sausage and candy fans may still think they are in heaven, however.

wau @ zingerman's. like a midwest zabar's (nyc super-deli)? when i lived there (late 70s), ann arbor was all food co-ops and crunchy granola

http://i.imgur.com/VyqnG.jpg

like a midwest zabar's (nyc super-deli)?

my favorite nyc stores were always the ones like zabar's, the og fairway, balducci's... overrun by fussy older women with money going in to get their lox for the weekend.

i mean that as a compliment. i love it.

At least once a year, and twice when I can manage it, I drop in on Atlanta and these 3 places:

http://www.dekalbfarmersmarket.com/
http://aofwc.com/index.aspx
http://www.hmart.com/company_new/shop_store.asp

2nd one is the Buford Highway Farmers Market

Central Market - they make you print labels for your own produce, which leads to old people locking up one of the few printer stations forever. Clientele appears to largely consist of the elderly or yuppie parents of newborns, both groups giving not half a shit who they run over with carts/strollers.

Whole Foods - meat case, beer and cheese are awesome, rest of the story is pretty meh

i love those austrian supermarket buildings!

i'm a super quick food shopper and most richie-rich supermarkets seem to be built to confuse and cause shoppers to deviate from any pre-set course of shopping action, which annoys me. though i like the fancy lighting.

i mostly shop at a not-totally-hippied-out (anymore) health food store and sometimes the specialty foods store next to it, which i think both qualify for this thread

The other really nice richie rich shopping experience in Vienna is http://www.wienernaschmarkt.eu/index.html (no English, but go to the section marked "Stände" and click around for pretty pictures and some idea of what's there.)

Dr. Falafel!

http://www.gatewaymarket.com/images/rotate/about/Gateway-Exterior-1.jpg

mostly kidding, it's a pricier grocery but the specialty shops scattered around town are better

i love its late-80s fancy-warehouse vibe tho

my brother works across the street from the best-known/fanciest specialty food store in vancouver and though he says he avoids shopping there, the flowery teas and half-eaten boxes of foreign crackers in his cupboards suggest otherwise

Brooklyn Kitchen/The Meat Hook! It's so great. I buy almost nothing there, but I make regular trips to gawk at cool knives, amazing meat, etc. And some items are not ridiculously expensive -- we've bought minor kitchen items like a measuring cup and potholders there, and sometimes pick up a little meat, locally made yogurt, olive oil, balsalmic vineagar or w/e. Mostly it's just fun to go and a $5-10 purchase is an excuse to wander the aisles for a while.

balducci's - YESSSSSSSSSSS

I used to love Balducci's omg.

There's a similar place called Citronella (I think) but it's not nearly as good.

the one i like to go to in los angeles is monsieur marcel. cheeses, spices, fancy olive oils and mustards, etc.

http://www.averagebetty.com/images_2011/monsieur_marcel_market_1.jpg

like hurting says, a lot of the stuff is beyond my reach, but i'll always leave with *something* as a reward for walking around.

http://groundswellblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/img_00542.jpg?w=300&h=225
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http://www.details.com/images/style-advice/tech-and-design/201109/food_temples/bkkitchen_hss.jpg

mmm la quercia.

Citronella

Citarella, it's a fairly pricey fish and butcher store. prepared foods and gourmet items. I live close and go regular. pay a dollar more for fresh fish - quality is better and the counter guys handle it carefully, cutting out the pin bones on salmon. the butcher's ok, I get roasts there but tend to buy chicken etc at the big grocery store next door. I use their homemade vegetable stocks for cooking and the prosciutto/ham selection is good.

Zabar's is my favorite of this ilk. going there today so we'll have lox and bagels and cole slaw tonight for a hot weather dinner. the older shoppers there are so aggressive pushing you out of their way and arguing w/ the men behind the counter. "no not that one a *nice* one" it's so funny

lindy and grundy is the high-end/artisanal butcher shop here:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UsJuaVeU28E/TaKNtLpu75I/AAAAAAAAGp0/Pll1WfE_iaE/s1600/DSC07587.JPG

Brooklyn Kitchen has this dating board where you can post what you're seeking (M4F, F4M, M4M, M4FF [not joking, saw this] or w/e) and what you will cook for them. Can't quite decide if it's cool or gross.

i don't do much high-end food shopping these days but like get bent i am also a fan of gelson's

la quercia was founded by the parents of one of my high school classmates! they're local, here.

DeLaurenti's Food Market

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2783/4366204831_20582427d0_n.jpg http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4012/4366207449_d5b63ed89b_n.jpg http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2704/4366955546_b3638c802d_n.jpg

i wish i could go there every day

i want to eat all of that gourmet food market food

I kind of feel this is a trick question in SF but here's a little gem I recently discovered:

Gourmet & More

A little French place with a cheese room and lots of little French doo-dads like candy and soap and wine and mustard, etc... Plus they have a little wine tasting area and a back garden.

I go here every weekend for their sandwiches -- but their cheese, deli, wine, and meat sections are awesome

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ppf7WOjFX9k/S8-DNkIkGII/AAAAAAAAAOM/0wO_DbrIBk8/s1600/Corti+Bros.jpg

http://s3-media1.ak.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/gqbPQRqA4Sy2klEwgu9S7A/l.jpg

http://s3-media1.ak.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/2Mmo6K3mfsUJSMKQCVzbDg/l.jpg

swiss cowboy otm

Hurting 2: re the dating board: it's gross

http://zabars.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8357f7ead69e20120a500fdbd970b-pi

http://zasinzebra.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/IMG_2231-1024x768.jpg

http://img.directoalpaladar.com/2007/05/Zabars2.jpg

Somebody in the Baltimore area tell Eddie's still rules.

http://nowimhungry.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MelroseMktCharcutSeattle-920x350.jpg

rain shadow meats in seattle. don't look to fancy, but they do good work.

"too"

I'm going to Seattle this weekend and have not been to Rain Shadow yet, this excites me. I'll actually be there before 3 on a weekday which means I'll probably hit Salume as well.

Also a big fan of City Market when I go to Portland:
http://chopbutchery.com/images/contact21.jpg

oh yeah, don't miss salumi! i mean, rain shadow's cool and all, but no competition.

dave's fresh pasta. started w/fresh pasta, added italian specialities, killer sandwiches, a great wine selection, local produce, and now ultra-fresh fish on thursdays and fridays.

http://stufftuftspeoplelike.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/2009-11-07-14-18-05.jpg

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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0128771dc694970c-350wi
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l8steauz8C1qcyjlu.jpg

up the street from me is a somewhat pricey cheese/wine/gourmet shop.

http://lagirlnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/vg22.jpg

man i remember when balducci's used to duke it out with jefferson market over the village gourmet types, now they're both gone. balducci's was so great during the bleak winter months, i could always find some decent produce there.

I thought the Wegmans stores in Maryland and Virginia were big & fancy but then I went to a Dierberg's in St. Louis that is even bigger. Astonishing.

Rodman's (DC and the Maryland suburbs) is not exactly richie-rich (they beat the big chains on produce prices, but you could spend a lot on wine), but I love it. They stock a number of European brands and products, especially at Christmas. Plus they have a small but nicely sourced housewares section.

I miss the Georgetown Dean & Deluca (not that I ever spent much money there, but there was some nice aspirational browsing).

Wegmans is overrated. Accidentally bought expired meat there, and they’ve shut down most of their vaunted hot bars at my local outlet.

Perhaps. But I await the opening of the NW DC location, so I can try it for myself. Also, didn't grocery stores in general shut down salad and hot bars because of pandemic concerns?

yes. ever since i stopped commuting i drive to wegmans about every other week, love it.

(i mean i didn't do it much before bc tired of driving all the time)

Rubiner’s in Great Barrington was one of the greatest specialty shops I’ve ever seen. Amazing cheeses, charcuterie, wines and specialty items. I just missed the bresaola made with wagyu beef. That looked like it would make you cry.

I went to the newly opened NW DC Wegmans. And I'm sorry I did (packed to the rafters...).

you reminded me of when the Whole Foods in my neighborhood first opened ... totally packed to the rafters, but they had fried soft-shell crab in the seafood section ... and I felt less hostility, even though very few people were as excited as I was by this particular item

the cheese, deli, and bakery sections of Piedmont Grocery are generally better than Whole Foods -- it's mostly rich old people. Like, average age of customer is about 65.

I do miss the old Andronico's in South Berkeley that had the best sweets & pastries counter I've seen in the U.S. ... okay, there were a couple spots in NYC when I visited that were as good.

Is Berkeley Bowl this? It's certainly agreeably fussy. But I don't really understand who shops there.

I miss living close enough to Central Market (HEB owned fancy supermarket) to bother for vegetables and meat. Now I've got the world's saddest Whole Foods for veg.

The produce, meats, cheese and wine selections at Bi-Rite in SF are expensive but are so good. I wish it was in my neighborhood

xp - Berkeley Bowl or Berkeley Bowl West? Both locations are way less old people. Average customer age there is more like 45 -- lots more parents with small children. Also they have discount bags of produce close to expiration.

Bi-Rite was a bit underwhelming to me, but I probably had higher expectations. idk ... it might be like the Aquarius Records of grocery stores.

Berkeley Bowl is where young & middle-aged people who live in "conscious housing" shop for their communal household groceries ... esp. the original one. Berkeley Bowl West had more Emeryville tech people the times I went.

Bi-Rite was a bit underwhelming to me, but I probably had higher expectations. idk ... it might be like the Aquarius Records of grocery stores.

― sarahell, Saturday, July 16, 2022

lol maybe

Aquarius is awesome ... but I tend to prefer Amoeba ... like somewhere you can get kvlt cheese but also conventionally grown merely adequate white potatoes and reasonably priced canned tuna

Andronico's, Piedmont Grocery, and Berkeley Bowl are more "Amoeba-like" in their selection ... like, if you want imported Belgian chocolates and Jif peanut butter ... they can do you for both.

wish I could go to those without effort

Epicurean Trader near me is almost too esoteric - you can find things like yuzu juice, red miso, artisan chocolates and Pinhook bourbon (as well as other expensive spirits) - but it doesn't have much produce or anything else a real grocery store would have

two of my friends work near Gus's on Harrison and are always bringing me stuff from there. it sounds pretty great

Oh I think I went there when it first opened -- yeah, it's a good place!

Anyway, mine is DiBruno's in Philadelphia

I've been thinking way too hard about what is the Aquarius and Amoeba of bay area grocery stores. I was thinking aQ was maybe more like Rainbow Co-op, just based on the uncompromising nature of the place - though I guess maybe Rainbow was too big to compare if we're talking scale, but aQ did a great job of cramming a lot of music in their tiny shop (and wherever they kept their inventory for mail-order business). Amoeba - especially the Haight St. one, I've never been to their L.A. location, seems like Berkeley Bowl West to me, just based on it being one of those places where when you walk in and see how much stuff they have, you almost have to slow down and refocus yourself to avoid walking into a display. At least I do.

That said, I rarely go to BBW and when I do it's for their beer selection. I mostly hit scores of smaller stores depending on what I need.

Also I haven't been to Rainbow in like 12 years, so I could be totally off on that.

Wegman’s is overrated. I’ve seen spoiled meat past its expiration date there more than once (accidentally bought some once).

Like Wegman’s is no more impressive than Harris Teeter.

I've been thinking way too hard about what is the Aquarius and Amoeba of bay area grocery stores

I feel like this is a great niche for ilx tbh

Bi-Rite is like Aquarius in that it packs a lot of amazing stuff into a very small space and it feels really curated, with their local dedicated farms and all, and has almost everything you could want as a discerning buyer

the stores I shop at 99% of the time though are the Safeway and Trader Joe's in North Beach

Bi Rite is my favorite grocery store because yeah, it's small and everything is great. Huge grocery stores are unpleasant.

We've been instacarting from Wegmans and I wonder if it's gone down a bit from its prime. When I used to live in NJ, roughly 15 years ago, I loved it. They've expanded a lot and that can tend to mean reduced quality. Fairway also kind of went downhill after they increased their location count a lot. Wegmans prices are pretty reasonable though.

I still prefer it to Stew Leonards though -- people swear by that place and I don't get it.

"Is Berkeley Bowl this? It's certainly agreeably fussy. But I don't really understand who shops there"

I shop there, but not for everything because it's too expensive, just for select thing and/or when I need something right away (it's only a few blocks from where I live so I can walk there).

specialty shops -- I want to express my appreciation for New India Supermarket in El Cerrito -- i regret that my freezer is not larger enough to accommodate the family sized value pack of frozen samosas

Rainbow used to do this really nice cilantro chutney (coconut paste sort of thing rather than UK style 'chutney'). Never found anything similar over here.
Oh and those packets of bolani bread that were everywhere - really miss those.
Magic bars from Whole Foods. And Yodelling Goat cheese (although can't complain about availability of any other cheese in the UK supermarkets).
Specialty shops - I went to a British store somewhere weird once and nearly paid $10 for a bottle of Ribena, ha

yeah, the Bay Area specialty shops that charge a lot for things that are typically inexpensive things in England will do your head in -- relatedly, you can't get fish & chips without it being some expensive thing -- see also expensive ramen places.

the Bolani bread company is based in the East Bay fwiw

Yes, I look them up every so often!
I console myself with the thought I can get decent Indian food, Sunday roasts, fish & chips and meat pies here. But I dream of a trip to the Bay Area where I just eat...
Two of my 'staple' nice salad recipes are pinched from Mixt Greens and Whole Foods.

having just spend three weeks in dublin, london and Paris, I can tell you that eating out in restaurants in those three cities is better than eating out in the bay area, when you weigh cost and service along with quality food. I don't think I ever ate a bad meal in those cities and in many cases (particularly dublin) the cost was about 50% of what a comparable meal would be in the bay area, plus the restaurant staff were always nicer.

Yeah I spent a week in Paris in May and was pleasantly surprised about how affordable many restaurants and cafes were (No Michelin starred places) and we didn’t get a bad meal.

My fifteen-year-old is working in the cheese department of a very fancy farmer’s market turned small richie-rich supermarket. She brings home odds and ends every day. Delicious but I rarely remember which ones I like the best.

idk what the places like this in pdx are. barbur world foods? i like barbur world foods.