I want Wegmans!

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23770956.post-3870023299071302092008-06-24T07:39:00.002-04:002008-06-24T07:50:16.556-04:00I want Wegmans!Oh, how frustrating is food shopping in Charlottesville! Here are the perambulations I made last week in order to prepare for a party we had last Friday. Monday: 1.) Whole Foods-- for their bulk section because I needed a variety of nuts. I bought pecans, walnuts and almonds, with which to make candied nuts. I also bought several spices I needed from the bulk section. I stocked up on hormone-free meat, since I was there, and bought a gallon of milk, since Whole Foods, which is very expensive for many things, has cheap, hormone-free milk. I also bought vegetables, because I planned to make pickled vegetables, only Whole Foods didn't have okra, so I went to.... 2.) Harris-Teeter--for okra, paper plates, napkins and cups. Also lemons, which I did not want to buy at WF because I figured they'd be priced higher for exactly the same product. Canned baked beans, more vegetables. Thursday: 1.) Feast--for local, salmonella-free tomatoes. Also for fun party treats that can't be found anywhere else: chocolate covered figs, locally made cheese, quince paste, truffle mousse, but not crackers because why pay $85/pound for something that is just a vehicle for truffle mouse and quince paste, so I went to.... 2.) Giant--for the crackers and for cold cuts because their deli is less of a pain-in-the ass than Harris-Teeters, and probably cheaper too. I need eggs, so I went to... 3.) C'ville Market--because they carry local free-range eggs that are also packaged in cardboard egg cartons. Harris-Teeter and Giant carry free-range eggs, but they are in plastic egg cartons and they aren't local, and I don't like plastic egg cartons, so I always have to make a special trip to C'ville Market just for eggs. (Reid's now carries the same local, free-range-cardboard-packaged eggs as C'ville Market. I have not yet done a price comparison.) Bought more fancy cheese and was pissed to discover that they carry the same "red wine salami" as Feast, only for $2 less. Not everybody drinks alcohol so I went to... 4.) Food Lion--for soda, because why should I pay Harris-Teeter prices for the exact same product? Milk, for some reason, is super-expensive at Food Lion--something like $4.99/gallon. What's up with that? Also, clear plastic wine cups because Harris-Teeter's were outrageously expensive, and more plates. Oh, and chocolate chips, because Food Lion sells Ghirardeli chocolate chips cheaper than anywhere in town. Friday: 1.) Giant (again) for rolls and decent bread for the party. Giant has the closest thing to my idea of a proper grocery store bakery, but it is still woefully inadequate. I bought two dozen rolls from the bulk bins in the bakery. I had been under the impression that Giant sold decent bakery sliced bread, but I was wrong. They don't. Don't talk to me about all the great bakeries in Charlottesville. I'm supposed to buy artisan bread for fifty people? What is this, Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous? I also needed olives for my Greek salad, but do you think Giant has a fucking olive bar? Of course not! Sometimes Charlottesville is really crappy. This is why we need a Wegmans. Wegmans started out in Rochester, NY, but had expanded to Buffalo some time in my early childhood. I have no memory of a life before Wegmans. It is now creeping into the south. Imagine this shopping experience: a produce section bursting with fresh, quality produce at reasonable prices, and with plenty of organic and locally grown foods to choose from. A bakery that has both fancy artisan breads, and a *fabulous* array of buns, rolls, bagels that you can choose for yourself from bulk bins. A deli with good quality meat! With Sahlen's hot dogs. SAHLEN'S HOT DOGS!!! A large natural foods/organic section. A bulk section bigger and better than Whole Foods'--and cheaper. Eggs in cardboard cartons! Cheeses! Olives! Reasonable prices! Every summer we go home to Buffalo to visit family, and every summer I go to Wegman's and eat my heart out with envy at what the people of Buffalo--all people, there is none of this grocery store elitism you see here--can enjoy. I remember last year, gawping at the dairy section, in which, just in yogurt, there was a selection of brands and flavors unheard of in C'ville. If you remember the Cold War, you probably remember that every once in a while there'd be a propaganda piece in a magazine or newspaper about an exchange student from the USSR being taken on a tour of an American supermarket and the student's dazed reaction to the abundance of food in the United States. When I am at Wegman's in Buffalo, after having spent an entire year shopping in Charlottesville, I feel just like those kids from the USSR. Patience_Crabstickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16860012969550268614noreply@blogger.com