There's enough hot topics in this week's New York Times' Dining Section to last for a couple of episodes of The View:
Has Whole Foods lost their way? Is Paula Dean the Queen of Southern Cooking? What long-lost food do you long for . . . and will you make yet another Bittman bread recipe? Discuss.
From Phobia to Fame: A Southern Cook’s Memoir: TV chef Paula Dean suffered from agoraphobia for two decades. She's making the PR rounds now to launch her new book. Julia Moskin gives a rounded view of Paula Dean, showing Dean's developed palate and her semi-homemade stylings.
With recipes for: Spicy-Sweet Ham Salad and Georgia Cracker Salad.
The Ultimate Cruelty: Abandoned by Ravioli: What happens when a favorite food is no longer available where you live? Some resort to buying it online and shipping it, others try to make it at home. Do you have a story of a food that's abandoned you? With recipes for
PLUS...
Not abandoned by a food, but by grocery stores. In a horrible turn of fate, my favourite store in Chinatown burned down and damaged my second-favourite store (thus closing it) in the process.
Thumbs down for WholeFoods. It's too freakin expensive. I work across the street from a WholeFoods and the markup is insane on products that are also carried at Trader Joes.
I occasionally get a cookie from them if it is pouring rain and I don't feel like walking down the street to another bakery.
When I lived in DC (and quite close to a WholeFoods), I was so unimpressed with the quality of the produce and had a scary experience with their bulk bins (creepy crawlies...). SocialSafeway and Giant did better (albeit not organic) in their produce section.
If it didn't seem like WF was so hell-bent on selling a lifestyle (chic green and organic) and focused on selling quality and value, then I might reconsider.
I used to shop at Whole Foods all the time when I lived in Chicago in the mid-to-late '90s and my weekly bill was usually only $10 more than it would have been at Dominick's. I felt that was appropriate because I was getting better food, especially produce.
But at some point it started getting more and more expensive--about $50/week more, which is a huge difference. Now that I'm on the West Coast and have Trader Joe's, I never go to Whole Foods. Even my "special occasion shopping" is done elsewhere--at the farmers markets or Bristol Farms.
I saw John Mackey (Whole Foods CEO) talk last night and he said they were matching Trader Joe's prices (on staples and identical items). Is that true?
I still like WF, but mostly for their prepared foods. Yummy sushi, fried chicken, etc. The produce is way over priced, but the dairy is suprisingly inexpensive, compared to Safeway and the ilk.
For me it's Trader Joe's for wine, dairy, some fruits and veggies and their sourdough baguette...since I no longer live in San Francisco, I no longer can get ACME bread...sigh...
Whole Foods for "specialty" foods and butcher.
Safeway-type for everything else.
Paula dean is trying to kill us all.