Posted by Erin Zimmer, September 26, 2008 at 1:30 PM
At 9:30 this morning, the old Independence Bank at Atlantic Avenue and Court Street was covered in balloons and shoppers armed with canvas bags, ready to stuff them with soy crisps and frozen enchiladas. A greeter at the door convinced anyone who thought they were going somewhere else to come here instead.
Inside, a Caribbean-themed tapped drums. Everyone was feeling the Trader Joe's high.
This is by far the least claustrophobic Trader Joe's I have ever visited. Tall ceilings, wide freezer section aisles, and hardly any head-on shopping cart collisions. Though the check-out line looked scary, a crewmember was dutifully holding up her "end of the line" sign, reminding shoppers that 18 cashiers were on duty. A quick, painless process—and one that involved snacks. One staffer was on waitressing duty, asking people in line: "Can I get you a sample of coffee? Oatmeal cranberry cookie?"
Ah, Joe. You're a good man with a great store. Photos, after the jump.
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Posted by Brian Halweil, August 22, 2008 at 3:30 PM
The High Summer issue of Edible East End just hit the streets, and the theme is local solutions to the global food and fuel crisis. For instance we profile a produce dealer who will save half a million gallons of diesel this year by supplying large New York grocers with Long Island produce. In keeping with the issue’s theme, here’s a brief guide to the East Hampton Farmers Market held every Friday from 9 to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of Nick & Toni’s restaurant.
In its second season, this market is much improved from last year and truly offers the fixings for a complete meal—from clams dug that morning by a marine biologist-turned-charter boat captain, to bread courtesy of Southampton’s Blue Duck bakery, raw-milk cheeses from Mecox Dairy, and mountains of fruit and veggies. This cornucopia has inspired recent visits from Eli Zabar. With a notebook and blackberry in hand, he was seen taking down contact information for vendors who can help stock his latest project, the Amagansett Farmers' Market.
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Posted by BrianYarvin, August 8, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The disease of EBS is a terrible one. Endemic to farmers' markets all over the Garden State, it hits particularly hard at the Collingswood Farmers' Market where it runs roughshod over an otherwise great group of farmers in a lovely suburban town. For those of you who don´t know, EBS or Excessive Bakery Syndrome is a condition where market stalls that are supposed to be occupied by growers offering local produce are instead held by bakeries. It is an ailment that runs rampant and unchecked in New Jersey´s farmers' markets. While not as frightening as stalls held by large banks, real estate agents, or classic rock radio stations (all of which show up on occasion at "Jersey Fresh" markets elsewhere), bakeries aren´t farmers.
This is kind of sad because Collingswood—in Camden County—is far enough south to attract a whole different group of growers than those we typically see closer to New York City. On the other hand, a bunch of farmers from Burlington, Salem, and Gloucester Counties is a pretty good reason to visit a farmers' market, no matter what the other vendors are offering. And if you eat (as I did) a couple of doughnuts, a couple of pretzels, and a whoopie pie or two while you choose your locally grown greens, it´s not the end of the world.
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Posted by Brian Halweil, August 8, 2008 at 10:00 AM
One of the only poems I have committed to memory is “Blackberry Eating,” by Galway Kinnell, a fourteen line homage to the pleasures of picking produce at the peak of ripeness. (The Italian term scorpacciata, loosely translated as gorging on whatever is in season, evokes this same sentiment.) Galway’s verse takes place in September, but as some farmer friends recently told me, and as the wild berry bushes behind my garden indicate, the East End’s berry season is climaxing now.
A couple weekends ago I was fortunate enough to rendezvous at the Sag Harbor Farmers' Market (Saturdays, from 9 to noon, on Bay Street) with chef Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern, whose ripeness radar zeroed in on blackberries and gooseberries. Gooseberries are making appearances at more and more farmers' markets around the country. Growers like their exotic sexiness. Shoppers like the pop delivered by the tart little turgid balls. Chef Mike liked what their sourness could bring to a vinaigrette when mixed with blackberries and enjoyed on top of tomatoes and assorted greens from the market. (All the same ingredients can also be found at the East Hampton farmers market on Friday mornings in the Nick & Toni’s restaurant parking lot, the Westhampton Beach farmers market on Saturday mornings in the parking lot on Mill Road next to the Historical Society, and the Riverhead farmers market on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. near the Aquarium.)
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