Princeton Food and Kitchen Supplies

Groceries

Wegmans: A great grocery store in many ways, but you will want to avoid the congested parking lot at times. Sunday afternoon and the day[s] before holidays are just terrible. It's not just the parking lot either. Inside the store can actually be worse. The variety and the quality is good. The pharmacy is one of the better ones in the area. Prepared food is usually good, but tends to have more problems for us than Whole Foods. My partner has a strong migraine response to Monosodium Glutamate. While Wegman's prepared food chefs don't add MSG, they do use stocks that contain it. They have been known to add autolyzed yeast and hydrolized vegetable protein which can also cause migraine response. They both are reputed to metabolize into MSG. They both trigger migraines in some people. None of this alters the fact that much of the prepared food is very tasty. Wegman's opened a couple of years after we moved to the Princeton area after living in Cherry Hill for years. At that time, we thought it was the only store nearby where we could buy oven roasted vegetables, other than at the late lamented Zagara's in in our former haunts in south Jersey. We had failed to discover Bon Appetite, even though we occasionally shopped at MacCaffrey's in the Princeton Shopping Center.


Whole Foods
This Austin based chain has better tasting coffee at their Espresso kiosk than does Wegman's. My partner can eat more of the prepared foods than she can those at Wegman's, although she avoids their soups. The stocks don't use MSG, but one sometimes finds autolyzed yeast and hydrolyzed vegetable protein in soup [but in fewer of their other prepared foods]. We like their pizza better. They have a great salad bar. They have a remarkably wide variety of fresh produce, with many organic items available. They often seem more expensive, but on an item by item comparison that has not always proven to be true. Their house brands are of exceptional quality and represent good value. They don't have a pharmacy. Their emphasis on dietary supplements and natural products might even be antithetical to a pharmacy. The fish market has the best crab cakes I have ever found in a grocery store. They have lump crabmeat cakes, but the ones we go ga-ga over are made with dungeness crab. Bring them home, lightly sautee them and you will have a treat. Possibly because of their Austin home base, they have a distinct flair for southwestern foods, including a good array of specialized ingredients, both fresh and canned.

Whole Earth
I first shopped at the Whole Earth store in the 1970s. The ethos is admirable and I should shop there more frequently. For us, it is simply not a convenient location. I will say more later, but for now I must simply say that in an era of greater competition for their niche, they have kept pace better than I would have guessed 30 years ago.


Update, February 29, 2008
After reading Barbara Kingsolver's forceful advocacy of eating local foods, we have shopped here more frequently this month. We know that their food is not as local as we would like, but we see shopping here as an attempt to shop locally. We are also exploring the year round Trenton Farmers' Market.

Wild Oats
At the north edge of the Princeton district, Wild Oats is a smaller version of Whole Foods. We liked it when it opened. We still do, but Whole Foods is the same company and it is closer to us. If we are coming home south on Nassau, we will stop to shop for what we need. We like the selection, the natural food, cosmetics, etc. The prepared food is often very good. It is a vast improvement over the grocery that preceded them in the location.

Desire for a Trader Joe store

We love many of the products that TJ sells, as well as the prices. We most frequently shop at the one in Camden County, but we are hoping one will open in Princeton and sell wine. More to come.

Bon Appetite
At the Princeton Shopping Center, Bon Appetite has scrumptious prepared food, cheeses, deli, and baked goods. The variety of chocolate, jams & jellies, oils, and other "gourmet" items gives you choices different from those you would find at MacCaffreys, Wegmans, and Whole Fields.

Bakeries
Witherspoon Bread Company is primarily a bread bakery associated with the Momo restaurants [includes Teresa's, Mediterra, NovaTerra, and others]. The bread is varied, tastes wonderful, and fresh. Get some.

Farm Markets
Trention Farm Market: We visit this market because it's next to Halo Farms who have premium ice cream at bargain prices. Given that, the market is the best source of freshly harvested fruits and vegetables in the area. Shop around among the different vendors. Often the first stall you visit will not have the best of any particular produce. The market has other vendors. You will find italian and other ethnic "groceries," bakeries, delis, and home baked pies, among many other items worth considering.

Update February 29, 2008
We have been looking at the Market this winter as a source of local foods. This February, there are local butchers and farmers [with local potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams] as well as other local merchants.

Kitchen Equipment

Kitchen Kapers and Williams & Sonoma are the two primary gadget stores. One is in downtown Princeton; the other is at Market Fair. KK has the larger selection, but is crowded and seems disorganized compared to W & S [which often costs more but sometimes provides better quality and almost always better service].

Traveling

We enjoy traveling in the US and Europe. If we would just do it, we would enjoy other locations as well. Not being especially willing to spend time on detailed planning of our itinerary, we tried a tour to Spain over 20 years ago. It wasn't great. Not long after that tour we discovered a guide called Europe through the Back Door by Rick Steves. We liked what he wrote and did a couple of trips using his itineraries. We became aware of Rick's guided tours, but didn't get around to booking one until about 6 years ago. We went to Ireland, then Scandanavia, then northern Italy, and last southern France. While no tour is the ideal means to explore a place, we have found the Rick Steves Tours to be a reasonable compromise.

Our most extraordinary meal on any of these trips was in Orvieto, Italia at L'Asino d'Oro [which was translated for us as the Golden Donkey]. The tour group ate there one night in Summer 2004. We had a multi course meal composed of:

Fava bean bruschetta with pecorino
Lardo on chestnut polenta
Red bell pepper coulis on chick pea puree
Red bell pepper salad with capers
Chicken, pinenut, raisin, and red bell pepper salad
Sausage and grapes in a wine sauce
Pecorino cheese and wine jelly
Caramelized onions
Pork cheek [baffo]
Beef and red peppers
Panzanella [bread salad]
Cannellini bean soup with rosemary
Eggplant and chocolate
Ravioli with turkey and lamb in a wine sauce
Bread and vegetable lasagna
Cocolate, chili, and rosemary
Goat milk pudding

And lots of wine.

Pawley's Island, SC & Vicinity
In the US, our most frequent destination has been Pawley's Island, South Carolina. In May and June 2006, we made our most recent visit there. During that visit we ate at Frank's Outback, the Rice Paddy [in Georgetown], Roz's Rice Mill Cafe, Orobosa's Low Country Cafe, Louis' Fish Camp, the Tuscany Bistro, Nibil's [Surfside], the Litchfield Restaurant and in Murrel's Inlet at Creek Ratz, Drunken Jack's, and the Hot Fish Club. We also bought take out meals at Perrone's Market and the Krazy Krab. In many ways the standout meals were at Orobosa's although the old reliables [the Rice Paddy, Frank's and Roz's] were excellent.

We ate twice at the Tuscany Bistro. The first time we had a seafood sauce over ricotta filled ravioli that was superb. The second visit resulted in good food, but it was the stand-out ravioli from the first visit that we remember. We asked for a red gravy with the seafood. It was spicy and rich with fresh basil The ravioli were tender and simply filled with very fresh tasting ricotta. The simplicity was delightful. The dish was a result of my partner's allegies. The chef created a variation on a regular item that made it deliciously edible for her. If you like Italian and are in coastal Carolina, the chef can create a great meal for you. Tell him what you want.

Orobosa's saw us three times. Each time we had fish or seafood, including grouper, shrimp and crab cakes, and salmon. The fish and seafood were fresh, moist, flavorful, and usually served with a small salad and a starch. The portions are smaller at lunch and you get a small piece of cornbread. The larger dinner portions come with a tasty bread. Both at lunch and dinner the entree had a flavorful herb infused sauce. We had an absolutely delectable 17 layer caramel cake for dessert. On another occasion we had a rich pecan pie. June 15, 2006.