It seems I’ve turned into the grocery store reviewer, as I’m about to tell you about a new Whole Foods that opened up last week in Northbrook. And as is becoming my customary practice, I just happened to be around for the grand opening. Or maybe I just have a fetish for awesome grocery stores (is that so crazy?) Either way, it was definitely a grand opening, and I was definitely there (thanks to the heads up from mom.)
To begin, I think the produce section fell from heaven. While I’ve seen somewhat nicer displays (though don’t get me wrong – the display was nice!) I have never seen such a wide variety of different fruits and vegetables in a grocery store. You want eggplant? Ok…did you want a Chinese eggplant, a Japanese, white, purple zebra, or Indian? They have them all! Oh and peppers…they had a HUGE variety of peppers. Bell, fresno, anaheim, habanero, jalapeno…you name it, and they’re lined up next to eachother. Ok wait, I know there are thousands and thousands of peppers so maybe don’t name one, it’d be impossible for them to have them all.
I had the pleasure of not only seeing but holding a passionfruit for the first time, which I have to say is much lighter than I would have ever imagined. I even debated taking home a stalk of sugar cane, or a cactus pad, but in the end, my better judgment trumped my excitement. I learned about things I had never even heard of before, like a batata or a sapute (ok don’t pipe up telling me you’ve heard of those, I haven’t.)
The store is just absolutely huge and they make no sacrifices. The cheese section was enormous (that’s where I saw the largest hunk of cheese I’ve ever seen,) as was the meat section and everything else under the sun, er…roof.
BUT the best part is that they have an in-house sit-down sushi bar! They don’t just sell and prepare fresh sushi, you can sit down and eat it right then and there (if you want…) Sushi not your thing? How about some gelato to eat on the way out? Coffee? Another hot meal? They have it all! So I guess it’s really not just a grocery store, it’s a restaurant. And what a great idea that is, because if there is any place where people probably want to eat, it’s the grocery store.
In a nutshell, I loved the place, and I even missed all the free samples. The only thing is I probably couldn’t afford to go there often, because with great quality comes great (as in the large definition of the word) prices. But, I did notice that POM Tea glasses were only $2.99 whereas the grocery store I was forced to go to back in Champaign sold it for $3.99. Not sure how much that means to you…
Either way, Whole Foods = A+!
-Hillary, going camping this weekend for the first time in her life
Editor, Recipe4Living
