peeder's Shopping Roundup

[peeder]

Having posted my restaurant roundup I thought I'd go ahead and "empty the tank" as I like to do and share everything else I've learned during my food-obsessed years in SF. Emptying the tank is a way of giving myself some sense of closure so I can move on to other interests. But for some reason, belly simply refuses to be ignored...

OK so I'll keep this simple with a set of ranked lists. Starting with overall groceries, in descending order of preference, then going through a variety of specific areas of interest to me at least.

I'm ranking based on value; which takes quality and cost into account. These are the places I go plain & simple. Since trendy "California cuisine" is more shopping than cooking, this is my recipe as far as that goes.

I would especially love to learn of new places...I live in SF so these are all SF-focused.

GENERAL GROCERY
1) Bryan's
2) Berkeley Bowl
3) Draeger's San Mateo
4) Whole Foods
5) Good Life Bernal Heights (where I live, so biased)

FARMER'S MARKETS
1) SF Ferry Plaza (for quality)
2) Alemany (for price)

PRODUCE
1) Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market
2) Monterey Market Berkeley
3) Bryan's
4) Rainbow
5) Whole Foods

CHEESE
1) Cheese Board
2) Rainbow Grocery
3) Say Cheese
4) Cowgirl Ferry Plaza

WINE
1) K&L Wines
2) SF Wine Trading (on Taraval)
3) Vineyard Gate (Millbrae)
4) Premier Cru
5) Jug Shop
6) Wine Club
7) Tower Market (Twin Peaks on Portola)
8) Wine House

SEAFOOD
1) Bryan's
2) Sakai (on Post, Jtown)
3) New May Wah (10th & Clement, learn how to fillet)
4) Whole Foods

DELI
1) East Coast West
2) Andronico's
3) Whole Foods

CHICKEN
1) Hoffman Farms (Ferry Plaza, Cafe Rouge)
2) Happy Dan's (Bryans and Good Life)

GAME & VARIETY MEATS
1) Polarica's

BREAKFAST/BAKING GOODS (flour, maple syrup, cereal, etc.)
1) Trader Joe's
2) Rainbow

TEA
1) Imperial Tea Court (Powell & Broadway)
2) Far Leaves (Berkeley)
3) Ten Ren (SF Chinatown)
4) Rainbow (in bulk)

SPICES
1) SF Herb Company
2) Rainbow (in bulk)

OLIVE OIL
1) Rainbow (in bulk)
2) Made In France Open Houses

VINEGAR
1) Made in France Open Houses
2) Williams-Sonoma Union Sq. (shocking I know)
3) Rainbow

PEANUT OIL
1) Lion & Globe (@ New May Wah)

So there's some basics from memory, and there's plenty of other stuff to be found at the places listed. Some areas I've left out since I haven't determined a ranking.

The best retail places let you taste before you buy (hygienically) and when they do that they usually have good stuff for obvious reasons. I think all retailers should have regular tasting events on a published schedule like the better wine stores do, and gradually taste through their entire inventory.

As it stands I have to do things like Fancy Food Show or just waste plenty of dough determining what's the best product. I guess the stores want me to waste the money, but all it ends up doing is making me lose faith in their buyers.

As you can see, getting the best value stuff requires quite a bit of zooming around. It's not as hectic as it looks, since lots of these things aren't all that perishable.

Cheers!
peeder

[nja]

Nice list. In exchange for you Chaz tip earlier (haven't gone, but will) I'll offer this: 24th Street Cheese Company, @ Sanchez in Noe Valley. Handily beats your #2, #3, and #4 Cheese places, and gives #1 a run for the money. And you live in Bernal...it's so close. Don't miss the refrigerator of the best goat cheeses you can find, just on your left as you walk in the door.

[peeder]

Hi again Nick and thanks.

I debated whether to put 24th st on that list, but I ended up disqualifying them (and several other places cheese and not) because of a couple of poor customer service incidents.

In this case, the first time I went the older man refused to suggest anything to me to try, telling me to buy the Jenkins book instead. Odd, since he had a golden opportunity to develop a custom, with his advice being a potential competitive must-have. But I bought the book and came back. The woman (his wife?) this time and another time was in a very irritable mood, as if it was a pain to serve me in an otherwise empty store. Since then the man has lightened up a bit and I do buy cheese there from time to time. The prices and quality and selection are admittedly excellent, although you should taste before buying as everywhere.

Artisan cheese on California and Fillmore (sister to Cowgirl Ferry Plaza) was knocked off the list for a worse incident, where the staff adamantly refused to cut the rind off a wedge for me in a similarly empty store, but was willing to spend a few minutes digging out a plastic knife for me to do it myself (although they didn't also provide a cutting board, so I ended up doing it on top of a trash can outside). They claimed that they "weren't in the catering business" even though cutting the rind off was no harder than cutting the wedge off in the first place, and no one was waiting.

Cooper's, a store in Duboce triangle, was so bad in this category I hesitate to even mention them according to the observation bad press is better than no press at all. The inexperienced young balding manager of Coopers literally threw me out of the (yet again empty) store after I quietly commented that one of his exotic cheeses had ammoniated since he had waited too long to open it. I guess he was humiliated or something. I never returned.

Sure enough, all of these people in the cheese business are human, and it's a tough calling trying to move lumps of pleasantly rotted butterfat at a profit. But they are all in premium retail, and in premium retail you must keep in mind at all times you are not selling a product: you are selling a customer experience. And the customer experience that gets people to spend so much money on relative trifles has a lot to do with making them feel in some comfortable way like royalty.

I would have all my premium retail staff follow the "Queen of England" rule: if the Queen were to walk in the store at any moment, she could be treated like all the other customers in the store with no feelings of impropriety on either side. This isn't hard, nor is it overly precious; it's just a matter of developing the right habits and seeing the right things.

In the meantime, there is a cost: while your customer might not be the Queen of England, they may well write (or leave you out of) Chowhound reviews! Touche fromager.

[Ruth Lafler]

I'm really lucky that I think one of the best cheese stores in the area is half a block from my house: Farmstead Cheeses and Wines in Alameda. Alameda is little off the beaten chow track, but this place, which is only a few months old, is really doing a great job. They have a huge selection (much better than Cowgirl at the Ferry Building, especially for soft cheeses), the staff (right now the owner and a young man who is also quite knowledgeable) are happy to talk to you about the various cheeses, let you taste anything that isn't being sold as an intact round, and generally provide the kind of service you're talking about. Prices are as roughly comparable to Cowgirl. A bonus is a well-chosen, somewhat eclectic selection of mid-range priced wines. They're also offering monthly classes, alternating between wine tasting and cheese tasting.

Farmstead Cheeses and Wines
1650 Park Street (inside the Alameda Marketplace)
510-864-WINE

Open 11-8 M-Sat and 11-7 Sunday.

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with this business, but I am a regular and since I only live a half block away, I have a keen interest in seeing it succeed!

[peeder]

Thanks Ruth that store is new to me. I will check that out sometime. Perhaps I could join it with a trip to Rosenblum and Rubisaw-Sargent. Nice late opening hours for a specialty store.

[Ruth Lafler]

"Rubisaw-Sargent"?

[peeder]

"Rubisaw-Sargent"?

Sorry, it's actually spelled Rubissow-Sargent.

They are an excellent value winemaker that I thought was based in Alameda but they are actually in Berkeley. I do recommend trying their Cab and their "Trompettes" which is based on Cab Franc.

Link: http://www.rubissowsargent.com/

[amalia]

I tend to agree with you about 24th Street Cheese. I have had such uneven service there that sometimes I'm just not in the mood to brave it. Some days the service is quite good, other days it borders on surly, and last Saturday I could not convince the proprietor that I wanted to try his aged cheddars, not his aged goudas.

[nja]

Yes, the 24th people can be moody. I was just there last night and had a 15 minute conversation about French goat cheese with the older man. Other times he has been a little testy. Same with the woman (who I believe is not only the owner but also the cheese writer for the Chron): sometimes nice, sometimes not. When they are in a good mood (which is more often than not) I take the opportunity to ask questions and taste stuff I've never had before. When they're in a bad mood I just ask for what I know and get out.

-Nick