Union Market: Delish But No Bargain
Given Clinton Hill’s limited selection of gourmet food (L’Epicerie, that’s it), we decided to head over to Union Market (at Union and Sixth Avenue) in Park Slope on Saturday to shop for a dinner we were giving that night. We had a great experience–decent cheese selection, great meats, not too crowded–until we got to the…
Given Clinton Hill’s limited selection of gourmet food (L’Epicerie, that’s it), we decided to head over to Union Market (at Union and Sixth Avenue) in Park Slope on Saturday to shop for a dinner we were giving that night. We had a great experience–decent cheese selection, great meats, not too crowded–until we got to the cash register. Ouch! $1.79 for an Emmi yogurt? Manhattan prices to be sure. But the pork loin that we seasoned with just a little garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and threw on the grill turned out great so we weren’t complaining. Guess you get what you pay for!
To Linusvanpelt re the Park Slope Food Co-op: I was being somewhat tongue in cheek in calling the Co-op rules fascist, and I dealt with the political extremists by not getting involved. I essentially did as you do: I did my shift and did my shopping and didn’t get involved otherwise. The long lines are the worst problem, and the system of having to go through two check-out lines is ridiculous and just increases the wait. I ended up shopping elsewhere half the time because it was impossible to just make a quick trip to the Co-op to pick up a few small items because of the long waits. (I know there must be times of the day or week when it’s not crowded, but apparently those times do not coincide with when I am home and able to shop. I work long hours.) But when shopping and then waiting in line can take 2 hours, and when some well-meaning but crazed Co-oper shouted at me for letting my hungry toddler snack on something while waiting in line for over an hour (literally grabbing it out of her hand and shouting to me, “Don’t you know there’s no eating allowed here? How do we know you’re planning on paying for that?!?”), that was the last straw. That and the fact that I couldn’t keep up with the work requirement. With 12,000+ members, I think they could afford to allow some people who don’t have time to work in the store to pay higher prices for the privilege. But, no, that would be elitist….
Hey, JR, love the Lamp Chops typo — when I was a little girl my dad made that mistake on meat he was putting in the freezer — he marked “Lamp Chops” on the lamb and “Profit Chops” on the pork (he was an accountant so the subject was on his mind — don’t know about the lamp — maybe we needed bulbs). When my mom found them she insisted she take a vacation.
But, seriously, you must have major storage space at home for all that TP!
The Clinton Hill CSA is so awesome. Fresh flowers, fruits & vegetables. YOu can even order organic meat & other items.
As a working mother of two small children, I love Fresh Direct. I’d rather come home and play with my kids than go to the grocery store after work to “interact with my neighbors.” I order my groceries after the kids are in bed, visit the local shops for cheeses, produce, etc., and invite my neighbors over for dinner or weekend lunches. Waiting in line at the checkout counter is not my idea of interaction. And I would have to assume that FD is employing a larger number of people than the local deli every could.
I live in Ditmas Park, and well I don’t have any fancy food shops walking distance, like Union Market, Blue what ever.. That being said FD does not deliver here nor am I that keened on having it delivered here. I love Costo, I am there almost every 6 weeks. I buy Toilet Paper maybe 3x a year, how great is that! Someone mention there Lamp Chop’s. They are great, and you can’t get lamp chops that good at the price Costco sells them for.
When I have a party and need a nice selection I go to the Eagle on 5th Ave. They know how to run a store and never any long lines.
And I’m sorry, if local merchants can’t or won’t adapt their merchandise selection to compete with Fresh Direct that isn’t my problem. I’d love to be able to buy some of these things at a local store but that just isn’t possible.
Re: Blue Apron in Park Slope. There is a new branch on 7th Ave, near 14th Street, in what I believe most have decided to call South Slope.
BTW, Costco has one of the world’s best apple pies. Dirt cheap, too.
What’s different about having your food delivered as opposed to anything else? Oh no a plague of UPS trucks…Nope can’t order that shirt from llbean cause it doesn’t provide local jobs…I was going to buy that cd player on Amazon but it would be more fun to interact with my neighbors at Circuit City…Hillarious…
costco doesn’t give bags, but they do give boxes.