Saturday, March 7, 2009

An Afternoon at Whole Foods




Ah, Whole Foods. Or as other people refer to it as "Whole Paycheck". We finally got one here in Jacksonville in December, and ever since it opened, I have forked over parts of my paycheck on a weekly basis.

The moment you walk in, you're greeted by the floral and veggie departments and you feel welcome. The produce is beautifully displayed and arranged, and bascially screams at you to "pick me pick me! I'm good for you!" Walking around the produce you see so many new and interesting items that you have only seen on maybe The Food Network.... dried chiles, rappini, aloe leaf, cactus leaves, bitter oranges, and so much more. I ended up selecting some Broccolini for my Barefoot Bloggers challenge, some dried Chipolte peppers for making enchiladas this week, some Meyer lemons, tomatoes on the vine ( I was sad to see they were out of the big Heriloom tomatoes), some hydroponic Basil, and some fresh garlic.

Since I wasn't really there for grocery shopping, I decided to grab some lunch while I was there. And at Whole Foods, you can get anything under the sun. No matter if you're craving Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Italian, Vegetarian, American, the honestly have it all. I happen to LOVE their marinated Feta cheese from the cold bar section, as well as their marinated artichoke hearts. I was looking at all of the other salads they had available, and they had a fantastic looking Broccoli salad with cashews.... well I just had to try it as well. I scurried over to check out the selections on the hot bar, and they had just brought out a gigantic pan of 3 Cheese Lasagna. Looking at that melty cheese and bubbling sauce, I couldn't resist. I also selected a few meatless meatballs just to try them.

I go to pay for my goods and go to their "cafe" seating area. It's light, spacious, airy, and a perfect place to enjoy your selctions. Whole Foods was so smart to put a seating area in so that you can go shopping, or just come in and eat.












So I will still continue to have myself pulled into the magical world that is Whole Foods week after week. The possibilites are endless. Now if only they brought an IKEA to Jacksonville, my life would be complete. I'd be broke, but at least I'd be happy!

2 comments:

Anny said...

Wow they really were smart to set up that eating area. It looks so comfortable and probably encourages friends to gather and lunch before grocery shopping.

Unknown said...

That's what the eating area in our lone Whole Foods looks like too! It's so hard not to go in and spend ridiculous amount of money... I may just ask for a Whole Foods shopping spree for my birthday this year. lol