Do You Buy or Eat Locally?

fureverywhere

fureverywhere

beloved friend who will always be with us in spiri
Location
Northern NJ, USA
Interesting how saturated we are by big corporate that we forget the pleasure of shopping small businesses. Our local bookstore is pricey sometimes but they also get a great variety of titles. Likewise the food establishments. But today I had to go back to the assistance office.

The bus drops you at a terminal two towns away. The good news it's less expensive than getting there. The bad news is it's almost an hour walk. So here I was chugging along and there was the smell of fried chicken. You know when something smells so good you get fat inhaling? So okay if I can find a Popeyes I'm getting chicken.

Continuing to chug and I got to thinking...I'm surrounded by food places, I don't need frickin' corporate chicken. So I started looking a bit closer at store fronts. I can read basic Spanish, helpful because a bunch of menus aren't in English. Chicken is pollo which branches across several dialects.

It gets murky though when you try Ecuadorian, Portuguese, Dominican even...not Spanish there. With my luck I'd end up with guinea pig on a roll, hold the mayo. Then I saw bakery...BINGBINGBING...okay a sweet tooth and I can figure this out. It was Caribbean, just a small store front. But what a pretty bakery.

There were handwritten food choices on the wall. They had a kitchen back there too. I haven't had a good roti for a long time. Then I just had to get the bread pudding, studded with candied fruit mmmmm. A private label ginger juice too. She brought out a roti big enough to feed three...I left a very happy camper. You know she'll see me again:)

Oh and you learn something new every day...goat's head soup isn't just a Rolling Stone album;););)
 

I won't eat at a chain store unless there's no other choice or I'm in a rush. So, very rarely.

I like little Mom & Pop diners, where the Mom half does most of the cooking.

When I lived in San Francisco I liked to eat at the fish grotto on the main pier. It's less grotto than it was then, but still has a few old-time fresh fish and sea-food shops. Back in the day you'd walk the pier, and see several outdoor cauldrons boiling over an open fire, filled with crabs or lobster. Some guy would be stirring the pot, yelling "Fresh crab!"

Mm! Good stuff, man.
 
NOMNOMNOM I love fish, guess it's about being part cat. But yeah the smaller places can be perfect. Something I read is try to find the local place where the locals go. If a bagel or coffee shop has people lined around the corner every day at 6am, there's probably something delicious going on in there.

With ethnic cuisine, if there is a crowd of people of that ethnicity you probably have a winner. There's a terrific Indian place we go to for special occasions. It's a mixed group of customers but always tables and tables of Indian families. Something helpful at the shop I was in today...I know some Creole from my old job. I gracefully complimented the chef, that was the perfect chicken roti:):):)
 

The area where I live used to be the flavor known as artsy-fartsy....do you know the kind of place I'm talking about? Well, these days it's not quite so artsy, and full of old farts. Most of those folks have been here since they took over back in the 60s and 70s, and many of their little enterprises - poster shops, head shops, jewelry and candle boutiques, etc. - have evolved into restaurants. Each one is unique. You got your vegan, Italian, Chinese, Home-cookin', soul food, sea food. None of them is part of a big franchise, or Inc. The food is fresh, the prices are reasonable. It's crazy to stop at a McD when food this good is just a few miles further down the road.
 
fureverywhere said:
Interesting how saturated we are by big corporate that we forget the pleasure of shopping small businesses. Our local bookstore is pricey sometimes but they also get a great variety of titles. Likewise the food establishments. But today I had to go back to the assistance office.

The bus drops you at a terminal two towns away. The good news it's less expensive than getting there. The bad news is it's almost an hour walk. So here I was chugging along and there was the smell of fried chicken. You know when something smells so good you get fat inhaling? So okay if I can find a Popeyes I'm getting chicken.

Continuing to chug and I got to thinking...I'm surrounded by food places, I don't need frickin' corporate chicken. So I started looking a bit closer at store fronts. I can read basic Spanish, helpful because a bunch of menus aren't in English. Chicken is pollo which branches across several dialects.

It gets murky though when you try Ecuadorian, Portuguese, Dominican even...not Spanish there. With my luck I'd end up with guinea pig on a roll, hold the mayo. Then I saw bakery...BINGBINGBING...okay a sweet tooth and I can figure this out. It was Caribbean, just a small store front. But what a pretty bakery.

There were handwritten food choices on the wall. They had a kitchen back there too. I haven't had a good roti for a long time. Then I just had to get the bread pudding, studded with candied fruit mmmmm. A private label ginger juice too. She brought out a roti big enough to feed three...I left a very happy camper. You know she'll see me again:)

Oh and you learn something new every day...goat's head soup isn't just a Rolling Stone album;););)
Click to expand...

I'll pass on the goat's head soup, thank you!
 
Yeah, I mean I'm adventurous but goats are cute. Fun story, the first time my daughter in law came to our house she met all the pets. My youngest daughter took her to meet her rat family in her bedroom. Big split level cage, very friendly little creatures when you get to know them. My daughter in law explained in fractured English " In my country yum very good". I found out later she wasn't joking:eek:
 
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