Back to Basic(s)

When we are in the city, Jersey that is, I usually do our weekly shopping at the big A&P near the Holland Tunnel. I have scouted the various supermarkets in the area and this one satisfies my, as Rich would call them, "double pinkie instincts" for a quality food market where I can get a wide selection of good grub at a reasonable price in nice surroundings. I get the basics and the odd treat here and there, ice cream, some decent cheese for snacks, and so on. Frankly, the selection of cheeses at A&P could be a bit better...OK, I AM double pinkie! I am trying to lose some weight (there, I've said it) and so I resist the cookies and most sweets these days. In any case, the cookies and cakes that I bake are much better than the ones I can buy at the A&P.

Since I moved to Jersey City I have enjoyed doing a weekly shopping trip to get a house full of food. For a long time, at my old home in the West Village, I would buy food for just one day, more Euro-style I suppose, except that I did it in a supermarket, not at the high street provisioners. You could fit four or five of that West Village D'Agostino's in my Jersey City A&P, where the the quantity and variety is positively delicious. When I am at the A&P, as I head from produce to the meat section, past the bread (none of that these days!), there's an issue that weighs on my mind. It's the Chicken Question—should I buy the organic chicken, the natural chicken (whatever the hell THAT means), or, heaven forbid, the big fat Perdue Oven Stuffer Roaster? Why are are the organic chickens at A&P always so small? If I want a good-sized chicken (I got the "Make enough food for several days' leftovers" lecture this morning), the Perdue wins out. If I am feeling an impulse to eat healthy, I balance the merits of the organic and natural birds. Is it worth paying so much more for the organic bird? Sarah, one of my colleagues at work, had this advice for me: "Buy the smaller organic chicken. Eat less meat and more vegetables." My biz partner Ann is a good bargain shopper. She goes to Fairway in Brooklyn and follows the store sales to guide her weekly food choices. She says the markdowns help her decide what to buy in any given week when confronted with a giant Big Box full of food. If organic chicken is not on sale that week, her family won't eat chicken.

I was a bit overwhelmed by my first visit to the huge new Fairway in Paramus on the way back from the country last weekend. The range of produce and the scale and quality of the meat was dazzling. Lots of organics here, and cheaper, too. Until I know the lay of the land in a supermarket I am always a bit disoriented and discombobulated. It's rather like visiting a new city or country while you're trying to figure out the local conditions in the first couple of days. Wayfinding happens in countries, cities and yes, in supermarkets. Last week I got a cart full of well priced groceries at Fairway but I didn't enjoy the experience. After a few visits I'll figure out the Fairway drill and get in the groove.

The choices we make each week at the supermarket have so many implications for our health. Eating healthy is obviously important but not always so easy to figure out—think of the Chicken Question. The shopping cart is full of items and decisions to be made. It can be tough making the right healthy choices every week, balancing appetites, budgets, availability, time, and pleasure. Is there time to make a good, healthy, delicious meal each night? Will my budget allow for the organic chicken? Will I really enjoy the whole wheat pasta? These considerations can sometimes override the healthiest choices. If I shop when I am hungry, I can end up buying things I regret, things I don't need. Food activist Michael Pollan had good advice the other week on NPR: buy food that can spoil. In other words, buy fresh, unprocessed foods, not packaged ones filled with chemicals and preservatives.

On Sunday afternoon, when I go and buy the basics in Jersey City and I have some time, I stop at Basic, one of my favorite spots in my new hometown. It's a great cafe-restaurant in the lovely neighborhood near Hamilton Park. The sign in the window at Basic advertises "The Best Coffee in Jersey City." The thoroughly adorable staff serve breakfast, and throughout the day, sandwiches and wraps, salads and sweets, tea and coffee, of course, and a nice selection of gelati. My current Sunday favorite is the bul-go-gi sandwich, slices of Korean-style marinated rib eye steak with greens, basil mayonnaise on a nice focaccia roll. It makes for a very satisfying lunch. Check out Basic, and tell me what your favorites are there. I wish there was a place like Basic up the hill in my section of Jersey City. And now back to basics, I have to get myself over to the A&P. Fortunately, I have some chicken in the fridge so I don't have to make THAT decision this week.