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Whole Foods, an Austin-Based Store with Over 400 Locations in the U.S. and U.K. - Being Purchased by Amazon for $13.7 Billion


Al Dente

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The vendors at the Kentlands were not ready at 4. Nor were they completely set up at 4:20 when I left. I did pick up some chevre from the Cherry Gate farm folks. There was a meat vendor, a plant vendor and a not yet set up coffee vendor when I left.

Cute idea and I hope it flourishes but not worth making a special trip over right now.

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My favorite potatoes are now in season. Stopped at Calvert-Woodley last night and picked up some Spanish chorizo.

Psyched. Was looking forward to making Patatas a la Riojana. Even have Spanish olive oil. All that is missing is pimenton.

Last time I purchased the spice it was at WFM during a major campaign when the store was promoting Spanish foods.

Now, apparently, the company no longer carries the spice since it contains an ingredient that does not meet its rigorous standards.

Since I'll be in Penn Quarter this afternoon, I might bump into someone who can fill me in, but does anyone know what gives? What's so unwholesome about pimenton?

I don't have much time these days to schlep all the way to that wonderful Spanish store in Bethesda, but if I must, I will. Meanwhile, know of another place I can find my spice?

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Last time I purchased the spice it was at WFM during a major campaign when the store was promoting Spanish foods.

Now, apparently, the company no longer carries the spice since it contains an ingredient that does not meet its rigorous standards.

Since I'll be in Penn Quarter this afternoon, I might bump into someone who can fill me in, but does anyone know what gives? What's so unwholesome about pimenton?

ortiz tuna and anchovies seem to be gone, and have they pulled route 11 potato chips from the shelves?

also, they have walled in all the inside aisles at the p street location so they are only accessible from the front and back of the store. what's that all about?

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I am definitely enjoying being in Whole Foods territory again. I have one that is a manageable walk from my apartment but it is convenience store size and just too claustrophobic. A short distance away is a regular store and a little further is a large store. They have a fair amount of local produce, proudly displayed. Puzzling is the lack of local options for other readily available produce considering this display. One example is the local blueberries are fantastic right now (went berry picking earlier in the week) but they have FL berries in the stores.

At first I thought I wouldn't do a lot of shopping here because of price and the whole unemployed student thing, but then the radio spots highlighting the cost savings caught my attention. After I had a good chuckle, I took note of produce prices compared to the regular market and saw they weren't that different, sometimes higher, sometimes even, and sometimes lower with most things just looking better.

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I don't have much time these days to schlep all the way to that wonderful Spanish store in Bethesda, but if I must, I will. Meanwhile, know of another place I can find my spice?
Balducci's in Spring Valley or Dean & Deluca on M Street should carry it.
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Balducci's in Spring Valley
Forgive me, but as I've pointed out before, there is no Balducci's in Spring Valley. Balducci's is near the top of a hill, not in a valley. The hill is known as Wesley Heights, home to American University and other Methodist institutions.

Regarding pimenton, is it my imagination that I've seen it at Trader Joe's? It might be. Anna Blume: Which potatoes are your favorites?

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Regarding pimenton, is it my imagination that I've seen it at Trader Joe's? It might be. Anna Blume: Which potatoes are your favorites?
Well, I should qualify what I say because you'll notice that I swooned about the itty bitty potato nubbins that Zora has also been buying from some of the same folk as me, including Jim of Sunnyside Farm at Dupont Circle.

However, Next Step Produce (Heinz also at Dupont) sells what he calls Nicola (? I could swear it was closer to "Carolina" last year) and perhaps another slightly oblong thin-skinned yellow.

José Andres specifies Idaho potatoes in the recipe I follow, but I prefer these particular wax potatoes, instead. They break down just enough.

BTW, a very kind executive chef graced me w a tin of pimenton this afternoon, so now I can make one of my absolute favorites very soon.

Thanks, bioesq for answering my question!

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The Clarendon Whole Foods has reopened a section of the store that was under renovation. (Part of the front of the store is still under renovation.) Prepared food, sushi, bakery, and cheese cases run along the wall all the way to the front of the store where the taqueria and seating used to be. The bakery case has an expanded selection of pastries, and there are new cheeses.

The cheese station that used to be in the dairy section is gone (though they're not completely done clearing out that area), and they added a second salad bar island. This area of the store feels much more spacious now (but part of that might be because it was more cramped with the prepared foods cases moved forward while the renovation was going on).

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General Tso's Vegan Chicken, $8.99 / lb.

Soy Popcorn Chicken

(Non GMD Soybean Protein, Condensed Wheat Protein, Water Soybean Oil, Sea Salt,

Vegetarian Seasonings

(Soybean Amino Acids, Dry Mushroom Powder, Begetable Extract, Sea Salt),

Broccoli,

Sauce

(Shoyu

(Soybeans, Wheat, Salt, Brewing Starter

(Aspergillus Sojae)),

Sugar, Stir-Fry Sauce

(Water, Sugar, Soy Sauce

(Water Salt, Soybean, Wheat Flour),

Salt, Modified Corn Starch, Yeast Extract, Caramel Color, Flavors

(Contains Mushroom Extractives),

Mirin, White Whine, Vinegar, Mushroom Soy Sauce

(Water, Soy Beans, Wheat Flour, Salt, Sugar, Extract of Mushroom),

Garlic Onion, Ginger, Vegetable Base

(Salt, Maltodextrin, Sugar, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Dehydrated Vegetables

(Leek, Tomatoes, Onions, Bell Peppers, Garlic, Fennel),

Natural Flavors, Maltodextrin, Potato Starch, Spices and Natural Coloring

(Turmeric),

Silcon Dioxide),

White Pepper)

Garlic, Chinese Cooking Wine, White Wine Vinegar, Sugar, Canola Oil, Chili-Garlic Sauce, Green Onions,

Chilli Flakes, Cornstarch. Contains: Soy, Wheat.

Hey, you know what? With a little super-fresh basil from my next-door neighbor's garden? Not half-bad.

Now, if anyone can nest those parentheses, they're better than I am.

Cheers,

Rocks.

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You guys might laugh but I find Whole Foods to be so overwhelming, so many choices and decisiouns to make! I remember the first time I went in there as a college sophmore, thinking it was a conventional storea and I was looking for quesso dip. Heh. I just kind of wandered through the aisles with my jaw on the floor. Even now 4-5 years later I still get that feeling wandering around feeling like there's just too many choices to make. (and then there's the sticker shock at 12 dollar hunks of cheese. yikes)

My husband I were high fiving each other for making a trip there for groceries staples to last us for 2 weeks and only spending 99 dollars or so and then we realized we'd spent 15 of that on cheese. Heh.

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so many choices and decisiouns to make!

if you are looking for good vinegar at whole foods these days, the only smart decision is to look somewhere else.

if you are looking for good champagne, you have to choose which store first. i would choose p street and then the gaston chiquet blanc de blanc. it is locked up, and the store has reverted to the dubious policy of walking you to the checkout. a bottle is roughly $45, and if i were the criminal they are trying to make me feel like, there are some items that would be easier to pinch in the cosmetics and homeopathic drugs aisle, just for starters. frankly, the experience makes me feel dizy.

i felt like a math genius when i returned to the store for a refund on the $12.99-a-pound coffee i had purchased on sale for $10.99 only to find out when reading my receipt at home that i had been charged the full price. i was offered a refund of $2.25. when i asked the store employee how he had determined the price, i was told that it was an estimate and then he had rounded it up. i asked to see the receipt, and pointed out that i had purchased 1.3 pounds of the coffee. i had been overcharged by $2.00 a pound, and therefore the refund should be $2.60. You may be right i was told, twice eventually, as the discussion continued and heated up. discrepancies between the price on the shelf and the price at the register have declined in recent months, and the store has also instituted what appears to be a new policy: when a sale item rings up higher, they remove the sale price. smart thinking; those erroneous sale prices could stay up for months, so there must have been more complaints than mine.

if you want to feel like you're on candid camera, try to find the young african cashier at the tenley store who demands that you sing before she checks you out. i offered to have my wife dance on the counter instead, but she refused to climb up there. i was then told that if i didn't sing, she would card me on my wine purchases (one of which was a bottle of champagne marked down from about $39 to $29 but that rang up, as i noticed at home, at about $38; it is now on sale for about $38). i refused to do either. they tend to be ridiculously uptight at this location over the city's liquor laws and i am occasionally carded here even though i have legally been buying alcohol in washington for going on four decades and do not have an aging picture of myself upstairs at home. this was the first time, however, that i had been asked to sing. i just can't do justice to "que sera sera" or "row row row your boat," the only two non-religious numbers to which i can still remember the words.

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Do any of the locations still carry ginger Altoids? Or anywhere else for that matter?

It used to be that the flavor was too exotic for CVS or other supermarkets, but just the thing for WFM. Now I can't find them anywhere.

I have seen those and other flavors at Target stores at the checkout display.

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I don't know if the Clarendon location is going downhill or it's just my luck there. Tonight I bought an expensive dessert only to find it moldy upon opening it, and I had to return foul-smelling ground chicken not too long ago. :rolleyes:

I was going to make red beans and rice but all 10 or so packages of smoked ham hocks had spots of white mold. I could tell it wasn't just salt crystallization spots because they were furry and some were blue/green. Also, no dry red beans to be found.

I noticed that the Clarendon WF has started carrying local beef from VA and PA. From PA I think the producer was Wolfe's neck but I don't recall the VA producer.

Additionally, the cheese dept has Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk and Mt. Tam.

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I was going to make red beans and rice but all 10 or so packages of smoked ham hocks had spots of white mold. I could tell it wasn't just salt crystallization spots because they were furry and some were blue/green. Also, no dry red beans to be found.

Jeez, what're you going to Whole Foods for when Latino market in the area can sell you eight different brands of red beans (Salvadorans far prefer red to black when it comes to beanage) and all the hocks you can smoke for half the price you would have paid there?

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Jeez, what're you going to Whole Foods for when Latino market in the area can sell you eight different brands of red beans (Salvadorans far prefer red to black when it comes to beanage) and all the hocks you can smoke for half the price you would have paid there?

I was at WF because I birthed a yogurt eating monster 14 months ago and we were picking up two 32 oz tubs for his fix since the two purchased on Sunday are GONE! Good point though about the beans, I should have checked El Chapparal across the street.

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Jeez, what're you going to Whole Foods for when Latino market in the area can sell you eight different brands of red beans (Salvadorans far prefer red to black when it comes to beanage) and all the hocks you can smoke for half the price you would have paid there?

Lack of pesticide residue on the beans? :rolleyes:

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WF started carrying Turtle Mountain's "So Delicious Coconut Milk" in Original, Chocolate and Unsweetened. I don't know if the deal is still going on but for $2.33 compared to its $4.66 or so price for a half gallon container, it another good alternative for those allergic to dairy or soy. Of course, you'd have to like the coconut taste, but if you also want to use it for cooking, it's worth the price compared to cans of coconut milk sold, I think...

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Not as exciting as Al Dente's wine bargin extravaganza, but still of interest is the new habit of my local Whole Foods (Tyson's Corner) of setting out a bin of "cheese ends" for sale. They're small or odd-shaped leftover bits that they must think are too miniscule or weird-looking for "normal" public consumption. There's no per-pound discount, but it's a great way to set put a small cheese course for those of us without enough mouths (or a separate cheese refrigerator) to warrant a five-pound wedge of gruyere. They've been doing it for a couple of months or so now, and, interestingly, I haven't seen the same on offer at some of the other stores I've visted (P Street downtown, Fair Lakes), since they started.

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Not as exciting as Al Dente's wine bargin extravaganza, but still of interest is the new habit of my local Whole Foods (Tyson's Corner) of setting out a bin of "cheese ends" for sale. They're small or odd-shaped leftover bits that they must think are too miniscule or weird-looking for "normal" public consumption. There's no per-pound discount, but it's a great way to set put a small cheese course for those of us without enough mouths (or a separate cheese refrigerator) to warrant a five-pound wedge of gruyere. They've been doing it for a couple of months or so now, and, interestingly, I haven't seen the same on offer at some of the other stores I've visted (P Street downtown, Fair Lakes), since they started.
They've been doing that at the SS Whole Paycheck for a while. I do enjoy seeing if there are any gems in there.
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Not as exciting as Al Dente's wine bargin extravaganza, but still of interest is the new habit of my local Whole Foods (Tyson's Corner) of setting out a bin of "cheese ends" for sale. They're small or odd-shaped leftover bits that they must think are too miniscule or weird-looking for "normal" public consumption. There's no per-pound discount, but it's a great way to set put a small cheese course for those of us without enough mouths (or a separate cheese refrigerator) to warrant a five-pound wedge of gruyere. They've been doing it for a couple of months or so now, and, interestingly, I haven't seen the same on offer at some of the other stores I've visted (P Street downtown, Fair Lakes), since they started.

WF Old Town sells cheese bits too-they're by the olive bar. A short time ago, while picking nicoise and kalamata olives, I spied some cheese with truffles. Very expensive stuff, but for a buck forty nine, I could try it without the financial commitment. It was awful. But, no biggie, it was cheap. I would have been pissed if I laid out $$ only to hate it.

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WF Old Town sells cheese bits too-they're by the olive bar. A short time ago, while picking nicoise and kalamata olives, I spied some cheese with truffles. Very expensive stuff, but for a buck forty nine, I could try it without the financial commitment. It was awful. But, no biggie, it was cheap. I would have been pissed if I laid out $$ only to hate it.

I don't buy much cheese at WF, but don't the folks behind the cheese counter let you try before you buy?

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The cheese was in the cheese nub basket, so I just thought I'd give it a try...impulse buy.
What I never understood about that bin was why they're selling the remnants for the same price per pound that the cheese goes for when it's normal-sized.
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What I never understood about that bin was why they're selling the remnants for the same price per pound that the cheese goes for when it's normal-sized.

I was wondering the same thing. If you're paying full price for remnants, then it seems like you might as well go to a full service cheese shop like Arrowine and get small slices of what you like.

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What I never understood about that bin was why they're selling the remnants for the same price per pound that the cheese goes for when it's normal-sized.
It's an impulse purchase, so the store has the upper hand. If people pay attention to the price at all, they're looking at the (relatively) small total price and not caring so much about the price per pound. They do what Monavano did and figure that it's a small investment to see if they like the cheese, or maybe they love that kind of cheese but know they'll eat too much if they keep it around. I'll just buy this little bit...

Psychologically, the barrier to purchasing the cheese is much smaller when the pieces of cheese are right there for the taking than if you have to go to the person behind the counter and either ask for a sample or order 1/8th of a pound or whatever.

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because it costs the same?
These are little pieces--odds and ends--left over from slicing larger wedges for sale on the cheese counter, right? They're more vulnerable to drying out and so forth, wrapped tightly in plastic though they might be.

When I was a kid and my mother sewed most of our clothes (for real), we would head for the remnant bins at the fabric store: small lengths of the bolt of Italian silk, say, that don't provide enough yardage to make a billowing garment, but might do for a summer, strappy thing or a Barbie gown. Half the price. Or less.

My favorite fishmonger around Ann Arbor sold the trimmings of swordfish and tuna steaks for steals to grad students and others financially strapped. The independent grocer in Silver Spring (forgot name) sells nova same way. Ends of prosciutto, same. Parmesan rinds for soup, should be the same.

The store is getting money for what might otherwise have been tossed.

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Precisely. And people are paying full price for it, so they have no reason to cut the price.

Except that lots of other scrap sellers do. Calvery Woodley discounts cheese scraps, various fish purveyors discount fish scraps, WFs sets them out like they are something special, but charges you the same. Apparently it works, but I wonder how many of the people who buy them realize they are paying the same price they would if they just asked for a small cut of whatever cheese they wanted.

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Except that lots of other scrap sellers do. Calvery Woodley discounts cheese scraps, various fish purveyors discount fish scraps, WFs sets them out like they are something special, but charges you the same. Apparently it works, but I wonder how many of the people who buy them realize they are paying the same price they would if they just asked for a small cut of whatever cheese they wanted.
They may just get away with it because it's Whole Foods and they know their customer base. I have a friend who used to work in a WF cheese department (not in this area). I'll have to remember to ask him what he knows about this practice, if anything.

I've never noticed the price they charge for smoked salmon trim, which they have now and then. I should pay attention. I just know that I can get a small amount much cheaper than I can get it anywhere that sells it packaged in a fairly big portion, including Costco. I wonder if they do the same thing with that.

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They may just get away with it because it's Whole Foods and they know their customer base. I have a friend who used to work in a WF cheese department (not in this area). I'll have to remember to ask him what he knows about this practice, if anything.

I've never noticed the price they charge for smoked salmon trim, which they have now and then. I should pay attention. I just know that I can get a small amount much cheaper than I can get it anywhere that sells it packaged in a fairly big portion, including Costco. I wonder if they do the same thing with that.

At the Clarendon WF, the price for the smoked salmon trim is not that huge, maybe $10 a pound. The problem is, at least at that store, the trim is packaged in pound-plus packages.

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As of five weeks ago, Whole Foods in Reston is conducting a "5 for $5" event every Friday from 5:00PM until 7:00PM. For shoppers 21 and over, stop by the service desk to purchase your ticket. $5 gets you a wine glass (to keep), a sample taste of 5 diverse beverages, and small servings of five freshly-made dishes. Tasting stations appear throughout the store.

This is all from memory, but I believe tonight's selections featured an interesting sake (not top quality, but fun), a hoppy ale, a French pinot blanc, an approachable zinfandel, and a German Riesling. Dishes included a teriyaki-glazed sesame asparagus, roasted corn and shrimp salad, Jamaican jerk chicken kabob, coconut braised pork with cilantro rice, and puff pastry fruit tart.

For $5 this is a heck of a deal. Plus, the staff were delightfully conversational and gracious. It's a fun way to spend an unusual happy hour for anyone out in the Reston/Herndon area.

Just don't leave your car lights on when you go into the store, lest you require jumper cables like I did. :rolleyes:

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Apparently an op-ed by Whole Foods CEO John Mackey regarding health care has sparked a call for a boycott. Here's a commentary on that call: http://www.theagitator.com/2009/08/15/whole-foods-2/

Yeah, while I didn't agree with everything said in Mackey's op-ed piece, it was a thoughtful point of view that didn't negate the call for health care reform. I don't see the need for boycotting WF.
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Yeah, while I didn't agree with everything said in Mackey's op-ed piece, it was a thoughtful point of view that didn't negate the call for health care reform. I don't see the need for boycotting WF.

Agreed. And at least Mackey isn't posting about WFM and competitor's stocks in an on-line forum!
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It's gonna be a while. Early 2010? It isn't just a store-- it's a big underground parking garage and high-rise condos too. Right now it's just a big hole in the ground.

Anyone know more about the White Flint Whole Foods under construction? I though someone here worked for their regional office and may know more? Next year sometime is what I've seen, but whoever runs the Whole Foods Montgomery County twitter account (http://twitter.com/WFM_Mo) told me 2012?!? At the rate they are going now, to be done in 2012 they'd have to stop working for 12 months, or let the store (once built) sit empty. Unless the store won't open until they can get out of the Congressional lease....and if that is up in 2012, then it makes a little sense.

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Anyone know more about the White Flint Whole Foods under construction? I though someone here worked for their regional office and may know more? Next year sometime is what I've seen, but whoever runs the Whole Foods Montgomery County twitter account (http://twitter.com/WFM_Mo) told me 2012?!? At the rate they are going now, to be done in 2012 they'd have to stop working for 12 months, or let the store (once built) sit empty. Unless the store won't open until they can get out of the Congressional lease....and if that is up in 2012, then it makes a little sense.

The twitterer is correct.

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$2.99 for greasy pizza slices with crappy tasting cheese and wonderful veggies as toppings. At Tenley town. I'll take Vace any day!!!

Dean, +1. I just posted about my dismal experience at Pizza Autentica--also greasy w/ crappy-tasting and rubbery-looking cheese for $3.29. I'll take Vace any day too!

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I was at the upper Georgetown Whole Foods over the weekend (this is the WF where I never seem to be able to find anything I'm actually looking for, but always find something I'm not looking for, if you know what I mean!) and came upon some delicious fleur de sel caramels that were inconspicuously displayed in the wine section. The sea salt in these caramels is hand harvested in Guerande, France. To me, the taste is buttery and sweet with a hint of saltiness. Just what I needed--one more sweet-salty addiction (to add to Trader Joe's sea salt brownie bites). :(

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