Why I Love Safeway

Until today, I've been ashamed to admit it. Living in a food-obsessed town where people turn up their nose if you aren't cooking with tomatoes from a nearby farm or lemonade squeezed from your neighbor's organically raised lemon tree, where grocery stores are practically vilified (unless, of course, we're talking about Whole Foods, an exception to the rule naturellement) -- even stores that, in other towns, might be considered upscale and flush with really nice ingredients. No, in San Francisco those are sneered at too as having only marginally decent produce. In this climate, saying you love Safeway is a risky thing indeed.

But you know what? I do, dammit! I LOVE SAFEWAY!

I had to go in the other day to get a few things my local market doesn't have, namely cleaning products that my housekeeper swears by. While I was there, I needed to pick up one thing for dinner (pasta with broccoli rabe and sausage) but grabbed a basket -- just in case. Just in case. Yeah, right. I knew what I was going to do. I was going shopping.

Where to start? The foreign food aisle, for certain. Safeway devotes one whole side of an entire aisle (which must be, I dunno, 40 feet long?) to exotic, hard to find ingredients used in the cuisines of Asia (from Thailand to Japan), Mexico, Jewish culture and even the American South (which is practically a different country). They don't have a ton of Middle Eastern or Indian ingredients, that's true, but they have a damn sight better collection of stuff than all those chi-chi grocery stores people love so much. To whit: canned lychee fruit; ten varieties of Asian noodles from soba to rice noodles to udon to chow mein; canned turnip greens from Sylvia's in Harlem (with smoked turkey, alas, not fatback); matzoh; tripe, and even corn husks for making your own tamales (natch!). It was incredible. I walked slowly, mezmerized by the array. I had the itch to buy so many things for all those recipes that make me curse when I get to my usual market and can't find what I need (and then frantically try to come up with passable substitutes before finally giving up and putting everything back, all the while cursing the stockers and glaring at the checkout people).

Next up? The snack food aisle. It's important to keep abreast of all the new snacks on the market. For instance, did you know that you can buy Pringles that have trivia questions and answer lasered on the chip in blue, er, edible laser ink? Yes. You can. The can promotes them as education for the kiddies. Puh-leez,  people. Oreos also come in so many varieties it makes my head spin, from peanut butter double stuffed to mini bite sized cookies to sticks. Mind-boggling what all those marketing kooks come up with.

Then it was on to the frozen foods. The variety of Lean Cuisines would have made for a stampede from my old office (say what you want about preservatives and sodium, but they saved a girl's life many times when it was either pop one in the microwave or starve). Chocolate chip waffles. Cinnamon buns with dippable icing. French toast sticks with the syrup inside. I felt like I was in Epcot circa 1982 looking at the Kitchen of the Future. I have to admit, the Toaster Strudel took me back to my childhood -- we used to eat them before church on Sundays, and my brother and I would fight over the extra icing packets. (Hey, it was the only highlight in an otherwise bleak morning.)

Suddenly, I remembered another childhood favorite, frozen honey buns. I found myself negotiating: "It's okay to buy the frozen honey buns if you can find them. You haven't had one in 15 years. Everything in moderation. One box of honey buns won't kill you."

Oh, rue the moment I remembered them -- for they were not there. I looked behind all the Eggo brand cinnamon rolls and other pale imitations, but my honey buns were missing. How to soothe my pain? The magazine aisle, of course.

Mr. Food Musings is the real magazine addict in the family, often coming home from a routine trip to the coffee store with ten or more magazines. Forget about the airport -- he needs a second carry-on just for his reading material. But this day, I too succumbed. O magazine, the new People, even Vogue, which I normally dismiss as utterly pretentious and badly written (hey, Gwynnie was on the cover. What's a girl to do?)

And then, the checkout. They always call you by your name and offer to walk you to the car. Such nice young folks! I went in for 3 items and came out with 9. Not too bad, all in all. Why do you think I nabbed a basket, not a cart?

Comments

[Bill]

Thanks for supporting Safeway, we appreciate it. And if you are talking about the Webster St. store, you forgot to mention the extensive produce section. It may not be 100% Organic, but Bob (the produce manager) knows his stuff better than anyone I know. If an item is available, he will get it for you.

[Tracy]

I got a chuckle out of this post! While I love and abhor Whole Foods, it is my local big name supermarket that has everything I always never knew I needed.

Magazine...have you ever read Fine Cookng?

[Catherine]

Bill -- great tip about Bob, thank you!

Tracy -- Yes, I've read Fine Cooking. I like it, don't love it, though I know plenty of people who do. What is it you like so much about it? I'm curious.

[kevin]

Catherine,

Well done! When I lived in Sacramento I used to do most of my shopping at a Railey's there. The selection was good, but the people were _great_. Friendly, helpful, always spoke to me even when rushing past on an errand. I still miss that store.

[Catherine]

Kevin -- see, that's what I'm talking about! (Loved your cinnamon toast memory -- I have one of my very own -- and your shrimp picnics, by the way...)

[Tracy]

Catherine,
The thing I most like about Fine Cooking is that it offers indepth explanations of techniques that lead the reader to a specific result. When I follow the instructions I always learn a new skill and I learn why the skill/technique is needed or used and what the outcome should be. I will admit that some issues are far better than others, but I still learn something even when I just read the articles and am not inspired to try the recipe. When I don't have a book on my night stand I tend to reread the older issues. It's the only cooking magazine I subscribe to now.

[Beth - The Zen Foodist]

Great post! I think you're brave to admit this because some foodies and food bloggers can be really pretentious about this kind of thing. But I understand your love, girl! :)

And LOL at you getting a comment from someone from Safeway!

[Catherine]

Tracy -- hmm. Food for thought. Maybe I'll try cooking from it too and see how it goes.

Beth -- we can now walk the aisles, free of our burdensome secret!

[Tracy]

Catherine,
The latest issue November 2005(73) has an indepth article on pot roasts. A friend of mine followed the recipe and said the technique made the best pot roast ever. She's from a Midwest family who had pot roasts every other Sunday for years. She's a convert. If you like pot roast, it may be a good recipe to try. I haven't tried it.

[stef]

my personal favorite mag is Cook's Illustrated -- the mag for cooking nerds i guess. Gastronomica and Saveur are next, and I am SLOOOOWLY weaning myself away from the boxes of boxes of Food and Wine and Gourmet that I've collected through the years (trying to cull through them now to put in binders).... Cook's Illustrated, similar to Fine Cooking, but more *my* style....geeky and almost always fail-safe.

re Safeway -- i totally relate. i'm still amazed at some "finds" at my local Wal-mart, even free-range chicken eggs and organic milk and yogurt.

[Catherine]

Stef -- wow, WalMart? I shop there every year when we go to Wyoming for our annual fishing trip (it's the best grocery store in Cody, WY) and I'm excited to know about the organics! I'll keep my eyes peeled next time. Walmart may be reviled as an evil giant, but maybe this Goliath has some redeeming qualities....?

[Rob Poitras]

arg, I hate safeway. I work 40+hours a week and do the school thing full time at night. When I go to the safeway near my house in clayton (bay area) at night, the store is usually a mess. Last time I went they were out of half gallon milk in every variety (1%, 2% and nonfat). They only had the gallon and pint(?) left.
Plus when I go at night there is usually a line of people 4-6 deep. Its around 9:30-10:30 when most people have finished their shopping but not everyone is at home watching survivor.
Also not a big fan of their marketing. During prime sports seasons they have a tower/bridge thing filled with various chips and salsas/dips. People actually walk under the thing to get into the store.
The fruit (except the apples) usually tastes like colored veggies. Safeway is ok in some ways. They do have a variety of good products and the stores are usually very clean.
I will stick with Trader Joes and Whole Foods for edible items, and Safeway for cleaning products.

[Catherine]

Rob -- no doubt the one near you sounds god-awful (though probably they restock late at night, which explains your experiences with the milk?) I know that grocery stores definitely stock based on demographics, so maybe the one where I go just gets more attention and affection? It's near tony Pac Heights -- as well as low-income housing, now that I think about it, so maybe that blows the theory?

[Annabelle]

I like Safeway too and give you props for fessing up in the food snob culture that is the Bay Area. I live in Oakland, and for "exotic, hard to find ingredients," there are a plethora of ethnic enclaves to go to. For the same stuff, you pay way less.

[Catherine]

Thanks, Annabelle. I am the anti-snob food snob, I guess -- I likes what I likes and Safeway is a guilty pleasure.