My take on US supermarkets

One of the things I have always tried to do when traveling to a country even for a day is to go to a local supermarket. I like to look at foods I don't know, or to see a different packaging of familiar products...I think you can tell a lot about a city or a country by looking at their supermarkets.

After 2 1/2 years of living here (yes, Kronos is a devouring God alright), I have come to appreciate the enormous variety sold in US supermarkets. If in Italy it is difficult to find a good French butter in the dairy department, and in Belgium it is almost impossible to even find Nutella, in a US supermarket the problem is the usual US problem: infinite choice.

Of course not all supermarkets are created equals: there are those that are considered super hip and that cater the organic crowd (and that end up eating a good chunk of my salary every week), and those that are your "basic" supermarket, where the real convincing argument is price. But what I love about US supermarkets is that there are also those that cater specifically to the various national communities: Italian supermarkets, Polish supermarkets, Indian supermarkets. I am not talking about small deli shops, and I am not talking about a couple of aisles in a regular European supermarket either: these are ENTIRE supermarkets with just the food from that specific country. Eataly in New York is just the perfect example.

Frankly, pretty amazing.

So here is what I think of the various American supermarkets I shopped in so far. I have divided them in three sections: the hip, the regular, the specialized.

The hip

• Whole foods: I have already talked about my experience shopping here. Hip, expensive, catering mostly to the organic and health obsessed crowd, it is actually pretty good. They do have THE BEST fish supermarket quality that I have found so far, by far. Their meat selection is pretty good as well, as is their selection of flours and grains sold in bulk. The good thing about it is that even if yes, you will spend a lot of money, you will find everything you need and then some. It is not one of those bullshit "supermarkets" where you can only find half of what you look for. They also sometime have some crazy stuff that I would never put in my mouth, and that make me want to behave like this guy here when he is offered "vegan bacon":

• Trader Joe's: speaking of bullshit supermarket, Trader Joe's wins hands down. You want Himalayan jasmine rice? Wood fired oven roasted naan bread? They got them. But hey, if you are actually looking for plain white rice or plain tacos tortilla you are SOL, my friend. The reason why I do not like it is because you cannot do your shopping there: the selection of essentials is limited-to-nonexistent. It is one of those places though where people go in hordes, and I really do not understand the reason why. Funny fact: it belongs to the same group that in Europe owns Aldi, the super cheap supermarket...talk about segmenting your market! 
• Treasure Island: they advertise themselves as "America's most European supermarket", but I don't think they stay true to that claim. Yes, they have a couple of European cookies that you cannot find elsewhere. Yes, they have a couple of cans of cannellini beans of Italian brands. But for the rest, they are a regular supermarket, and not one particularly stocked at that. Also, I am biased against them due the fact that twice I bought bread flour from them and twice I found bugs inside. 

The regular

• Jewel Osco: this is your regular supermarket, like Coop in Italy, or Carrefour in France. Nothing fancy, but just a gigantic choice of everything. It is my favorite for regular shopping, for two reasons: the price quality ratio is pretty good, and it is rare to get out of there with something on your shopping list unchecked. 
• Dominic's (Safeway in the rest of the country) is like Jewel Osco. My wife seems to prefer this, because she thinks the vegetable selection is better. I disagree. I can't find in Dominic's all the hot peppers I need for my regular chilis, so not my favorite...
• Target: Target is one of those beasts typical to the American landscape: a shop that is essentially one thing, but that it is also 10 other things at the same time. Clothing, food, dinnerware, electronics, baby stuff, furniture, you can probably find pretty much anything you want in Target. I was skeptical when they announced the launch of their grocery offer, but I had to backpedal on my prejudices: I like it a lot. they have a huge selection of fresh produce, a lot of exotic food, but also your regular stuff. So, unlike Trader's Joe, you may find your Himalayan jasmine rice AND your regular long grain rice. BINGO. 
• Costco: I hesitate to put Costco in the "regular" section, but frankly I don't know where else to put it. To buy at Costco you need to have a membership card, which sets you down 50$ or 100$ a year. Once you pay that, you can buy ANYTHING in gigantic quantity. You don't go to Costco to buy a pack of butter and 1 liter of orange juice. Nope: you go there to buy a 10-10lt pack of orange juice, and a 6-pack butter pack. You get the picture right? Whaat I like about it is that the quality of the food is actually pretty good and the prices are almost unbeatable (and you also have a cash-back program, which is good). Also, they have a lot of Italian things that you cannot find elesewhere, and that I couldn't even find in Brussels: an excellent mozzarella di bufala, prosciutto and mortadella of a brand that I used to buy many, many years ago when I used to live in Tuscany...The big problem with Costco is that you will NOT find everything you have on your grocery list. So you will need to pay a visit to another store...

The specialized ones

• Caputo: this is a recent discovery. It is a chain of Italian supermarkets with several locations outside Chicago. I love them, in spite of their suburban locations. Not only because of the selection of Italian stuff you can't find elsewhere (Granturchese and Bucaneve cookies! Bresaola! Freshly cut Mortadella with pistachios!), but also because next to the Italian huge selection, they also have a huge selection of Mexican and 'regular' American stuff. So, since Mexican cuisine is heavily  influencing my cooking at home (as you may have understood from the recipes I have been cooking), Caputo makes me a very happy camper. 
• World market: not necessarily a supermarket, in the sense that its selection is relatively small compared to the other names mentioned before. But they have some pretty nice stuff that you cannot find elsewhere. My wife was particularly happy of bouncing into the same ginger beer brand we used to drink in Australia during our honeymoon. They also have some cookies you can't find elsewhere and - brace for it - my favorite packaging of Nutella...the small rectangular single size plastic box that I hadn't seen since I was kid. They just make me happy.