A visit to Berkeley Bowl
jcdill
financial district of SF but it was 4:45 and I did NOT want to come off
the bridge into the financial district in the middle of rush hour. So I
googled-up Berkeley Bowl and discovered I was only a few blocks away,
and decided to see what the fuss was all about and kill an hour before
heading west into SF.
It was crowded.
Crowded with moms with strollers of cranky and crying babies. Poor
kids! Also crowded with students with backpacks, couples, and quite a
few single men. But mainly just crowded. Narrow aisles and lots of
people.
I strolled every aisle, to take in what it was all about and see what
items they carried that I don't usually find/see elsewhere. Since I
wouldn't be getting home until much later (I arrived home about 9 pm) I
couldn't get anything that was frozen or that required refrigeration
24x7 (e.g. no meat). I bought a few chunks of cheese from the specialty
cheese case near the door, and some crackers, and a bowl of vegan lentil
curry soup, and a thai noodle salad (the soup and salad were my dinner,
before going into SF). I didn't really see anything compelling between
there and produce - all I added was a bottle of salad dressing I could
have just as easily purchased at any regular grocery store. Mid-store
at the back were 2 tables setup sampling products - one was a granola
made with molasses and the other was the company that sells bolanis and
sauces at all the farmers markets - their products were priced higher at
BB ($6 each) than at the farmers market where they are pretty high
already (4/$20 = $5/each).
In the produce section I noticed that BB's bell peppers were more
expensive than Trader Joe's. Their "spoils" shelf had a great deal,
acorn squash for 69¢ each and I took 2 of those - they keep forever and
cook up fast in the microwave for a quick and easy meal or snack. They
had a really good deal on asparagus, I bought a bundle of tips at
$2.29/lb, as well as a small broccoli head and some snow peas (I forgot
their prices). I also bought a cantalope-type of melon. I would have
added a jicama except that they were only available in humungous sizes
and I won't eat all of that on my own.
My total was ~$45, for a 1/2 full cloth bag of groceries. ($15 of it
specialty cheeses.)
In the end, I didn't see much difference between Berkeley Bowl and Whole
Paycheck, really. I won't be going out of my way to go back.
jc
spamtrap1888
> I was in Berkeley yesterday afternoon, and then I needed to go to the
> financial district of SF but it was 4:45 and I did NOT want to come off
> the bridge into the financial district in the middle of rush hour. So I
> googled-up Berkeley Bowl and discovered I was only a few blocks away,
> and decided to see what the fuss was all about and kill an hour before
> heading west into SF.
>
> It was crowded.
>
Just to make sure: Berkeley Bowl West, near OSH and San Pablo Ave? Or
the original BB, near "Adeline and Ashby" as in the mattress store ads?
jcdill
Original.
jc
Kent
"jcdill" <jcdill...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:io25pv$tn8$1...@dont-email.me...
and varities of produce in the East Bay. We go through the tunnel routinely
once a week to the Bowl for produce. I also find very good produce prices
at some Mexican markets. We only have the Prophylaxis Emporium[Safeway, or
Rubberway] here. As has been discussed in the past their prices on almost
everything is a ripoff. It is uniquely a ripoff for produce. Yesterday foul
looking roma tomatos were $2.95/lb. Yellow onions are frequently
$1.95/lb!!!!!
At the Bowl yellow onions are almost always $.39/lb. All other produce is
usually priced cheaper than at other places. Trader Jose's produce is
expensive. It's possible when you were at the Bowl their wholesale price on
that day was more expensive. Their prices do vary from day to day, along
with the wholesale price.
Kent
sf
wrote:
> The Berkeley Bowel Movement, as we call it, has pretty much the best prices
> and varities of produce in the East Bay. We go through the tunnel routinely
> once a week to the Bowl for produce. I also find very good produce prices
> at some Mexican markets. We only have the Prophylaxis Emporium[Safeway, or
> Rubberway] here. As has been discussed in the past their prices on almost
> everything is a ripoff. It is uniquely a ripoff for produce. Yesterday foul
> looking roma tomatos were $2.95/lb. Yellow onions are frequently
> $1.95/lb!!!!!
>
> At the Bowl yellow onions are almost always $.39/lb. All other produce is
> usually priced cheaper than at other places. Trader Jose's produce is
> expensive. It's possible when you were at the Bowl their wholesale price on
> that day was more expensive. Their prices do vary from day to day, along
> with the wholesale price.
I liked Berkeley Bowl West because of the pure variety of fresh
vegetables and mushrooms. Maybe a large Whole Foods can match it, but
I haven't been to one that could other than maybe the one downtown on
Howard. Andronico's out in the Avenues has a very nice selection of
vegetables, but it pales in comparison to BBW. I also liked the bulk
section in BBW although I now know that Rainbow's is just as good.
--
Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
Charlotte L. Blackmer
spamtrap1888 <spamtr...@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Apr 12, 7:05?am, jcdill <jcdill.li...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I was in Berkeley yesterday afternoon, and then I needed to go to the
>> financial district of SF but it was 4:45 and I did NOT want to come off
>> googled-up Berkeley Bowl and discovered I was only a few blocks away,
>> and decided to see what the fuss was all about and kill an hour before
>> heading west into SF.
>>
>> It was crowded.
>>
>
>Just to make sure: Berkeley Bowl West, near OSH and San Pablo Ave? Or
>the original BB, near "Adeline and Ashby" as in the mattress store ads?
I suspected the original from the description. BBW has better aisle
widths. Still the same self-absorbed (or possibly stunned by the bounty)
people clogging them, but easier to get around them.
Charlotte
--
Kent
there only for produce.
Kent
spamtrap1888
> In article <9fd246d8-fd29-472d-af60-b34ee7f38...@z27g2000prz.googlegroups.com>,
>
> spamtrap1888 <spamtrap1...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >Just to make sure: Berkeley Bowl West, near OSH and San Pablo Ave? Or
> >the original BB, near "Adeline and Ashby" as in the mattress store ads?
>
> I suspected the original from the description. BBW has better aisle
> widths.
> Still the same self-absorbed (or possibly stunned by the bounty)
> people clogging them, but easier to get around them.
I had meant to respond to this: Ain't this the truth? Although the
last time we went to BBW, as a change of pace a self-absorbed young
man travelling at warp speed, barely missed colliding with the patrons
stalled in the aisles.
Surprisingly don't see this type of self-absorbed yutz at Rainbow
Grocery, which I would have expected to appeal to the same sort of
customer.
spamtrap1888
> "jcdill" <jcdill.li...@gmail.com> wrote in message
Bread and bulk items are competitively priced, but otherwise I agree.
Kent
"spamtrap1888" <spamtr...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:98bf115c-6c20-475d...@z7g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
Agree about bread and bulk. Also we like the olive rack, even though it's
$9.99/lb. There's nothing like kalamata olives. If we're doing a serious
Berkeley run, for bread we go to the Acme bakery on San Pablo and Cedar. You
try to get the baguette when it's still warm. You eat your first bite in the
car. Also the rye; at home with smoked salmon and whipped cream cheese it
reaches to a higher power.
Serene Vannoy
I was talking to James about this. We shop at the original Berkeley Bowl
2-5 times per week, and especially since the split, we have found very
little of the crowding problem people describe here. We came up with a
few possible reasons:
1) We tend to go during the day on weekdays, rather than at the dinner
rush or on the weekends.
2) We never use a shopping cart. Since we walk to and from the Bowl (a
mile each way), we limit ourselves to what we can fit in a handbasket
or, if we need LOTS of stuff, we pop a handbasket into the top of one of
those wheeled carts you see the grannies pushing, and push that around.
The handbasket strategy improves our mobility through the store by a
ton. The few times I've gone with someone who needs to use a shopping
cart (like my mom), it has been harder to manage the aisles.
3) We are fairly mellow people who aren't bothered much by crowds and
waiting in the first place.
4) It's possible WE're the ones clogging the aisles and people have been
too polite to yell at us for it yet. ;-)
We truly love shopping there, and I find that normal politeness ("Excuse
me, may I come through?") serves me just fine when someone's cart is
blocking the way.
Serene
--
http://www.momfoodproject.com
Steve Pope
There are lots of things that they have where they have probably
the best prices. Things like Minaso brand olives, Kirk soap and
shampoo, and Country Save detergent. I like their own-label
red wine vinegar. Some of their produce is good and/or low-priced
but mostly they just have a ton of it.
It's too bad they build their newest store in an area that will be
innundated by rising sea levels during anthropogenic warming.
Steve
Peter Lawrence
>
> It's too bad they build their newest store in an area that will be
Don't worry, a sea wall will be built by then. All will be good.
- Peter
Steve Pope
>> It's too bad they build their newest store in an area that will be
>> inundated by rising sea levels during anthropogenic warming.
>Don't worry, a sea wall will be built by then. All will be good.
You're probably right; wealthy cities tend to build levees and
such as they sink below sea level (London, New Orleans...).
But as a Berkeley taxpayer I'd rather avoid the expense. So I
oppose devleopment below 50 ft. above sea level here -- I'm
enthusiastically in favor of development above that elevation.
Steve
Steve Fenwick
spo...@speedymail.org (Steve Pope) wrote:
Read "Flood", by Stephen Baxter. No sea wall in the world will stop
*that* flood.
Also, you might want to see "The Big Uneasy" by Harry Shearer; it pretty
thoroughly excoriates the Corps of Engineers, not just in Louisiana but
in all their civilian projects.
Steve
--
steve <at> w0x0f <dot> com
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to
skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, sidecar in the other, body thoroughly
used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
Steve Pope
> spo...@speedymail.org (Steve Pope) wrote:
>> You're probably right; wealthy cities tend to build levees and
>> such as they sink below sea level (London, New Orleans...).
>Read "Flood", by Stephen Baxter. No sea wall in the world will stop
>*that* flood.
I'll give it a look, but I don't think it's that impossible -- many
many cities over history have survived below the local sea level
by several tens of feet.
>Also, you might want to see "The Big Uneasy" by Harry Shearer; it pretty
>thoroughly excoriates the Corps of Engineers, not just in Louisiana but
>in all their civilian projects.
Also discussed by John McPhee in _The Control of Nature_ .
Steve
spamtrap1888
> In article <iosi11$83...@blue.rahul.net>,
> spop...@speedymail.org (Steve Pope) wrote:
>
>
>
> > Peter Lawrence <hummb...@aol.com> replies to my post,
>
> > >> It's too bad they build their newest store in an area that will be
> > >> inundated by rising sea levels during anthropogenic warming.
>
> > >Don't worry, a sea wall will be built by then. All will be good.
>
> > You're probably right; wealthy cities tend to build levees and
> > such as they sink below sea level (London, New Orleans...).
>
> > But as a Berkeley taxpayer I'd rather avoid the expense. So I
> > oppose devleopment below 50 ft. above sea level here -- I'm
> > enthusiastically in favor of development above that elevation.
>
> > Steve
>
> Read "Flood", by Stephen Baxter. No sea wall in the world will stop
> *that* flood.
>
> Also, you might want to see "The Big Uneasy" by Harry Shearer; it pretty
> thoroughly excoriates the Corps of Engineers, not just in Louisiana but
> in all their civilian projects.
>
As I recall, Congress constantly refused to fund the levee
improvements the Corps believed were needed. I think the Corps gets a
pass here.
Kent
"Serene Vannoy" <ser...@serenepages.org> wrote in message
news:91dls0...@mid.individual.net...
shoppers there. Didn't you recently mention an Asian restaurant near the
Bowl that you like? Do you still recommend it?
Kent
jcdill
> I was in Berkeley yesterday afternoon,
> In the end, I didn't see much difference between Berkeley Bowl and Whole
> Paycheck, really. I won't be going out of my way to go back.
Yesterday I had an assignment in SF for an address on 13th st. that
Google couldn't locate. So I went to an address on 13th I could find
(Rainbow Grocery) and then walked up the street until I found the
address (3 blocks up, Google had that location listed as an address on
Mission) and completed my assignment. I was running ahead of schedule,
so I stopped in Rainbow Grocery before heading out to my next stop.
OK, so THIS is what I had expected to find at Berkeley Bowl.
1) Aisles were much more spacious. There were about the same number of
people (per aisle) but it wasn't "crowded" like at BB.
2) There were hundreds of items in each aisle that I never see at
Safeway. Jars of loose herbs and spices, teas, peanut butters and oils
and soaps that you can dispense into your own jars, etc.
3) No crying babies.
4) Many packaged "convenience" foods that were made of real food,
ingredients you can pronounce, etc.
On the downside, their produce section is quite small. But since I like
to buy my produce at farmers markets when possible, that isn't really a
detraction for me.
I will be back. This is a store worth making a special trip to visit,
which is much more than I can say for BB.
jc
jcdill
> I was talking to James about this. We shop at the original Berkeley Bowl
> 2-5 times per week, and especially since the split, we have found very
> little of the crowding problem people describe here. We came up with a
> few possible reasons:
>
> 1) We tend to go during the day on weekdays, rather than at the dinner
> rush or on the weekends.
I was there on a weekday, but yes it was around the dinner rush time.
> 2) We never use a shopping cart.
I just had a cloth bag, no cart or basket.
> 3) We are fairly mellow people who aren't bothered much by crowds and
> waiting in the first place.
I'm not bothered by crowds or waiting, I was just commenting on how
crowded it was.
> 4) It's possible WE're the ones clogging the aisles and people have been
> too polite to yell at us for it yet. ;-)
The crowded effect was mainly due to how narrow the aisles are, rather
than the manners of the people in the aisles.
> We truly love shopping there, and I find that normal politeness ("Excuse
> me, may I come through?") serves me just fine when someone's cart is
> blocking the way.
True dat.
jc
Patti Beadles
sf <sf.u...@gmail.com> wrote:
>I liked Berkeley Bowl West because of the pure variety of fresh
>vegetables and mushrooms.
Yes!
I just popped into the Berkeley Bowl West on my way home from
work today-- about 7 p.m. on a Friday night. I bought:
Fiddlehead ferns
Morels (fresh)
Three other kind of mushroom
Red and white carrots
Dragon Fruit
Five bottles of wine
It wasn't the least bit crowded. All of the produce was in
fabulous condition, and one of the produce clerks knew enough
about the produce to talk knowledgably about dragon fruit.
I have no idea what a good price is for morels, but I paid around
$20/lb. It seemed reasoanble to me.
-Patti
--
Patti Beadles, Oakland, CA |
pattib~pattib.org | All religions are equally
http://www.pattib.org/ | ludicrous, and should be ridiculed
http://stopshootingauto.com | as often as possible. C. Bond
Patti Beadles
jcdill <jcdill...@gmail.com> wrote:
>1) Aisles were much more spacious. There were about the same number of
>people (per aisle) but it wasn't "crowded" like at BB.
Comparing BB at peak time (dinner rush) to Rainbow at non-peak
times is extremely unfair. If you go to Rainbow at peak hours,
you'll often find that the store is a zoo, and there's a line
of cars waiting to get into the garage.
My general perception is that Rainbow is annoying and Berkeley
Bowl is comfortable except at peak hours. My sample size is
moderate for Rainbow and fairly large for Berkeley Bowl West.
I haven't been to the original Berkeley Bowl in a long time.
>2) There were hundreds of items in each aisle that I never see at
>Safeway. Jars of loose herbs and spices, teas, peanut butters and oils
>and soaps that you can dispense into your own jars, etc.
Those all exist at Berkeley Bowl too. Well, I don't know about
the soaps, but there are jars of loose herbs and spices, bins of
bulk items, etc.
>3) No crying babies.
See also time of day.
>4) Many packaged "convenience" foods that were made of real food,
>ingredients you can pronounce, etc.
>On the downside, their produce section is quite small. But since I like
>to buy my produce at farmers markets when possible, that isn't really a
>detraction for me.
Ah! Here's our difference of opinion. While I like farmers markets
in general, I strongly dislike having to schedule my shopping around
them. The most important things that I look for in a grocery store
are, in order:
1. An excellent selection of high-quality produce
2. A good selection of high-quality meats and dairy products
3. A good selection of bulk grains, legumes, etc.
4. A good selection of cheeses
5. A good selection of breads
BB wins hands-down on #1. BB wins by default on #2-- Rainbow
is completely vegetarian. Rainbow probably wins on #3, but it's
close enough that I don't care. I'm not sure who wins on #4--
it may be too close to call. It's been a long time since I've
shopped for bread at Rainbow so I don't know who wins here, but
I'm sure it's close. BB does extremely well.
I can't remember the last time I bought a convenience food at any
store, so I really have no idea how either store fares in that area.
Steve Fenwick
spo...@speedymail.org (Steve Pope) wrote:
> Steve Fenwick <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
>
> > spo...@speedymail.org (Steve Pope) wrote:
>
> >> You're probably right; wealthy cities tend to build levees and
> >> such as they sink below sea level (London, New Orleans...).
>
> >Read "Flood", by Stephen Baxter. No sea wall in the world will stop
> >*that* flood.
>
> I'll give it a look, but I don't think it's that impossible -- many
> many cities over history have survived below the local sea level
> by several tens of feet.
>
The cause is not what's expected or normal.
> >Also, you might want to see "The Big Uneasy" by Harry Shearer; it pretty
> >thoroughly excoriates the Corps of Engineers, not just in Louisiana but
> >in all their civilian projects.
>
> Also discussed by John McPhee in _The Control of Nature_ .
Thanks for the pointer.
Steve Fenwick
<d109956d-ad10-458b...@f15g2000pro.googlegroups.com>,
spamtrap1888 <spamtr...@gmail.com> wrote:
Other way around. Shearer makes the point that Congress routinely funds
whatever the Corps wants, in a vicious circle (triangle) of Congress,
the Corps, and the contractors that the Corps hires (who then fund
lobbyists, etc.)
Michael Siemon
wrote:
...
> We love shopping here too. We've always felt very good about the courtesy of
> shoppers there. Didn't you recently mention an Asian restaurant near the
> Bowl that you like? Do you still recommend it?
Assuming you mean the older BB, then that is probably Kirala --
definitely recommendable.
Besides the sheer variety (plus, in most cases, quality) of the produce,
I also find the Asian packaged stuff (Japanese, Chinese, SE Asian...)
much better in range of offerings (and prices) than anywhere else I know.
I actually do most of my shopping in Rockridge (and to a certain extent
at the Temescal Farmers' Market) -- but BB is always there when I need
it. The new western store is indeed a bit more spacious (and seems the
few times I went to have somewhat more produce selections...), but not
enough better to make the extra journey worthwhile.
Serene Vannoy
> We love shopping here too. We've always felt very good about the courtesy of
> shoppers there. Didn't you recently mention an Asian restaurant near the
> Bowl that you like? Do you still recommend it?
Hmmmm, dunno. We do good/fresh/cheap sushi at Anzu, a couple blocks
north, and a little north-er, there's Tuk Tuk, our favorite Thai, and
Sushi Ko, our favorite (though not as cheap) sushi. We used to get
lovely banh mi a few blocks south, but sadly, that turned into a
mediocre hamburger stand.
Serene
Serene Vannoy
> In article<iot4ue$uij$1...@dont-email.me>, "Kent"<keh...@ana.yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> ...
>
>> We love shopping here too. We've always felt very good about the courtesy of
>> shoppers there. Didn't you recently mention an Asian restaurant near the
>> Bowl that you like? Do you still recommend it?
>
>
> Assuming you mean the older BB, then that is probably Kirala --
> definitely recommendable.
Haven't been there. It's generally out of our price range, and it's a
couple blocks from our favorite cheap sushi place, so we just haven't
made it to Kirala yet, though I keep meaning to.
>
> Besides the sheer variety (plus, in most cases, quality) of the produce,
> I also find the Asian packaged stuff (Japanese, Chinese, SE Asian...)
> much better in range of offerings (and prices) than anywhere else I know.
> I actually do most of my shopping in Rockridge (and to a certain extent
> at the Temescal Farmers' Market) -- but BB is always there when I need
> it. The new western store is indeed a bit more spacious (and seems the
> few times I went to have somewhat more produce selections...), but not
> enough better to make the extra journey worthwhile.
Yeah. If it were in walking distance, I might have tried it, but as it
is, I'm happy with the Bowl. Have you tried the new Temescal produce
mini-market? That's another place we're glad to have around. It's on one
of our other regular walking routes, and it's great not to have to deal
with any line at all if all I want is a few onions or something.
Serene
--
http://www.momfoodproject.com
Julian Macassey
>
> Assuming you mean the older BB, then that is probably Kirala --
> definitely recommendable.
I went to Kirala once. I was most unimpressed. It was OK,
but way over-rated. Noisy, crowded, slow.
--
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of
our people need it sorely on these accounts. - Mark Twain
Pete Fraser
> and one of the [BB] produce clerks knew enough
> about the produce to talk knowledgably about dragon fruit.
I think you were lucky.
For a while I was looking regularly for
Ambarella. I couldn't find anyone at BB who knew
what it was.
Pete
spamtrap1888
> In article <iot94t$h5...@dont-email.me>,
Regarding #1 and 2: BBW annoyingly makes you wait in a separate line
to have your organic produce and bulk foods weighed. Rainbow's herbs
and spices are fabulous. (The one-pound minimum keeps us from shopping
at SF Herb) Other items: The bread selection at Rainbow is rather
small by comparison to BBW. When we go to Rainbow we'll park on the
street by Food 4 Cheap, or in the lot if there's a space.
spamtrap1888
> In article
> <d109956d-ad10-458b-a965-4a1ac8296...@f15g2000pro.googlegroups.com>,
>
> spamtrap1888 <spamtrap1...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Apr 22, 2:08 pm, Steve Fenwick <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
> > > Also, you might want to see "The Big Uneasy" by Harry Shearer; it pretty
> > > thoroughly excoriates the Corps of Engineers, not just in Louisiana but
> > > in all their civilian projects.
>
> > As I recall, Congress constantly refused to fund the levee
> > improvements the Corps believed were needed. I think the Corps gets a
> > pass here.
>
> Other way around. Shearer makes the point that Congress routinely funds
> whatever the Corps wants, in a vicious circle (triangle) of Congress,
> the Corps, and the contractors that the Corps hires (who then fund
> lobbyists, etc.)
>
While I love me some contrarianism, the conventional media painted the
opposite picture:
http://articles.philly.com/2004-10-08/news/25388852_1_levees-hurricane-ivan-new-orleans/3
Experts say it will take a combination of higher levees, new
floodgates and restored wetlands to save New Orleans. And time is not
an ally; hurricane-protection projects are moving slowly, even as the
threat seems to grow each year.
"It's possible to protect New Orleans from a Category 5 hurricane,"
said Al Naomi, senior project manager for the Corps of Engineers. "But
we've got to start. To do nothing is tantamount to negligence."
It could take 20 years and at least $1 billion to raise the levees
high enough and to build floodgates at the mouth of Lake
Pontchartrain, Naomi said.
The corps hoped to begin a study this year of the steps necessary and
the costs. Just the study would take four years and cost $4 million,
Naomi said, but the money is not in the federal budget for 2005,
though the Senate has yet to act.
http://www.alternet.org/story/24871/
New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and a
direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been
working with state and local officials in the region since the late
1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts. When flooding from
a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized
the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.
Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with
carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and
building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least
$250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity
in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees
surrounding New Orleans continued to subside.
Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a
trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending
pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming
at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain.
At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005
specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of
hurricane- and flood-control dollars.
evergene
Rainbow is a mixed bag. Their prices are very high. Their produce is
more expensive than at any other market I've been to in SF, and the
quality of their produce is very much hit-and-miss.
They devote an awful lot of space to soap, dietary supplements, and
other high-margin crap.
And their customers and staff range from charming to annoying, with
all the stations in between. (Charming = a customer who cheerfully
told me the different ways she cooks different types of lentils.
Annoying = me, as I bitch and moan about having to bag my own
groceries and pay forty cents for the plastic container in which I put
my Castelvetrano olives. I recognize that what annoys me will charm
some of my greener brothers and sisters.)
But I still shop there sometimes. They've got a great variety of
flours and grains. I've gotten Type-00 flour and buckwheat flour there
(both sourced from Giusto's), and they've got all the other grainy
outliers - spelt, quinoa, etc. They've got all sorts of lentils, other
pulses, dried beans, etc., and a nice selection of olive oils,
vinegars, cheeses, soy sauces. And they carry the excellent Firebrand
breads.
And on the single instance in this lifetime when I needed juniper
berries, they had the best (located, strangely enough, not with herbs
and spices, but with "herbal remedies" or some such category).
==
"In fact, the polygraph looks for spikes in blood pressure, heart
rate, respiration and perspiration. In other words, you can’t tell a
lie from the sex act." -- Robert L. Park
Steve Fenwick
<7fb4346e-1773-4072...@a19g2000prj.googlegroups.com>,
spamtrap1888 <spamtr...@gmail.com> wrote:
You're missing the point--you are quoting the Corps, of course they are
saying "give us more levees and we'll build more". It's all they know
how to do. And assuming that they are doing useful things with the money
they've been given is also not the case. In the meantime, they've
destroyed the wetlands around the area, which are the best damper for
hurricanes there is. And ignored the Dutch, who know more about levees
and drainage than anyone.
Go see the movie, or read what's on the WWW site, then see if you've
changed your mind.
Peter Lawrence
>
> Regarding #1 and 2: BBW annoyingly makes you wait in a separate line
> to have your organic produce and bulk foods weighed.
Having never set foot in a Berkeley Bowl store, I'm wondering why do
customers have to wait in separate lines to have their organic produce and
bulk foods weighed?
Why can't Berkeley Bowl have those items weighed at the checkout counter,
like most supermarkets do.
- Peter
Tim May
I live at 620 feet above today's sea level. Call it "white privilege,"
as the negroes and queers usually chant abouit.
Fact is, global warming is just a return to the millennia when the
northern regions were lush and fertile. Most of the U.S. will benefit
from global warming, as will Canada, most of Europe, and the now-frozen
steppes of Russia.
The losers will be precisely the countries where dirt people currently
live in Marxist squalor.
Two billion Catholics and Muslims will likely die.
Billiions of white people will prosper as the frozen grounds warm.
Hallelujah. Lookls the Muslims and Catholics prayed to the wrong god.
>
--
Tim May
Ciccio
> Two billion Catholics and Muslims will likely die.
>
> Billiions of white people will prosper as the frozen grounds warm.
>
> Hallelujah. Lookls the Muslims and Catholics prayed to the wrong god.
How nice, that you're promoting Judaism... Well, just the same, Happy
Easter to you.
Ciccio
Serene Vannoy
At the original Berkeley Bowl, they weigh the produce at the
checkstands, and I can see why it would speed up checkout (and save
money on training time) to have it done at a dedicated weighing station.
That way, only a small handful of people have to memorize every item
in the produce area, and the checkers can just zip through the checkout
process.
Not saying I love the idea, but I can see why they might want to do it
that way.
Serene
Steve Pope
There is a belief that Berkeley Bowl requires weighing of some bulk
items and produce at mid-store weighing stations because this
reduces the chances of the customers eating (or perhaps, hiding) some
fraction of said items before they are weighed at checkout.
Steve
jcdill
> In article<iot94t$h5k$1...@dont-email.me>,
> jcdill<jcdill...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 1) Aisles were much more spacious. There were about the same number of
>> people (per aisle) but it wasn't "crowded" like at BB.
>
> Comparing BB at peak time (dinner rush) to Rainbow at non-peak
> times is extremely unfair. If you go to Rainbow at peak hours,
> you'll often find that the store is a zoo, and there's a line
> of cars waiting to get into the garage.
It was about the same time of day (late afternoon), I went into Rainbow
Grocery ~45 minutes earlier than when I went into Berkeley Bowl, but I
was there for 1/2 hour, so I left Rainbow at almost the same time as
when I entered Berkeley Bowl.
I found a parking space on the street (thank you St. Gladys) right by
their side door, but I did see cars lined up to get into the parking garage.
They were equally "busy" but because RG has wider aisles, it wasn't as
crowded, it was easier to move thru the aisles.
>> 2) There were hundreds of items in each aisle that I never see at
>> Safeway. Jars of loose herbs and spices, teas, peanut butters and oils
>> and soaps that you can dispense into your own jars, etc.
>
> Those all exist at Berkeley Bowl too. Well, I don't know about
> the soaps, but there are jars of loose herbs and spices, bins of
> bulk items, etc.
Huh. I saw *many* more jars at Rainbow than at BB, walls and walls of
jars, from the floor to above my head.
Mainly, what I saw at Rainbow was a lot more of the non-grocery store
stuff, while BB had aisles and aisles full of stuff that you can get at
Safeway etc.
>> 3) No crying babies.
>
> See also time of day.
Same time of day.
>> 4) Many packaged "convenience" foods that were made of real food,
>> ingredients you can pronounce, etc.
>> On the downside, their produce section is quite small. But since I like
>> to buy my produce at farmers markets when possible, that isn't really a
>> detraction for me.
>
> Ah! Here's our difference of opinion. While I like farmers markets
> in general, I strongly dislike having to schedule my shopping around
> them.
I'm the other way around, I know what day/time many cities in the SF Bay
Area have farmers markets, and then I stop in when I'm in that city (on
my work route) on that day, and shop. I keep a cooler with me in my car
so I can buy produce mid-day and it will stay cool and fresh until I get
home. I can also stop in at several fruit stands on my way home (when I
get to head home before dark) but their selections aren't as extensive
as what can be found at a Farmer's Market.
Since I live in the boonies now (on a ranch south of Gilroy), I pretty
much have to shop while I'm working, or hit TJs or Safeway on my way
home, or pay $$$ for items at the local grocery.
> The most important things that I look for in a grocery store
> are, in order:
>
> 1. An excellent selection of high-quality produce
> 2. A good selection of high-quality meats and dairy products
> 3. A good selection of bulk grains, legumes, etc.
> 4. A good selection of cheeses
> 5. A good selection of breads
>
> BB wins hands-down on #1. BB wins by default on #2-- Rainbow
> is completely vegetarian. Rainbow probably wins on #3, but it's
> close enough that I don't care. I'm not sure who wins on #4--
> it may be too close to call. It's been a long time since I've
> shopped for bread at Rainbow so I don't know who wins here, but
> I'm sure it's close. BB does extremely well.
>
I eat very little meat (and never buy red meat, but will occasionally
have it when served by a host, or rarely when at a steakhouse), so #2 is
not on my list. I also eat very little bread. IMHO they have roughly
equivalent cheese selections - Rainbow probably has more rennet-free
cheeses (for those who care). I rarely buy bulk grains or legumes, I
find the pre-bagged products work fine for my needs. And I prefer to
get my produce from Farmers Markets. So basically, we have entirely
different priorities in how we rate groceries!
> I can't remember the last time I bought a convenience food at any
> store, so I really have no idea how either store fares in that area.
I buy them mainly for lunch, when I don't have time to pack a lunch. I
had a black bean and hummus wrap from Rainbow, it was tasty but a bit
spendy for such simple ingredients. I also had a beet/walnut/cheese
salad, which was very good and I would buy it again.
jc
sf
<spamtr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> (The one-pound minimum keeps us from shopping
> at SF Herb)
The herb store just around the corner from Rainbow? I haven't been
there in ages, but the last time I was there - items were mainly
prepackaged and there was no one pound limit... although I could
probably do some serious damage to a pound of dried thyme or
granulated garlic in a year. IMO, there's a great selection at
Rainbow and I can buy any amount I want, so there's no reason to
bother with SF Herb if they don't want my business anyway.
--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.
Tim May
>
> There is a belief that Berkeley Bowl requires weighing of some bulk
> items and produce at mid-store weighing stations because this
> reduces the chances of the customers eating (or perhaps, hiding) some
> fraction of said items before they are weighed at checkout.
This is becoming common in my area (Santa Cruz, Capitola, Aptos), as
more of the scum elect to hide more expensive items per pound inside
less expensive items per pound items.
A few--or a few hundred--excecutions might deter the practice.
Howver, amongtst the Yaqui, Mestizo, and other illegal aliens, life is
very, very cheap. So I expect it will not deter them. Even if we bill
the mestizos for the cost of the ammuitition to execute their elders,
they will still steal.
It is in their blood.
Sooner or later, we will have to execute 50 million illegal mestizos.
They can't be sent back to Mexico (who wanted them shipped to El
Norte_) and we can't keep supporting them. We need to humanely
liquidate them.
--
Tim May
Tim May
How am I promoting the Judaic nonsense
The death of billions of Catholics, Muslims, etc. will hardly promote the Jews.
In fact, the Jews will pretty likely face annihilation, as in,
"Get to the shore, and start swimming."
Calling me an advocate of the Jew is a serious crime.
--
Tim May
evergene
>On Sat, 23 Apr 2011 09:15:43 -0700 (PDT), spamtrap1888
><spamtr...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> (The one-pound minimum keeps us from shopping
>> at SF Herb)
>
>The herb store just around the corner from Rainbow? I haven't been
>there in ages, but the last time I was there - items were mainly
>prepackaged and there was no one pound limit... although I could
>probably do some serious damage to a pound of dried thyme or
>granulated garlic in a year. IMO, there's a great selection at
>Rainbow and I can buy any amount I want, so there's no reason to
>bother with SF Herb if they don't want my business anyway.
+1, like the old folks say. I also haven't been to SF Herb Co. in a
couple of years, and I also recall 4 oz. packages of lots of
varieties.
My absolute favorite source for herbs and spices is World Spice in
Seattle. They're a bricks-and-mortar store located across the street
from Pike Place Market. Huge variety, excellent quality, and if you
buy ground spices, or spice blends, they grind to order. And their
Aleppo pepper doesn't include added salt. Some time ago Steve Pope
pointed out that Penzey's adds salt to some spice that I use all the
time - I think it was Aleppo pepper. World Spice doesn't.
http://www.worldspice.com/home/home.shtml
Al Eisner
> On Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:59:20 -0700, Michael Siemon <mlsi...@sonic.net> wrote:
>>
>> Assuming you mean the older BB, then that is probably Kirala --
>> definitely recommendable.
>
> I went to Kirala once. I was most unimpressed. It was OK,
> but way over-rated. Noisy, crowded, slow.
When was that? I was there a number of times back in the 80s and 90s,
when I had reason to travel to Berkeley. It was one of my favorites
there, and my favorite Bay Area Japanese restaurant -- consistently
satisfying. I haven't been there in quite a few years, however.
It was popular, so it could get crowded (best to go at non-peak
hours), and I agree it could get extremely slow under those
conditions.
--
Al Eisner
San Mateo Co., CA
Julian Macassey
> On Sat, 23 Apr 2011, Julian Macassey wrote:
>
>> I went to Kirala once. I was most unimpressed. It was OK,
>> but way over-rated. Noisy, crowded, slow.
>
> When was that?
2009
sf
wrote:
> Having never set foot in a Berkeley Bowl store, I'm wondering why do
> customers have to wait in separate lines to have their organic produce and
> bulk foods weighed?
>
> Why can't Berkeley Bowl have those items weighed at the checkout counter,
> like most supermarkets do.
I think this is their way of speeding up the checkout line.
sf
<ser...@serenepages.org> wrote:
> Not saying I love the idea, but I can see why they might want to do it
> that way.
BBW is an "experience". Not all customers buy from the bulk bins or
organic produce, so they don't need to make that stop or be held up by
people who do.
sf
<ge...@geeaitcheekaygee.com> wrote:
> Rainbow is a mixed bag. Their prices are very high. Their produce is
> more expensive than at any other market I've been to in SF, and the
> quality of their produce is very much hit-and-miss.
> They devote an awful lot of space to soap, dietary supplements, and
> other high-margin crap.
I guess it all depends on how much you want an item and how much you
value your time. Me? I go elsewhere if I think I can find it for
less.
> And their customers and staff range from charming to annoying, with
> all the stations in between. (Charming = a customer who cheerfully
> told me the different ways she cooks different types of lentils.
> Annoying = me, as I bitch and moan about having to bag my own
> groceries and pay forty cents for the plastic container in which I put
> my Castelvetrano olives. I recognize that what annoys me will charm
> some of my greener brothers and sisters.)
I've never had to bag my own groceries at Rainbow, but I'd be SOL if I
forgot to bring big shopping bags and buy a lot of stuff. The free
bin has lots of little bags, but large ones are scarce.
> But I still shop there sometimes. They've got a great variety of
> flours and grains. I've gotten Type-00 flour and buckwheat flour there
> (both sourced from Giusto's), and they've got all the other grainy
> outliers - spelt, quinoa, etc. They've got all sorts of lentils, other
> pulses, dried beans, etc., and a nice selection of olive oils,
> vinegars, cheeses, soy sauces. And they carry the excellent Firebrand
> breads.
I found Umbrian lentils there too. I don't bother with their produce,
I go mainly for bulk bin and hard to find items. If you can't find it
elsewhere, Rainbow probably has it.
> And on the single instance in this lifetime when I needed juniper
> berries, they had the best (located, strangely enough, not with herbs
> and spices, but with "herbal remedies" or some such category).
That is odd, but at least I know where to find it now. How much did
you have to buy? My lifetime supply has gone missing. Hubby probably
threw it out. Can't have things just lying around waiting to be used,
ya know.
sf
wrote:
> It was about the same time of day (late afternoon), I went into Rainbow
> Grocery ~45 minutes earlier than when I went into Berkeley Bowl, but I
> was there for 1/2 hour, so I left Rainbow at almost the same time as
> when I entered Berkeley Bowl.
I always find street parking on that block, no further than a block
away for Rainbow, but I do think that BBW has a luxurious amount of
parking spaces.
Patti Beadles
sf <sf.u...@gmail.com> wrote:
>I always find street parking on that block, no further than a block
>away for Rainbow, but I do think that BBW has a luxurious amount of
>parking spaces.
Oh yes! The underground garage is extremely spacious, though I
usually park in the lot that's across the street since I can avoid
most of the foot traffic that way.
-Patti
--
Patti Beadles, Oakland, CA |
pattib~pattib.org | All religions are equally
http://www.pattib.org/ | ludicrous, and should be ridiculed
http://stopshootingauto.com | as often as possible. C. Bond
evergene
I needed only a couple of ounces of juniper berries. Rainbow stocks
them in a big jar, and they were moist on the inside, when I crushed
them!
spamtrap1888
I missed the original post.
The fellow who owned the spice store in Detroit's Eastern Market
shelved a lot of his spices away from the culinary section, apparently
believing that the FDA disapproved of them. Galangal was one of them;
I don't remember about juniper berries.
But as far as I know, the only spice the FDA prohibits is sassafras
bark used for root beer, because of the safrole it contains.
Kent
"Tim May" <tc...@att.net> wrote in message
news:201104240028085556-tcmay@attnet...
>
>
Global warming is the beginning of the end of human existence on this
planet. There isn't anything that can be done about it. We began, evolved,
and now it is the time to end, I suspect within the next century.
Kent
Ciccio
> Global warming is the beginning of the end of human existence on this
> planet. There isn't anything that can be done about it. We began, evolved,
> and now it is the time to end, I suspect within the next century.
Oh well, all good things must end...It was good while it lasted. I'm
glad that it will be global warming long after I'm dead. That's much
better than the threat we had to live with of not just nuclear
contamination, but nuclear annihilation while I was alive. Nobody I
know will be around when it happens, so no need to be teary-eyed about
it.
Ciccio
Tim May
Indeed,. Whicih is why I don't worry about it. The Mexicans are
swarming into El Norte, dropping babies at great rates, laughing all
the way. El Norte will double in population by 2022.
Good news for we who are preparing the liquidation centers.
Time to start preparing to liquidate 40 million Mexicans.
A boom time for fertilizer baggers.
>
--
Tim May
sf
Beadles) wrote:
> In article <96ocr65us05952lpu...@4ax.com>,
> sf <sf.u...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >I always find street parking on that block, no further than a block
> >away for Rainbow, but I do think that BBW has a luxurious amount of
> >parking spaces.
>
> Oh yes! The underground garage is extremely spacious, though I
> usually park in the lot that's across the street since I can avoid
> most of the foot traffic that way.
>
Heh, it's so easy to park in the lot across the street that I didn't
even realize they had covered parking too. Hopefully it's not as
tight as the inside parking is at various Whole Foods (shudder) in SF.