Ah Capitalism. An economic system that has provided us with the miracles of no-freeze cheese, Viagra and Levitra, and pet funerals (seriously, NPR did a story on this yesterday). My point is, where there’s a market for something, someone is likely to be selling. This especially holds true in one of my favorite little entrepreneurial corner of Highland Park. Directly in front of the Food 4 Less (5100 N. Figueroa St.) sit no fewer than six food vendors. Two taco trucks (TakiTacos, reviewed here, being one of them), one esquites and elotes vendor, two guys selling champurrado and tamales from the back of their van, a man selling cups of fruit and yogurt, and a man selling shaved ice. A few nights back I visited and tasted a few of them with the following results: Esquites and elotes are awesome. Creamy, spicy, and a little sweet all at the same time, both of these corn dishes always hit the spot. The main difference between the two is that esquites are served in a soup form while elotes are served on the cob and placed on a stick for you. Both are liberally covered in Mexican cream, lime juice, and chile. The tacos, as always, are deeply satisfying both gastronomically and economically. They grill onions with the meat to effectively soak up any missed grease. Not healthy, but damn good. The only thing I wasn’t a big fan of was the champurrado. It’s a thick drink made with masa and chocolate. It tastes like what you would get if you blended a little chocolate and hot water with a tamale.
This marketplace doesn’t only serve food, it also hawks a few wares. One guy is frequently set up with perfume on an upside-down cardboard box, and another is situated just to the north of TakiTaco selling illegal DVDs. This spot can’t miss when I feel like spending a relaxed night grubbing Mexican food on my couch and watching The Simpson’s Movie complete with the back of some guy’s head and a real laugh track. See you there!
Show your Highland Park pride and get your HECHO EN HIGHLAND PARK or YorkBlvd.com stickers.Check out the new YORK BLVD. Store.
After sitting quietly for months, with black paper covering all windows, Fresh&Easy burst to life today with its Grand Opening. Mobs of people were flowing in and out of the doors while cars circled the parking lot, looking and waiting for a spot. Meanwhile, inside the aisles were clogged and check stands full. While trying to move to the frozen foods section, I overheard one father taking the opportunity to teach his young daughter a new vocabulary word: “Congested. These aisles are congested.” And so, amidst all the excitement, we jumped into the fray.
The first thing I couldn’t help but to notice is how much nicer the outside is than the inside. Despite being new and, well… “fresh,” the store didn’t feel much better than it did when it was a crappy, run-down Albertsons. Above you are high, warehouse style ceilings bursting with fluorescent lights. Below is a glossy, but still plain concrete floor. Most items on the shelves are stocked in their original bulk-packing boxes (which I can appreciate as a cost-saving measure, but still ugly nonetheless) or in generic “Fresh&Easy” packaging that looks like it came from a George Orwell book.
However, the selection of foods is pretty good, from fancy, to fresh, to packaged to ultra-packaged (Kraft Easy Mac, anyone?) and the prices seem fair. As one couple observed, “cheaper than normal prices but not quite sale prices” for most items. One definite score: Ben&Jerry’s for under three bucks. Sadly, the beer section was less than inspiring with only a couple of microbrews for more than you’d pay with your Von’s Club card. The cashiers and other employees were in fairly good spirits, hopefully meaning that Fresh&Easy is living up to it’s promises of paying living wages for all employees (nobody starts under $10/hour supposedly), either that or everybody was just hopped up on opening-night adrenaline.
(Gourmet Cheeses)
(Not so Gourmet Cheese)
It was a fun neighborhood scene, and many people were bumping into old friends here. My overall assessment is that is definitely a place I will frequent for groceries, but it certainly doesn’t live up to the planned business model. When designing Fresh&Easy, Tesco came to the U.S. and looked at how Americans shop. A few gourmet items from one store, basics from another and bulk items from another. The plan: to bring all those things into one place. Great idea. However, as pointed out earlier, a smart shopper will get many items cheaper on sale elsewhere, will probably still want the bulk selection of Costco and… well, sorry to say, probably still get the upper-end gourmet items at Whole Foods or the like. So while I will be shopping here, it will be just another stop on the weekend grocery run.
