Food & Drink shopping in North America
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Purdy’s Chocolates
Like a beacon to the weary, this purple-painted chocolate purveyor stands at the corner of Granville and W 11th Ave calling your name. It’s a homegrown British Columbia business with outlets dotted like candy sprinkles across the city, and it’s hard not to pick up a few treats for the road here. Among the favorites are the chocolate hedgehogs, peanut-butter daisies and sweet Georgia browns – roasted pecans wrapped in caramel and chocolate. Check out the sales racks after Christmas and Valentine’s Day for dramatic bargains.
reviewed
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Dutch Girl Chocolates
This little creaky-floored shop is artfully draped with an Aladdin’s cave of totally irresistible choc treats, many made in the kitchen you’ll glimpse through the hatch out back. Pick up some milk, white or dark chocolate models of cars or tennis racquets, peruse the old-fashioned jars of liquorice sweeties or create a selection box of handmade truffles and bonbons from the cabinet by the counter. And if you’re a visiting Netherlander pining for home, you can pick up all your fave branded Dutch confections right here.
reviewed
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C
Blommer Chocolate Store
Often in the Loop, a smell wafts through that’s so enticing you’d shoot your own mother in the kneecaps to get to it. It comes from Blommer Chocolate Factory, which provides the sweet stuff to big-time manufacturers such as Fannie May and Nabisco. Luckily, the wee outlet store sells a line of Blommer’s own goodies straight to consumers at cut-rate prices. The dark-chocolate-covered almonds reign supreme, and there’s a sweet selection of retro candies like Zots, Pop Rocks and Zagnut bars.
reviewed
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Salumeria Italiana
Shelves stocked with extra-virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar; cases crammed with cured meats, hard cheeses and olives of all shapes and sizes; boxes of pasta; jars of sauce: this little store is the archetype of North End specialty shops. Shopping tip: inquire about the Rubio aged balsamic vinegar made exclusively for the Salumeria Italiana by an artisan in Modena, Italy. Made from Trebbiano grapes and aged in oak barrels, this is the secret ingredient of many North End chefs.
reviewed
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Le Sanctuaire
Mad scientists, thrill seekers and professional chefs are buzzed in speakeasy-style to this culinary curiosity shop selling anchovy juice, spherifiers to turn fruit into caviar, salt for curing meats, and of course that hallmark of molecular gastronomy: foaming agents. Check the website for classes on making smoked watermelon with vacuum sealers and using liquid nitrogen to make powdered lard – too bad suspending disbelief using gellants isn’t on the schedule.
reviewed
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Konbiniya Japan Centre
At a point on Robson St where the generic chain stores dry up and the Asian businesses begin, this is the kind of colorful, chaotic, even tacky store frequently seen in Tokyo’s clamorous suburbs. It’s the best place in town for Pocky chocolate sticks, wasabi-flavored Kit Kats and Melty Kiss candies, hence the homesick language students shuffling around the aisles. If your accommodation is self-catering, this is a good place to pick up cheap noodles and currymixes.
reviewed
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Cheng Kwong Market
A partner of Super 88, the leading Asian supermarket chain in Boston, Cheng Kwong specializes in exotic vegetables, tropical fruits and live seafood. Founded by a Vietnamese immigrant, Super 88 stores are successful because they appeal not only to Asian customers but also to Boston’s diverse, food-loving population. In fact, customers are urged to ask for advice and information from the Customer Service desk. What is this funny-shaped fruit, anyway?
reviewed
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La Grotta Del Formaggio
If you insist on eating something other than chocolate or ice cream, drop into this legendary deli, a holdover from the days when this was Vancouver’s ‘Little Italy.’ Peruse the lip-smacking cheese selection then check out the wall of marzipan, olive oil and cream crackers. A good spot to gather some mighty fine picnic fixings, you can scoff the lot in nearby Grandview Park. Check out the ceiling: it’s painted with clouds like the Sistine Chapel.
reviewed
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Meinhardt Fine Foods
The culinary equivalent of a sex shop for food fans, the narrow aisles at this swanky deli and grocery emporium are lined with international condiments, luxury canned goods and the kind of tempting treats that everyone should try at least once. Drop by for Christmas goodies or build your perfect picnic from the tempting bread, cheese and cold cuts selections. If you’re salivating too much, check out Picnic, Meinhardt’s adjoining eatery for lunch.
reviewed
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Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company
You too can say you made a fortune in San Francisco after visiting this bakery, where cookies are stamped out on old-fashioned presses and folded while hot – just as they were back in 1909, when they were invented in San Francisco for the Japanese Tea Garden. You can make your own customized cookies, or pick up a bag of the risqué ‘French’ fortune cookies – no need to add ‘in bed’ at the end to make these interesting.
reviewed
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Nippon-Ya!
Tea, seasonal treats and omiyage (traveler's gifts) ranked by popularity make Nippon-ya! worthy of exclamation. There's a whole wall of tea and treats to accompany it, like green-tea mochi, the ever-popular strawberry mochi with chocolate filling and arare rice crackers basted with sweet soy sauce. Everything is so lavishly wrapped that that goldfish keychain looks fancier than one from Tiffany's.
reviewed
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Bon Bon
A mother-daughter team infuses the handmade chocolates with exotic, heady ingredients like rose petals, chilies and chai tea. As if that wasn’t sensuous enough, they then mold the pieces into figures from the Kama Sutra (as well as into little Buddhas and King Tuts, who are still kind of sexy). Serve the rich concoctions to the object of your affection, and you’ll be ripping each others’ clothes off in no time.
reviewed
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Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand
Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand fills its shelves with honey, pastries, produce and other edible products, all made or grown within 250 miles of the city. On Wednesday (11am-1pm) the store hosts free cooking demonstrations of easy recipes using what’s newest and freshest that day. On Friday (noon-2pm) local producers come in to share stories and offer tastings of everything from Mayan chocolate cookies to farmstead goat cheese.
reviewed
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Vosges Haut-Chocolat
Owner-chocolatier Katrina Markoff has earned a national reputation for her brand by blending exotic ingredients like curry powder, chilies and wasabi into her truffles, ice cream and candy bars. They sound weird but taste great, as the abundant samples laid out along the back counter prove. The heaven-sent dark-chocolate blends are the sweets to beat, dressed up with sea salt, ‘enchanted mushrooms’ and bacon. Yes, bacon.
reviewed
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Garrett Popcorn
Like lemmings drawn to a cliff, people form long lines outside this kernel-sized store on the Mag Mile. Granted, the caramel corn is heavenly and the cheese popcorn decadent, but is it worth waiting in the whipping snow for a chance to buy some? Actually, it is. Buy the Chicago Mix, which combines the two flavors. One estimate says Chicagoans wolf down a collective 480,000 pounds per year. The entrance is on Ontario St.
reviewed
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Tutto Italiano
When they say ‘tutto’ they mean ‘tutto.’ All the products at this little grocery store are imported from Italy, except the ones that are made on the premises. The former include cookies, cheeses and pastas, while the latter include fresh mozzarella, sausages and the house olive oil. There are also some prepared dishes and frozen pasta for your reheating pleasure.
reviewed
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Trader Joe's
Most people love Trader Joe's, it seems. It's a slightly smaller version of Whole Foods with fair-trade coffee, organic produce, beef and poultry, and an odd smattering of exotic goods not normally stocked in stores. In fact, so many people love the Trader Joe's on E 14th St that shopping there takes enormous patience; the store is small and awkwardly laid out, and crowds quickly form.
reviewed
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Spice House
A bombardment of peppery fragrance socks you in the nose at this exotic spice house in Old Town, offering delicacies such as black and red volcanic salt from Hawaii and pomegranate molasses among the tidy jars. Best though are the house-made herb blends themed after Chicago neighborhoods, including the piquant ‘Argyle St Asian Blend,’ allowing you to take home a taste of the city.
reviewed
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Jacques Torres Chocolate
Serious chocolatier runs this European-style store with a few cafe tables, filled with the most velvety and innovative chocolates ever crafted. Take a few to the nearby Empire Fulton Ferry State Park for a snack and a view between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. Torres has a handful of other shops around NYC, including an ice-cream parlor next door.
reviewed
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Recchiuti Chocolates
No San Franciscan can resist Recchiuti: Pacific Heights parts with old money for its fleur de sel caramels; Noe Valley’s child foodie prodigies prefer S’more Bites to the campground variety; and the Mission splurges on chocolates designed by developmentally disabled artists from Creativity Explored – part of the proceeds benefit the nonprofit gallery.
reviewed
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Beacon Hill Chocolates
This artisanal chocolatier puts equal effort into selecting fine chocolates from around the world and designing beautiful keepsake boxes to contain them. Using decoupage to affix old postcards, photos and illustrations, the boxes are works of art even before they are filled with truffles. Pick out an image of Historic Boston as a souvenir for the sweet tooth in your life.
reviewed
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Coco-Luxe
The Gold Rush may be over, but the sugar rush is definitely on at this SF chocolate maker reinventing American dessert classics like devil’s food cake, malted milkshakes and banana splits as truffles. Cinnamon-candied almonds dunked in chocolate and dusted with cocoa make Block Party Almonds the kind of treat you might not be inclined to share with neighbors.
reviewed
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Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant
Stock up on California wines after you’ve sipped a few – start with viogniers, work your way to cabs, and swish and spit when you only want to taste. Savvy staff describe wines in a fun, informative way, making sure a fine time is had by all. The bar is jammed on Saturdays, but otherwise staff will take the time to suggest pairings and exciting new releases.
reviewed
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Red Blossom Tea Company
Think beyond the world of black and green teas to the universe of white teas, herbal infusions, and of course the signature blossom teas that unfurl in your pot like time-lapse photography of a dahlia in August. That pot-bellied 'dragon egg' Yixing teapot holds the flavor of the tea and gives just the right water-to-tea ratio for two cups.
reviewed
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New May Wah
No truly adventurous eater should leave town without a trip here. Flavored tapioca tea kits and stinky, acquired-taste durian are just the beginning: sharpen your stir-fry tasting skills with an array of fish sauce and bean pastes, and work your way through the shelves of chili sauce and soju (Korean rice wine) if you dare.
reviewed
