Yesterday, I went to a really interesting supermarket.
There, I've said it and I'm glad.
Tuesday night I was out at The Three Monkeys with P-Doug, and to get there from picking up the pens at Yonge and Steeles, I had to cross quite a bit of town. I decided to head across on Cummer/McNicoll to Warden, and down it to the pub. It's not a part of town I'm in very often and it was a course I probably hadn't taken in years. I hadn't seen a Price Chopper in some time, but I spotted one on Warden just north of Finch, and made a mental note to check it out.
Got my first opportunity yesterday. More correctly, I made an excuse to check it out. The Price Chopper I once used to go to on Leslie was kind of seedy, so I didn't go with great expectations, but I felt I ought to see for myself.
It was gloomy and drizzly when I got there... as I was driving down Warden I remembered words from the movie Watership Down. "They seem sad, like trees in November." Perfect description. I fell a little bit out of time; something about it all reminded me of the early 70s... I didn't quite feel of my own time. It's hard to explain but I suppose I don't have to.
I walked across the parking lot to this tiny little parkette... It had low iron chains connecting pillars, and sloping stonework walls. As I stepped into it, I realized the walls had headstones pressed into them. It was a cemetery. A tiny little cemetery from the 1800s, sandwiched between the mall and the parking lot. Peaceful little last acre with PRICE CHOPPER towering and glowing above it. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. And yet, somehow, it didn't seem undignified. In a way, it was kind of charming... coming to terms with the dead, and surrounding them with life. Oddly enough, it sort of made me happy.
I went into Price Chopper and it was one of those places that's much bigger on the inside than it seems from the outside. It was clean and orderly, and surprisingly well-appointed. A bakery? In a discount supermarket? Yup. Quite a selection; in fact, the variety of breads they had on hand seemed more impressive than some of the bigger, pricier supermarkets. In fact, they had pretty much everything I was looking for, with the exception of a brand of cheese I like (that's not in every store anyway). They had the cold cuts I like, loose buns at a competitive price (and quite a few different kinds), they even had lime juice, which you usually can't get in discount stores... and I've taking a liking to Cuba Libres lately. They even had disposable pepper mills for a little over two bucks; I picked one up. Nice, fresh, sharp pepper. I was really impressed.
The place is a little bit out of the way; it's not really on the way to or from anything for me. But it's not so much out of the way that it causes regrets. I tend to impulse-buy groceries because there's a supermarket just off the highway on my way home. This would just mean planning a little more. But I think I might start stopping in once in a while. Made a good impression and I'd like to see if it holds up.
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