Fancy Food Fingered for Free

On Wednesday I had to stop somewhere so I took a different route home from work. Since Larry was already dealing with the kids I made a couple of additional stops which included Target (of course) and then the Fanciest Grocery Store in the World. Well, probably not in the world but this place is really something. I feel like I'm on vacation when I go there. I parked my car next to an artistic sculpture and walked to the beat of the jazzy music past the firewood and rock salt pleasingly arranged in giant urns. Inside, everything is just beautiful to look at and they even have a wine bar where you can can purchase a sample and carry it around in a glass as you shop. It's all just so upscale.




The best thing of all about this place is that there are food samples everywhere. I mean like every couple of feet. I know that regular grocery stores and warehouse clubs have samples that people like to talk about but I've seen those and this is different. Just about everything they sell is there for the tasting. You really could consume at least a meal's worth of calories just by grazing your way through the store. I know I did. The only problem I encountered with that is I didn't do it in order of a meal, so I had some sweet things, and then some bread, then on to cheezes, meats, nuts, jellies, and near the end I was indulging in some pretty spicy salsas which made me want something sweet again. So I kind of started over but I was really just trying to neutralize my palate. Really. But am I the only one who gets a little bit sneaky feeling when doing this at dinnertime, and then start to wonder if someone is looking? Like, how many times is a person allowed to spread some artichoke dip on a full size cracker without arousing some suspicion about your motives?





I was glad that I was wearing my work clothes instead the way I usually dress to go to the grocery stores around my house. And to make sure that I didn't seem too much like a mooch I decided to purchase something for our dinner that night. I got a tiny little tub of bean salad ($6/pound) and the jolly man who gave me a sample of mahi mahi fish tacos talked me into getting those because they were buy one get one free. Ten dollars for four tacos, you can't even get the fish alone for that much, he told me. They were very good but I have a feeling I know where the money for all those samples comes from.