Girl Meets Grocery Store

Living in New York City, I've gotten used to seeing the same bags all the time. Macy's, Strawberry, Forever 21, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, M&M's World, and Zabars are the main ones. Some of them are places I shop at, too, but some of them I lump together as a spot on the tourist map (namely, M&M's World- since when did M&Ms become a hobby anyway?).

When I saw Zabars bags, I thought the same thing. A New York kosher grocery store, but not much more than that.

Boy, was I wrong. So wrong.

I went there for the first time on Tuesday and my mouth dropped open. My pulse raced and I felt giddy. I suddenly had the urge to call every girlfriend in my address book and make them guess where I was. It was the food version of meeting that special someone. I am still smiling, just thinking about it.

To give you an illustration, here is a shot of their cheese department, or a sliver of it:

That's probably only about 15% of just the cheese department. My heart.

Upstairs are kitchen tools and gizmos in a space the size of a city block. Thank goodness I am moving and left my credit card at home.

If my pride didn't get the best of me while I was trying to maintain decorum, I would have taken more photos. Instead, I ran around drooling over everything and trying not to touch anything I wasn't serious about buying. (My fave thing is poking soft cheese through the saran wrap, trying to imagine how much oozier it will get at room temp.)

And look! A little bit of heaven from home- Point Reyes' Cowgirl Creamery.

I'm glad I've learned to never again judge a bag by its cover. But visitors, please skip M&M's World and just go here instead!