When I went to Cal, I used to shop at the Berkeley Bowl (whenever I could find parking). So it's a pleasant surprise to find the quirky market featured in the Los Angeles Times.
Here's what John M. Glionna wrote about the place where nuts roam the aisles as well as sit on the shelves:
Outside, petitioners seeking signatures for ballot measures have come to blows with opinionated residents. In the tiny parking lot, nicknamed the Berkeley Brawl, frustrated motorists have been known to ram one another's cars. At the checkout, people have thrown punches and unripened avocados at suspected line-cutters.
When one shopper was told she couldn't return a bag of granola, she showily dumped its contents on the floor. Culyon Garrison, who works at the customer-service desk, recently had a loaf of bread thrown at him.
The produce emporium -- one of the nation's most renowned retailers of exotic fruits and vegetables -- creates its own bad behavior. Kamikaze shoppers crash down crowded aisles without eye contact or apology for fender-benders. So many customers weren't waiting to pay before digging in that management imposed the ultimate deterrent: Those caught sampling without buying will be banned for life -- no reprieves, no excuses. (Not even "I forgot to take my medication.")
(Photo: Randi Lynn Beach / LA Times)
Berkeley is full of ass hats, which is why I try to stay in Albany
What I do have is pretty nice, though. Here in my corner of Arkansas, there are farmer's markets everywhere. They're small, but the cost to get into it is low, so tons of people are out there selling anything imaginable, even local restaurants who want cheap advertising. Also, there are millions of farmers selling produce out of their trucks. I'm not kidding when I say that there was one person off the side of the road selling a bushel of apples for $1 (yep, a full basket, maybe 10 or 15 apples, for $1 - I thought it was a typo at first). I miss the east coast, but the constant bombardment of fresh fruit and veggies kind of makes up for it.
St. Lawrence Market is good. Kensington Market is real. Chinatown is fine. Yonge and Davisville has two fresh grocers who might as well be farmers markets.
Hope that helps. Toronto is a great city.
I went to an organic store recently (in my new neighborhood) that has a secret 'Lounge' with wifi above the main store. Only those with the club card are allowed in the 'Lounge'(the main store has organic cafeterias). When one of the residents complained that there may be too many of the local University students up there, a much older resident told him "You have a right to be there! You tell them to get out!". The whole thing was just insanity in the making.
And now he complains about customers sampling ? :)
Many thanks! :) I got a few days off so I'm going to be gallivanting across the city and see these markets.