Hello, loyal reader! We here at Ridgefood have been digitally leading you around Queens’s most accessible polslavomexidoreanese neighborhood for a while, but now it’s time for us to give you the opportunity to follow us around in person!
That’s right: We’re giving a tour.
And not just any tour, but a RIDGEFOOD GROCERY SHOPPING TOUR. Have you always wanted to go into that Arab bodega and buy the groceries in the back, but you’re not sure how to use them? Do you need a step-by-step introduction to the glorious wonder that is Parrot Coffee? Do you know which fruit stand sells pristine Halal meat in the back? Are you confused about which Polish drink syrup to buy? Do you want to walk around the ‘hood, talk history and recipes, and eat sausage sticks from Morscher’s with the ladies of your neighborhood food blog on a sunny summer day?
THEN THIS TOUR IS FOR YOU.
Here’s how it’s going to work:
On August 31, 2013, Ari, Mollie, and fewer than six lucky Ridgefood readers will meet at the Ridgewood Youthmarket in the Ridgewood Veterans Triangle at 10 a.m., which is the time you have to show up if you want to get any of the good stuff. Participants will bring at least two (2) reusable shopping bags, plus a sturdy backpack for heavier items; they will wear reasonable walking shoes; they will remember to apply sunscreen; and they will carry plenty of cold, hard cash, because most likely we’ll be making a lot of small purchases and it’s inconsiderate to use a credit card for less than $20 at a small business.
After scooping up some basic farm bounty at the Youthmarket, the shopping group will hit all the neighborhood powerhouses, including but not limited to: Parrot Coffee, Morscher’s Pork Store, Max Euro, Hetman Fine Foods, Guadalajara de Dia #2, Wallgate Deli, Ridgewood Pork Store, Valentino’s, Cracovia Deli, Ridgewood Farm Market, and perhaps even more! We’ll pass by “Whimsical Window Row” and stop midway for lunch at venerable pizza joint Minitalia, where we will have a discussion about our purchases and the meals that participants plan to prepare. At the end, we’ll enjoy dessert at Catania Bakery!
To secure your spot in the Ridgewood Grocery Shopping Tour, email a brief introduction about yourself to mollie@ridgefood.com. As stated above, the tour is limited to six people (Ridgewood residents only, please), and the experience is free except for your groceries. Participants and their purchases will also be featured in a future Ridgefood post.
Don’t go to WALLGATE GROCERY. About 2 months ago they tried to steal my phone. I thought I had left my phone there on the counter and I had gone there to ask, only to hear a very insincere, “No we don’t have any phones.” My friend kept calling in hope that by the time I got there the second time I would hear it ringing. The worker answered and said it was Wallgate, acting like she was calling the store. She was like, “No, that’s my friend’s phone.” It was a temporary phone that I had paid a deposit on, too. She threatened to call the police and when I got there I said I was just there and they have my phone. He looked resistant like oh no, what to do now, but then sighed and pulled out not one, but 2 phones and said “which one is yours?” It’s a 666 address and they are schmucks. Don’t go there. I also had bread there that wasn’t fresh. Just so you know…
Eek, so sorry this happened to you. Maybe the tour will stop by Wallgate and confront them! Is a backpack-wearing, tote bag–carrying, mostly female gang scary enough?