Modern Grocery Stores

What makes a grocery store a cool place to shop? Rephrased in another way, what are the components that need to be present in a retail store that would make me want to come back again and again to do my food shopping, a task that is repetitive, monotonous and sometimes outright annoying?

I was pondering these questions earlier this week when I noticed that the grocery store down the street changed (upgraded) the refrigeration units that hold the store’s meats.  It appears that the store installed a modern glass refrigeration section to enhances the look and experience of shopping for the rather unexcited and dull packaged (sometimes mystery) meat.

I wish more food retailers would ask and execute on the same questions to make food shopping a more pleasurable experience.  As a customer, you may be focused on your shopping list and grocery mission but it does not mean you can’t also enjoy the experience at the same time.  These two things are not mutually exclusive.

There is nothing I like more when I travel than to visit grocery and specialty stores and see how food is merchandised and sold in different cities around the world.  There is something special about discovering (and shopping in) a grocery store that has clearly worked with an interior designer or an architect to plan, design and execute its food retailing concept.  My favourite concept which I am sure will continue to evolve is the restaurant, market, retail store concept-

Here are some of my favourite modern grocery stores around the world.  Where do you like to shop?  What stands out for you in a store?  Any interesting food retailing concepts you would recommend?

Three Sixty (Hong Kong)- The Whole Foods of Hong Kong.  It offers lots of organic products spread out over two floors, spacious aisles, natural light and soft interiors. I enjoyed shopping there when I was living in Hong Kong.

Photo Source: 1, 2

Pimlico (Paris) Organic epicerie, local, specialty food shop.  Love the white walls with exposed bricks.

Photo Source: 1

Mpreis (South Tyrol, Austria) Super trendy, industrial, spacious, modern store which I hope to visit in two weeks when I go skiing in Austria.

Supermarket Chain

Photo Source: 1, 2

 Unpackaged (London) You bring the bags, containers and cartons.  It reminds me of a hipper farmer’s market meets, Bulk Barn (a bulk food store in Toronto).

Photo Source: 1, 2, 3

Kochhaus (Berlin) A gourmet chef’s delight.

Photo Source: 1, 2, 3

 

 

 

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Cuisine de Bar by Poilane

For those of you who drool over the aroma and thought of freshly baked bread, which would be most of us, unless you are gluten free, you’ll be excited to read that Poilane, a family run bakery in Paris recently opened a new cafe/bakery/restaurant called Cuisine de Bar by Poilane in Sloane Square in London.

The history of this bakery dates back to 1932 when a young baker from Normandy came to Paris to open a shop. The baker, Lionel Poilane, known for his sourdough bread, achieved success with his breads and even received request for bread from artist, Salvador Dali, who created a house out of bread for him to test if he had mice.  Today, Poilane is still family run and has three locations in Paris and two in London (Cuisine de Bar as the newest edition).

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll recall this is not the first time I’ve mentioned Poilane.  A couple years ago, I wrote about the bakery’s other famous product, their punition cookies , the cookie beloved by home bakers, foodies and Francophiles all over the blogsphere (here, here, and here), that gained a lot of traction after Dorie Greenspan published a recipe for punitions in her book titled, Paris Sweets.

While I am not in London to taste treats from Poilane’s new outpost, lucky me, my fiance will be heading to London in a couple weeks and I am going to send him to test and report back. That’s what I call team work at its finest.

via hautecompass

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martin creed

Martin Creed is a British artist who currently splits his time between London and Alicudi, Italy.  I am in love with his work and found it thanks to a terrific blog called My Adventure is Your Advantage (MAiYA).  It certainly is in this case!  Below, is a selection of my favourite pieces from Martin- ultimate favourites are #2 and #3. Happy Thursday.  Next week I will fill you in on my second trip to Amsterdam.  There has been a lot of exploring going on this past week. Excited to share.

All images via Martin Creed’s website.

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London: fav bakery- Ottolenghi

Ottolenghi, a bakery, a food shop, a restaurant  (cafe-deli-restaurant) was quoted by Yotam, himself as “a playground for people who love food” in an interview in delicious magazine here.  The plentiful salads, beautiful pastries and cakes are simple, yet the product of a wild variety of ingredients.  While in London, I visited two of his shops (in Kensington and Notting Hill) and was blown away by the experience.  It takes “food porn” to another level.  Meticulously merchandised, you walk into and of Ottolenghi’s small storefronts and want to taste everything.  Israel born Yotam Ottolenghi set up Ottolenghi with his business partner Sami Tamimi back in 2002 after training at Le Cordon Bleu and working at Capital Restaurant, Kensington Place, Launceston Place and Baker and Spice.  Yotam is also a food writer and has authored several cookbooks including his newest one, Plenty, which I wanted to buy on site but couldn’t put the 10lb book (may be an exaggeration but it was a HEAVY cookbook!) in my suitcase without having to pay extra.

I only have a few shots but hopefully you’ll get a glimpse at this wonderful place.  You can also check out their blog here or read an interview in the Evening Standard here.

Bread Pudding

 

Front display window

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London: fav breakfast- My Old Dutch Pancake House

While walking around Kensington one afternoon, we passed by a small restaurant called My Old Dutch Pancake House.  We looked the place up to see if they had any other locations, and to our luck they had a spot in Chelsea, where we would be the following day.  After our mini “trek” from the tube station, we arrived at My Old Dutch Pancake House and soon found out there was nothing “small” about this restaurant. 

If you haven’ had a Dutch pancake before they are huge.  They are the size of a small pizza and are a cross between a pancake and a crepe.  At My Old Dutch you could make your own pancake and choose toppings.  I went with an apple, pear, cinnamon and honey pancake topped with loads of icing sugar.  There were toppings like caramel, nutella and other rich sauces but I couldn’t do it.  I could barely finish the one I got given the size.  If sweet is not your thing, there is also a large selection of savoury pancakes for lunch/dinner.  I have never had a dutch pancake and if I had the chance again, I would go back 100%.

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London: fav bakery- Sweet Boulangerie

The next mouth-watering bakery in London that deserves mention is Sweet Boulangerie in the Exmouth Market.  On our morning walk around the Clerkenwell area, we walked through Exmouth market and stopped dead in our tracks when we got to Sweet.  It was packed in there and we were lucky to grab the last seat.  This is a typical french patisserie with macarons, cakes, cookies, tarts, and savoury items like sandwiches, pizza slices with a low key atmosphere, and a delicious aroma of baked goods.

Our macaron sample

chocolate eclair

counter display

Sweet Boulangerie store front

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