2 Questions (FreshDirect and Cigars)

1) Yes, we use FreshDirect and love it. I would highly recommend it, particularly in this neighborhood, where the grocery stores are in general both a little far to walk home from with lots of heavy stuff, and also sub-par. (To put it nicely.) We use them for emergency in-between stuff, but FreshDirect for the main shop.

2) Not me, sorry

Subject: Re: 2 Questions

BrookFetish wrote: This one might sound weird to some: do any of you smoke cigars? It's a hobby of mine. Of course, living in NYC/not being allowed to smoke in my apt./not having a yard means that I'll be doing quite a bit of strolling around the neighborhood to smoke. Let me know if there are any others out there.

I'm not a regular smoker but I do light up a few times a year. Plus, as a perk in my job I get lots and lots of free cigars and tons of really good wine. Publishing has it's perks.

Magazines about drinking, smoking and eating.

Freshdirect was a blessing for me. I don't have a car and was spending a fortune shopping at the local mini-markets. Quality is excellent and the service reliable. I've had minimal problems.

daveb wrote: Magazines about drinking, smoking and eating.

whoa! daveb, you're a man after my own heart... my wife's not gonna like that, but what can you do?!

Oh man, my life in a nutshell

On-topic note: FreshDirect forgot all of our frozen stuff this past delivery, but they gave us a credit with no fuss.

I'm sorry, I am all for supporting the neighborhood (for a variety of reasons) but in this case, if the local businesses want my business, they're going to have to do a lot better. FreshDirect is more expensive, but it's worth it since the fresh food at grocery stores within walking distance is ABYSSMAL. And I am not in a position to sling my money around, either. It's enough of a difference to be worth it.

The coop is a nice idea in theory, but way too far away from me in practice.

Subject: cigar tip (and a short story)

I was hankering for a cigar the other night and went to Yelison (small store next to Tom's Diner, the corner of Washington and Sterling) to see what kind of trashy smoke I could get to go with a bottle of cheap rum. The guy handed me some thin cigarellos and my face must have betrayed my mild disgust and deep disappointment. So he immediately reached under the counter and came up with two nice fat cigars (I had a friend with me) from what looked like his own secret supply. They were cheap and not great, but at least they looked like real cigars and lasted longer than five minutes. Fat cigars and cheap rum -- perfect for a warm night with friends!

I was surprised this guy did this, since he has never been very friendly and was even less so after I tried my gringo Spanish on him. But when he dropped that stogie on the counter, my eyes lit up and he gave me a big nod and a smile. Later that week, on one of those super-hot nights, I went to buy beer and he traded the warm bottles I had grabbed from the cooler for some Coronas he had stashed in his freezer. I like to think the two events are connected, like I passed the neighborhood cigar test.

I unfortunatey do not own a humidor. I should, really.

I get wine all the time, but cigars I get maybe 3-4 times a year, in LARGE quantities. Not cheap stuff either. The real deal shit. Since I can't store them reliably, I gotta get rid of them as fast as possible or else they go stale.

So, unless I get a humidor anytime soon. The next cigar day I have at the office, I'll post on the board and we can have a huge-ass cigar party with free cigars.

No one gets my wine though. That's all me. [/i]

arielbl wrote: I freshdirect with glee.

There is a larger Farmer's Market every saturday at Grand Army Plaza with meat, fish, bread etc in addition to produce. Its not cheap, prices probably on par with freshdirect or a little higher, but its good quality stuff and just fun to go and poke around.

well it's certainly more expensive than the crappy produce shipped in from all over the country and world you can buy at the Met, add to that the gallons of gas wasted by the trucks that do the shipping for both supermarkets and Fresh Direct...
but if it's supporting local sustainable farmers who produce fresh (they mostly pick it the morning off the market) delicious veggies...than the couple dollars extra goes a long way.

daveb wrote: No one gets my wine though. That's all me. [/i]

hrmph.

I *heart* FreshDirect, I must admit.

Their produce is excellent, and their meats, poultry, and fish are good as well, but I'd warn against ordering those for delivery on a weekend, because in my experience they won't arrive fresh. And just don't bother ordering eggs from them, because try as they might there's just no way they won't arrive smashed. Their in-house brand of catering/frozen items is very good (for instance, their scones rock, and I quite like their pizza) and their coffees are great. They actually have a pretty decent wine selection. Being a total ignoramus when it comes to wine, I've found their website's descriptions and recommendations very helpful.

I've only had a few minor problems with them. The bad fish and cracked eggs were fully and quickly refunded. For a while there their deliveries were REALLY late several times in a row; when I called they told me that they were reorganizing their delivery system for my part of Brooklyn and that they were hoping the lateness would be cleared up soon -- sure enough, my food was late one more time and after that there haven't been any problems at all.

Also, I LOVE having someone else haul the heavier stuff like cat litter, cases of soda, etc. up my stairs.

Anonymous wrote: [quote=arielbl]I freshdirect with glee.

There is a larger Farmer's Market every saturday at Grand Army Plaza with meat, fish, bread etc in addition to produce. Its not cheap, prices probably on par with freshdirect or a little higher, but its good quality stuff and just fun to go and poke around.

well it's certainly more expensive than the crappy produce shipped in from all over the country and world you can buy at the Met, add to that the gallons of gas wasted by the trucks that do the shipping for both supermarkets and Fresh Direct...
but if it's supporting local sustainable farmers who produce fresh (they mostly pick it the morning off the market) delicious veggies...than the couple dollars extra goes a long way.

and the farmers market people get their veggies into the city how, by horse?

I comment on the price because prior to living in Brooklyn I lived in a small town in a farming area where the farmers markets were actually CHEAPER than the grocery stores for many things, and it was a bit of a shock when I went to Grand Army Plaza expecting bargain veggies. Just a heads up for any newcomers who might have similar expectations.

arielbl wrote:
and the farmers market people get their veggies into the city how, by horse?

the farmers drive once a week in and out of brooklyn and every bit of their money goes right back into their harvests.
grocery produce arrives via ship carrier, train, and semis from all points. Fresh Direct delivers, what is it 8am-10pm. adding their 16 foot box cargo trucks to the already overcrowded neighborhood streets. plus they drive like idiots.

key foods delivers and you would be supporting locally, sort of, except their produce is not local. perhaps getting a $10 granny cart would save your back though if you are on a tight buget.

another bonus of the market is that it is nice to see at the end of the day empty bins, meaning not much waste. grocery stores are packed full of fresh produce that never gets sold. waste. going into these stores is depressing...the excess, wasted manpower, gas, soil fertility...wasted food.

escap wrote: If I buy bananas produced by a farmer in Peru, aren't I helping that farmer? Isn't he a human being too, or is it just okay to help the American farmers and let the other ones starve? As it is, American farmers take a bite out of my paycheck each month, so I'm not sure why everyone's so eager to help them out.

There are two ways bananas are produced. High quality bananas are a large corporate undertaking with farms where a hectare produces over 3500 boxes of bananas. There is no small farmer only employees on the plantation/corporate farm. The other way is small-holding farmers who produce for either domestic markets or lower quality bananas for food service. Where corporate farms are 1000 hectares in size, small-holders may have 1 hectare and usually less.

Basically, you never see the bananas grown by small-farmers unless you buy 'heritage' varieties and organic. Even organic can come from better large growers in places like Costa Rica, but you can never go wrong with the litte red bananas and such as they are not normally grown by DelMonte or Chiquita. No money in them.

OK. I am a loser who knows too much about bananas.