The Philosopher and I aren’t Whole Food snobs (ahem) shoppers. We live in England. We pinch our pennies. Need I go on?
But Austin is the birthplace of this great chain, and we couldn’t pass up the chance to indulge in some free samples at a brand new store’s opening day.
We went in thinking of Whole Foods as the upscale organic place where you could find ingredients for that hipster quinoa cake you read about in Bon Appetit.
We came out realizing that it’s basically Disney World. For foodies.
The whole experience reminded me of that ride where they sing “It’s a small world after all…” and you sit on a very slow-moving little cart and learn about stuff. You know — the boring one?
There were wheelbarrows hanging from the roof. Colorful wall art covered every inch of real estate, including the ceiling. The perimeters were lined with different take-out cuisines. A bar was stationed roughly in the center of the warehouse (possibly an oyster bar, hard to tell amidst the throngs of tall Texan women). Small plastic containers tempted our fingers with samples of cheddars, oranges, carrot-kale smoothie, gluten-free chilli truffles…
There were even rides for adults.
And live entertainment — we only caught the Jewish Repertory Theatre segment, a rousing scene from Annie Get Your Gun.
We managed to hold back from the taco bar, but did snag what we hoped was a deal on potato chips (we are classy, yes – don’t mention it). Sadly, the bag was only 1/3 full upon opening. Which sort of broke the Disney-esque reverie a little bit.
But let me tell you, they were good. Probably organic. Hopefully quinoa-free.
Is there a Whole Foods near you? What do you go for – besides the sample carts?
modern working girl 
I go for the grind your own peanut butter, and whatever is “on sale”!
Ours doesn’t do samples:(
Well…Lydia certainly goes for the samples (particularly of the chip variety) and the children’s area full of Melissa & Doug toys…I go for the rare Intelligensia coffee bean indulgence and sales on this special free-and-clear detergent which works a treat on cloth diapers. Help! I’m a Whole Food shopper trapped in an Aldi’s budget!
Every Wednesday evening, in Alexandria, you pay $5 for a wine glass, which includes multiple tastings at stations throughout the store, together with h’orderves (sp?). There is quite a crowd at the bar at the rear of the store and people mingling all around. Sometimes people even shop for groceries.
That sounds awesome! America is great for that kind of thing — free/almost free social activities. Thanks for stopping by! Oh, and is it…hors d’oevres? Something like that. Too lazy to Google 🙂