Since the first moment that I set foot in a Trader Joe's store, I have been completely, irrevocably, a Trader Joe's fanatic. It started with the greeting as I walked through the door. A bright and cheerful, "Good morning!" was presented by a sales assistant who actually looked happy to see me. But wait... this welcoming attitude was continued throughout the store!
But truly, although the customer service was (and is) excellent, what really made the store was the selection of wonderful products. Fresh flowers, fresh produce, bottles and jars of interesting sauces, organic foods, non-GMO foods, healthy snacks, even not so healthy snacks; the selection was astounding.
On that first visit, I remember exploring each aisle with such abandon. It took me a very long time to shop because I would pick up one item, then put it back in favor of another. My senses were overloaded.
You see, many years ago, I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. After years of working as a chef in the restaurant industry, I switched careers. But the culinary arts remained an avid interest, if not my vocation. So, my appreciation for the Trader Joe's shopping excursion, was on a level of understanding honed by education and years of experience. My appreciation was unfathomable. Here was a store that utilized a small amount of space and provided a greater variety of high quality goods than any store I had seen in my lifetime!
Even today, after years of shopping at Trader Joe's, I still find the store to be the most exceptional grocery experience around.
So, the purpose of starting this blog is to share my love of the Trader Joe experience, as well as the joy that comes from readily available, high quality meals. In the future, there may be recipes here. There may be reviews of some of Trader Joe's products. Who knows?
