Un-Fairway

Fairway is one of those places where I always think, "I should go there more often." And I schlep there (this time with Luke) and then discover why I don't. Because it's in an area where the people are notorious for being insufferably rude. And they were. They'd stop right in front of me, or push right in front of me. Or look at me like I was a huge inconvenience when I stopped to look at something. Seriously. Rude. AND....the prices were either wonderfully affordable, or insanely overpriced.

But I did have some nice moments in there that resulted in some luxury-type purchases. The coffee guy there was wonderful, pleasant and listened to what I liked and didn't like in coffee. He steered me to a coffee from Panama that I bought a half pound of to test out. He ground it for me and asked what kind of machine I had - I said, "One of those horrible drip machines." He laughed and said "I drink about 10 cups a day, you want to know what kind of coffee maker I use?" Thinking he's going to point the way to coffee nirvana, I nodded eagerly. He held this up:
I was stymied! I have one of them at home! I can't wait to try my new custom-picked coffee in the one-cupper with his no-fail formula (2 full tablespoons of coffee + 6 oz. filtered water = good coffee).

And the cheese counter. Oh man. I could have looked for days. AND they had samples! So I bought some delicious smoked mozzerella that we had on ham sandwiches today and I picked up some Dutch Parrano (which Fairway states is a hip cheese that is a cross between a Gouda and a Parmesan) that I plan to use to make myself a little cheese and cracker snack plate later.

I also bought some halvah which is such a yummy treat that I occasionally let myself be tempted by. My Egyptian brother-in-law says that in Egypt that treated it like peanut butter and slathered it on toast. How crazy delicious does that sound?

So, all in all......not so great. The insane crowds were not worth the little gems I discovered. If I find I can't live without coffee from Panama and cheese from Holland, I'll have to go off-hours.

Or just brace myself to be insufferably rude back.