The Los Angeles Times offers an extensive, 2,800-word piece detailing the city’s ethnic grocery scene, noting that “all over town, and beyond its borders, terrific ethnic food markets are cooking up fabulous things. The markets might be as huge as a Ranch 99 or as tiny as a two-aisle Armenian deli, but more and more, they'll have a few tables where you can sit and enjoy spicy cold Korean noodles or a killer taco, usually prepared in a tiny kitchen on the spot.”
Essentially, Los Angeles residents – regardless of heritage – seem to be enjoying a new sport called “market eating” – going to the grocery store, enjoying prepared ethnic foods that are unusual and exotic, and sharing the experience with friends and other shoppers. And when people find something they really like – or that appeals to their sense of adventure – they then can pick up the ingredients and try to make the dish at home.
Essentially, Los Angeles residents – regardless of heritage – seem to be enjoying a new sport called “market eating” – going to the grocery store, enjoying prepared ethnic foods that are unusual and exotic, and sharing the experience with friends and other shoppers. And when people find something they really like – or that appeals to their sense of adventure – they then can pick up the ingredients and try to make the dish at home.
- KC's View:
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The Times does a round up of almost a dozen local grocery stores and the hundreds of different dishes they serve up – each one more mouth watering than the one that precedes it.
What these grocery stores have tapped into is something that few big food chains understand – that a food culture can be a differential advantage, the ticket to financial and creative success, an enormous lure to the shopper, and just a lot more fun than figuring which special to run and what slotting allowance to accept.
That’s what we get out of it from a business perspective. From a personal point of view…well, we can’t wait until our next trip to the City of Angels.
