Food shopping in San Francisco

A Trader Joe's in South San Francisco, Calif.

Editor's note: Food shopping in San Francisco was only slightly different than in North Jersey, but after a week there I was glad to get back to my familiar stores.

 
Jack and Rina, my hosts in San Francisco, spend most of their food-shopping dollars at Trader Joe's and Costco Wholesale.

Jack picked me up at the airport on Feb. 13 and, after we had a bite to eat, we headed over to a big Costco store in South San Francisco.

I wanted to buy a few familiar items that would make me feel more at home as well as compare this store to the Costco warehouse store in Hackensack, where I usually shop. 

Image via Wikipedia

The South San Francisco store appears to be bigger than the one in Hackensack, with many more tables and chairs in the food court. And the selection and brand names differ, and so do some of the prices.

I found Costco's Kirkland Signature Smoked Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon for $15.59 or about 20 cents more than I paid the last time I bought the 1-pound package in Hackensack. 

But Earthbound Farm's Organic Spring Mix was only $3.79 -- compared to $4.79 to $4.99 for the 1-pound package in North Jersey.

I also picked up three bottles of organic carrot juice, cartons of egg whites and dried organic Black Mission figs.

But when I went over to the fresh-fish case, I could find only farmed fish, including whole trout.

Three days later, the fish case offered several wild-caught fillets: Pacific rock fish for $5.99 a pound, California halibut for $12.99 a pound, True Pacific Cod for $5.99 a pound and Pacific Sea Bass for $12.99 a pound.

In Hackensack, I usually find cod for a couple of bucks more a pound, haddock from Iceland and flounder -- all wild-caught. Fresh wild salmon is sold in North Jersey from the end of May until October.

The sea bass made a wonderful main dish for dinner at Jack and Rina's, cooked on the stove top for about 15 minutes with a can of organic diced tomatoes, olive oil, fresh lemon juice and organic non-salt seasoning -- all from Costco or Trader Joe's.

Image via Wikipedia

At Trader Joe's, I found a 1-pound package of Smoked Wild Sockeye Salmon for $16.99. I checked the sodium content, which is about the same as the cheaper Costco smoked wild salmon for a 2-ounce portion.

Trader Joe's also was selling non-organic Gala apples for 59 cents each, but the store didn't have a produce scale. An employee said Trader Joe's prices on produce were better than at Safeway, one of the big supermarket chains. 

I wanted lactose-free milk at Trader Joe's, but found only Lactaid half-gallons for $3.99. I passed, thinking I could do better at Safeway. I was wrong.

I couldn't find a store brand of lactose-free milk at Safeway, and Lactaid was $4.69 for a half-gallon.

Small Gala apples at Safeway were $1.99 a pound, and when I weighed one, it was 8 ounces, meaning they were about a buck apiece, compared to 59 cents for the larger apples at Trader Joe's.

I also purchased Two Buck Chuck -- $1.99 bottles of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon red wine from Trader Joe's. We opened a bottle at dinner and it was drinkable.

The Trader Joe's we visited was in a shopping center -- one floor below the parking lot. It had up and down escalators for shoppers, and in the middle another up escalator for shopping carts.

Jack mentioned there was a large Korean supermarket in the city, but we never got there, so I can't compare it to the H Marts in North Jersey.

Costco Wholesale, 451 S. Airport Boulevard, South San Francisco, Calif.

Trader Joe's, 265 Winston Drive, San Francisco, Calif.

Safeway, 2350 Noriega St., San Francisco, Calif. 

Jersey bounce

Back in North Jersey,  I resumed visiting my familiar food stores.

On Tuesday, I picked up fresh mustard greens for 69 cents a pound, three blood oranges for $1 and 3 pounds of small Fuji apples for $2.49 at H Mart in Englewood.

Sauder's Cage Free Large Brown Eggs were $2.99 a dozen, and store-prepared stewed tofu was $3.25.

On Wednesday, I found the store brand of 2% lactose-free milk for only $2.89 in the grocery section of Target in Hackensack. A half-gallon of Lactaid 1% milk with added calcium was only $3.59. 

I got 5% off my order for using a Target credit card and 5 cents back for a reusable bag. 

At Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, a trio of large, seedless, pesticide-free cucumbers were only $2.99 -- $1 less than the last time I bought them. Earthbound Farm's Organic Spring Mix was $4.99.

A half-dozen yellow mangoes from Mexico were $5.99. They have a sweet, silky interior that makes them worth the price. Five pounds of Sunset greenhouse-grown beefsteak tomatoes were $6.99.

I also bought 64-ounce cartons of Tropicana 100% Florida Orange Juice, organic 1% milk, wild-caught haddock fillets and 2 pounds of French green beans. 

Rebates and coupons


At my Costco, I used a $489.22 reward coupon from the American Express True Earnings Card -- and left the store with more than $415 in cash. 

The card gives me a 3% rebate on gasoline purchases, 2% back at restaurants and for travel, and 1% back at Costco and everywhere else.

In the mail today, I received a $10 off coupon, if I spend $75 or more at Fairway Market in Paramus -- good until March 1.

The New York-based supermarket is continuing its "shock prices" campaign to lure shoppers to its store in the Fashion Center mall on Route 17 north. 

What you buy when meat is off the table

Image via Wikipedia

The First Thanksgiving by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863-1930).

On my weekly, pre-Thanksgiving swing through Costco in Hackensack on Monday, I spent $123.77 -- every penny on food.


I plan to eat a homemade carrot-and-fennel soup, and lobster ravioli for my holiday dinner, while serving my wife, son and guests turkey drumsticks and thighs from Goffle Road Poultry Farm in Wyckoff.

At Costco, I picked up more Pasta Prima lobster ravioli ($11.99), enough for two dinners, and a two-pound bag of kale ($2.99) that I plan to sautee with extra-virgin olive oil and garlic as a Thanksgiving side dish.

My other purchases:

• Kirkland-brand smoked and sliced, wild-caught sockeye salmon ($14.99 for 16  ounces).
• Kirkland-brand frozen, wild-caught Pacific mahi-mahi fillets ($15.99 for 48 ounces).
• Kirkland-brand frozen, wild-caught Pacific cod fillets ($14.99 for 32 ounces).
• Earthbound Farm organic spring mix salad ($4.49 for 16 ounces).
• Jarlsberg sliced, reduced fat cheese ($8.99 for 32 ounces).
• Bartlett pears ($6.49 for 12).
• Newman's Own 100% grape juice ($6.99 for two, three-quart bottles).

I also bought cans of Le Sueur sweet peas, and Kirkland-brand sweet corn kernels and fancy green beans to donate to the Center for Food Action in Englewood, which said it was seeking canned vegetables and potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner baskets.

What's wrong with these pictures?

Image by dougtone via Flickr

I was leafing through (201) magazine at Hackensack Toyota, where my car was being serviced on Thursday, when I came across the main article on food: elaborate dishes by chefs at five of Bergen County's best restaurants.

What's the purpose of such an article, which had mouth-watering close-ups of the food? Is it to promote the restaurants? Is it to inspire readers to go and order the dish, or to attempt to duplicate it at home? Is the magazine saying, Maybe you can advertise with us? Or is it the magazine's way of saying thank you to advertisers?

So I took a closer look. Four of the dishes employed seafood, but two used deep-red tuna that was cooked rare. Seems like a lack of coordination there, and tuna is a fish very high in harmful mercury. A third dish used salmon, but it was likely farmed salmon, which is artificially colored and often contains contaminants. The fourth dish was lobster in a creamy sauce.

I won't be running out to try any of these dishes. I cook seafood at home, using wild-caught fish low in mercury. Thanks (201), but no thanks. (Photo: A road in Bergen County.)

More shopping notes

Image via Wikipedia

I stopped at Costco in Hackensack to buy Earthbound Farms organic salad mix today ($4.49 for one pound), and was impressed by all the fresh, wild-caught fish fillets available.

There was wild ahi tuna from Micronesia, haddock from Canada, Pacific cod from the U.S. and flounder (from I'm not sure where). I bought the cod for $5.99 a pound, and we'll fry it up for dinner. Leftovers will make quick fish tacos.


'Cheap' wine


One of the comments I received on the ridiculous mail-in rebate for Turning Leaf wine (see Wednesday's post) claims it "served me right" for buying cheap wine. Of course, the comment was anonymous, and I rejected it.


If this person wants to spend $50 or more on a bottle of wine from a first-growth chateau in France, be my guest. But please stay out of my business.


I've purchased hundreds of bottles of wine for $5 to $10 that have been perfectly drinkable, and I'll continue to do so. Today, next to Costco, I bought a bottle of California cabernet sauvignon for $4.49, and I'm looking forward to drinking it. (Photo: Cabernet grapes.)



I'll be sure to toast the commentator's ignorance.