Tuesday, June 14, 2011
This is why New Orleans can't have a Trader Joe's
Posted by Kevin Allman on Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 10:49 AM
- FLICKR USER 'PINPRICK'
- Trader Joe's Vegan Pad Thai with Tofu: doctor-slappin' good.
... which may be a good thing, if it prevents supermarket slapfights like this one:
Don't get between an opera singer and her frozen, vegan pad Thai with tofu.A fight between amateur mezzo soprano Marcella Caprario and fellow shopper Dr. Cathleen London in the frozen-food aisle of the Trader Joe's on the Upper West Side is set to hit Manhattan Criminal Court today.
In one corner is Caprario, a 37-year-old mom who also teaches grade-school English.
In the other is London, a family practitioner, occasional TV talking head, avid triathlete and divorced mother of two boys who has appeared as an expert on "The Joy Behar Show," CNN and Fox TV.
(These are, by the way, two extremely typical examples of the average Trader Joe's shopper. Trust me on this.)
London says she was shopping in the popular grocery on Broadway at 72nd Street last winter when frozen-pad-Thai-dinner fan Caprario slapped her in the face, "causing redness, swelling and substantial pain," according to court papers.Caprario admits that she slapped the doctor — but insists that the doctor needed slapping.
I've had that pad Thai. It's decent, but it's not as good as the non-vegan, non-tofu, regular pad Thai, which might be worth slapping a doctor. But if Trader Joe's specialty items can inspire a mezzo soprano and a doctor/"avid triathlete" to come to blows in the frozen food aisle, imagine the weaponry that would be produced at a New Orleans Trader Joe's over the last box of Organic Raisin Bran Clusters or Chickenless Pulled Chicken.
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Comments (7)
Showing 1-7 of 7
Let’s be honest kids- do you really care about the dramas of self entitled divas? Of course you do- and that’s why the NY Post will always make sure to feed you the dribble.
Isn’t it time the tabloids pleaded guilty to grievous body harm themselves?
http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2011/06/th…
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I'm a NOLA ex-pat living in the DC area, strong Trader Joe's country. The problem with TJs is that they have good stuff, but if you shop there, you have to make a second trip to a regular supermarket to get the stuff you need, not the stuff you want.
The specialty items (the pad Thai, 2 buck Chuck, and such you cite) are great, but try to get a corndog or cold cuts, much less detergent or a razor blade. Either they don't have it, or they have a froo-froo version, like cola made from tofu squeezin's and seaweed-soy hotdogs.
I live five blocks from one, but, before I make a trip to TJs, I remember my basic rule.... if I can buy it at a store other than Trader Joe's, go there...
@Flying Pig: Thanks for the perspective and the reminder we'd still need to depend on Rouses and Walgreens for the basics.
They label their Asian foods "Trader Ming's," their vitamins "Trader Darwin's," etc. I've wondered what they would call their red beans and jambalaya mix in the New Orleans market. "Trader Yat's"?
ZO, do you mean 'drivel', not dribble? I don't know your age but you may indeed dribble when reading drivel. :)
But Trader Joe's is moving into Texas, why can't they go into New Orleans?
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/…
do you cater only to the needs of those in the heart of the old west, such as Weasel, CA? My bro loves your dung sausage!!!
Trader Joes is for phony's that live in the silicon valley, san bernadino or las vegas. If you want healthy, affordable and convenient go to a farmers market or grow it your self.
What happens is people settle from other places and wish they could have there amenities, where as they should have left there meaningless lives where they were. Keep New Orleans the same dont turn it into L.A.
TURLEY
