Take your five ideal food-related establishments (e.g. wet/dry market, supermarket, restaurant, cooking supply store, caterer, specialist, etc.) and share them with HO.
I don’t really want to place a limit on “block size,” but so as to make one’s post slightly more ehem, digestible, let’s say having I don’t know, a Costco + BJ’S + Sam’s Club on the same block is no bueno. At the same time, saying “I want a dry vermouth bar the size of a Boeing plant” also doesn’t pass muster.
(Fake rules, blech.)
Anyway, I will dive in first–
Gastroenterologist
Simple as.
A supermarket that combines Bangkok’s Gourmet Market with any ol’ Turkish market.
Quality & diversity rolled into one. Plus, Turkey’s overall gastronomy is my favorite in the world, at least thus far.
Yemeni restaurant
Whereas I haven’t been to Yemen, my experience with that country’s dishes has been excellent almost across the board. The stews, the giant fried bread, the desserts such as fatah and ma’soob. Caramba, that’s good stuff.
Produce market that only sold seasonal items grown within eh, 100 miles of the store. When tomatoes aren’t in season, I would have to capitulate and shove off to another store. Bad planning on my part?
A condiments “specialist.”
Get a take-out order from any of the above, and bring 'em in here. Or, avail of this place’s fries, chips, baked potatoes, and/or crudités.
There would be varieties of Mexican salsas, Indonesian sambal, a Scoville section,
and a make-your-own condiment. To wit, Nagano, Japan’s “Yawataya Isogoro” has something similar to the latter, although I had been thinking about this for years before that discovery.
#1 A market that offers all the ingredients, i.e. produce, meats, seafood, cheeses, pasta, seasonings, sauces, condiments, etc. I like to use for cooking, organized by cuisines: Chinese, Thai, Viet, Italian, Turkish, Greek, French, Spanish.
#2 Tacos #3 Thai #4 Sichuan #5 Dim sum #6 Southern fried chicken #7 BBQ #8 Lebanese or Syrian #8 cocktail bar #9 brew pub with a good burger & a nice beergarden #10 rooftop dive bar #11 pho #12 ramen #13 Neapolitan & Detroit-style pizza #14 sushi #15 Filipino
That’s a pretty sweet block in my book. Sure I forgot something.
ETA: Oops. I got over-excited about my fantasy block and conveniently ignored the limit of 5
I have Mexican food, my favourite butcher, my favourite Swedish coffee shop, my favourite Italian restaurant, 2 bakeries, the bank, dry cleaner , produce store and Italian dry food store, Chinatown, Little Italy, Koreatown and Little Portugal less than a mile away.
My favourite grocery store is 1.5 miles away, and Greektown is around 3 miles away. I love Toronto.
Well I just took stroll down 1st avenue nyc from 72 st to 61 st although it’s more than 1 block it’s pretty damn perfect Also walk along 5th avenue in Park Slope Brooklyn NY its everything a neighborhood street should be
Gastroenterologist as food related! I see what you did there!
I might be overthinking this, but I can’t help but think about wanting each business to be successful.
No way a solo medical practice or specialist group survives around here. Every private practice is bought, and often moved to a more practical set up, some kicking and screaming.
End/buzzkill
Thinking about it does help me come to terms with what the limits of any future homes might include. Certainly where I live now (90k, including the prison) would not support that many diverse cuisines done well, but the local produce could do okay.
I’d like a butcher and fishmonger within 10 minutes drive.
ETA
Intriguing! My son and DIL will be returning from Turkey next month for an extended stay. I wonder if trying to explore some of those within driving distance would be in poor taste.
A U.S. shake shack, or another country’s version?
(pedantic, for sure, but we probably won’t be seeing the pandan sticky rice shake outside of Thailand Shake Shacks!)
'tis why I added “quixotic” in the original post! Presume each offering is successful, in whichever hypothetical urban area they are situated.
Also, the reason I mentioned Turkey is from numerous visits, and for appreciating that to me, they get nearly everything right, from breakfast and pickles to Turkish ingredients and dessert. Suppose they could have some more heat from the peppers, but meh… the yeşil biber turşusu (green pickled peppers) thrown into the sandwiches are sufficiently fun.
Figured a depachika would manifest somewhere 'round 'ere. But…wouldn’t that occupy an entire city block by itself? Also, are you going more for the B1 prepared foods, or B2 Western/Japanese sweets + supermarket depachika?
As for Jagalchi, I’ve eaten upstairs, too. But the fish they gave us decidedly non-locals was not what we had chosen…when were you there? Did you try any sea squirts? (those stood out)
We had no doubts about the fish we were served. Turns out the owner of the cooking stall spoke Mandarin, and we were treated well. So well, we returned a couple of nights later for round two.
We tried Sea Squirts, an acquired taste that we’ve yet to acquire. We also had Penis Fish (Gaebul), one and done.
There is one Yemen restaurant on the Danforth that I know of, around 1 mile west of Greektown. Haven’t been. My hair stylist used to dine there.
The Yemeni resto on the Danforth https://kabsa.ca/
Canada’s population has grown by 1.5 million people over the past year, and some newcomers are coming from the Middle East and the Gulf.
There are probably other Yemeni restaurants in some parts of the Greater Toronto Area.
Depachika is not having to make a choice for one of five, as it would cover most of the five . . .
That said, we’ll add a proper deli that always has smoked whitefish, and doesn’t bat an eye when we order a Reuben made with tongue [fatty as can be, of course] – it’s even been done without question when ordering lunch to be delivered to a host’s office . . . and we scarfed down the whole thing while working as everyone else in the room did with whatever was in the big bag for them . . .
