Fresh & Easy (& Skippy)

So you live in Hollywood and your cupboard is bare. What do you do?

You go to Rock n' Roll Ralphs on Sunset, 'cause you gotta have your Captain Crunch. But it's not what you'd call a bargain, and you've still got those doubts about the fish...

So you go to the Trader Joe's on Santa Monica, because you feel secure about the quality, and you love all those odd little TJ goodies. (Green chili & cheese tamale, will you be my best friend?) But don't think you're getting any Skippy Peanut Butter.

You get so excited every time you hear the words 'Hollywood Whole Foods'...then you slap yourself and remember it's Not Built Yet and you're Not A Millionaire.

And then you get frustrated, because back in New York they have a name for a place you could get high-quality meat, fine bakery products and sugary processed cereal in One Damn Place...











But before you give up groceries and anesthetize yourself with a Double Double Animal Style, take a look at the new Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market on Hollywood Boulevard.

Brought to you by Tesco (a British grocery and retail chain upon which the sun never sets), Fresh & Easy sits in the lower half of the LA Fitness/ Longs Drugs mini-mall.

The Fresh & Easy aisles are a wonder. The dry goods are stacked with geographic precision, and I'm a little worried Martin Burney might be in charge of the fruits & vegetables.


(If you're too young to know what I'm talking about, I hate you on principle.)

The prices are super low, almost to the point where you wonder if it's just a 'limited time grand opening' thing.

Clearly, the Tesco grocery spies spent a great deal of time browsing Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, because they have remarkably similar items, especially in the 'Ready-to-Eat' section.

But bless their British bottoms, they noticed the same problem. So next to the super cheap Fresh & Easy brand option, there's your Skippy. Your Captain Crunch. Hamburger Helper. Coca-Cola...and they have a pretty solid drug store aisles with the major brand name OTC drugs, razors and shampoo.

Judging by the accents of my fellow customers, the British expat community is already enjoying their little slice of home, and I have to say I did as well. If you're super health conscious, you may be put off by the disclaimer on the dairy products: "No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rBST treated and non rBST treated cows".... It's almost as if the Manchego cheese is thinking, "silly Americans and their little worries..."

F&E is all self-checkout, (find the bar code, scan it, put it on the belt). There's a eager young Russian guy who makes sure you're validated (1 hour free), hands out $5 off coupons and gives you his whole life history in the time it takes him to bag your groceries.

As one of the 'LA Lightly Employed Brigade' I tend to shop F&E at 11am, so I can't vouch for the parking situation in prime time.

One Bad Thing: I couldn't find a single shopping cart corral in the P2 section of the garage, so a collection of gigantic carts inevitably wind up in the handicap parking spots by the elevator.

But overall, Fresh & Easy is a successful combination of your highest food-snob aspirations and your lowest brand-name cravings. It's a good alternative when you need to get it all in one place without paying a fortune.

But newcomer beware: Fairway plans to "Expand and Take Over The World!!" in 2010.

NY Expats: I'll meet you in the Cold Room...