Back in July of 2011, I wrote my
first piece on The Market at Lakeway. I was so pleased that they were focusing on local produce, as well as vegan and gluten-free options. I would occasionally pop in from time to time after this, especially whenever I got a craving for
Sophie's Vegan Shrimp, one of my favorite treats. (To my knowledge, The Market is the only place that carries this locally at this time.) That being said, however, prior to this past weekend, time had gone by and it has been awhile since I had visited the store. I can't remember for sure exactly how long it had been, but long enough for me to have missed out on some pretty awesome and significant changes.
Last week I received a really great email from the Belligham Markets' CEO explaining his commitment to creating a natural foods store with a huge selection of natural, organic, and local food that has increased options for vegan and gluten-free diets. He explained that they have integrated most of the specialized products in with the regular products, rather than have them in their own sections, so as to be able to provide more space for an increased variety of items to choose from. They have also added a community room and an on-site dietician, as well as expanded their bulk foods section.
This past Saturday, my husband Doug and I went to check out
The Market to see what had changed since we had last visited, and I can't tell you how impressed we were. We spent over an hour wandering through the store taking in the sights and marveling at the selection. To begin with, there is an actual vegan wine section, located with the organic wines. This was definitely something that pleased me greatly!
We had made the mistake that people say you should never do, which is go to the store hungry, so of course we stopped by their deli counter to scope out the options there, hoping we would find something delicious to take home. I was wearing my "Eat More Kale" T-shirt, and the friendly young woman behind the deli counter noted that she just happened to have a wonderful kale salad, if I really did want to eat more kale. I noticed that in addition to the salad, there were a number of other vegan options as well, and I told her we would be stopping back by once we had finished our shopping. Coincidentally, while at the deli counter we happened to run into a friend of ours who also happens to be vegan! We had a nice time catching up, and when I explained we had not been in the store for some time, he told us to be sure and check out the vegan "dairy" case because the selection there was also impressive.
We continued on our way and next encountered the absolutely amazingly fabulous selection of BEANS! It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I love my beans, and while I am partial to my standard favorites, (chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, etc. --you know, the usual...) the bulk beans section of The Market was incredible--so many different varieties to choose from and some kinds I had never heard of or even seen before--it was absolutely gorgeous.
I think I spent at least ten minutes in the beans section alone! Now there is something else that I love that isn't as easy to find as you might think it is, and that is organic brown jasmine rice, so I was also pleased to see the most extensive rice selection I have ever seen in Bellingham as well. I stocked up on my rice, and then enjoyed wandering around the various bulk bins and food aisles. I was also pleased to see the spice aisle still boasted a variety of spices.
One of the things I like to do whenever I am out of town and in a Whole Foods is check out their selection of toiletries, cosmetics, and household items that are in a more natural, vegan-friendly, or environmentally-friendly category than what you can find at a more mainstream grocery store. I know we are lucky to have access to some of these types of products at the Co-op, which I definitely appreciate, but I always wish there were more places in town to buy these kinds of things. Well now I no longer need to be envious of cities that have Whole Foods, because The Market has such a huge selection of these kinds of products, from soap and shampoo, to lotion and makeup, to household cleaners--they even carry
my vegan hair color!
When we finally got to the vegan "meat" and "dairy" case, we agreed that our friend was right! The selection was fantastic and extensive. I have to say the more I thought about it, the more I liked how the natural, vegan, or gluten-free products were more or less mixed in with the conventional products in the same category--although I do appreciate not having to go where the meat is to find vegan alternatives--I can guarantee that is one section I tend to steer clear of, so it's nice that it's not all mixed together! Which meant that I did appreciate finding this case that contained mostly vegan items.
But for the most part, it's great to not have to go to a separate place
to find something, and it also sort of normalizes and makes more
accessible the kinds of things we were looking for--and who knows what
else you might stumble upon when you are looking for something specific
and you come across something you did not know existed? Pretty smart
set-up if you ask me!
I should also throw in here that while this does not have anything to do with anything of a specifically vegan nature, my husband and I both really liked that the liquor prices displayed the full prices with the taxes included so you get a realistic perception of the total price in advance--not all stores do that, which can make it confusing, so it's nice that they take the math and the guesswork out of the equation.
After we had pretty much toured the entire store and vowed to return
again sooner rather than later, we headed towards the bakery section on
our way back to the deli area, and look what we saw--not only do they
have vegan and gluten-free treats from
The Flying Apron, they also had (drum-roll, please!)
MIGHTY-O DONUTS!!!
(I still remember the most popular "dish" from the last vegan potluck
belonged to the lovely Fleeks, who brought a box of Mighty-O Donuts to
share!)
We of course grabbed the last frosted donut to split for that
evening's dessert, and then we headed back over to the deli to choose
our dinner. We knew we would need to load up on kale salad, which was so
tasty and flavorful, and then we each grabbed a Field Roast hazlenut
crusted cutlet to go with it. What a decadent and delicious meal we
had! YUM.
I know this is an unusually long post, but I just had so much to share with you. I am excited and appreciative of how much vegan-friendlier Bellingham continues to grow, and it is definitely due to businesses and restaurants like The Market who are making it possible for us to have the choice to eat delicious food in our community. If, like me, you haven't been to The Market in awhile, you should definitely stop by again and check it out. (Also, I will be following up with some product review posts from items you can purchase at The Market in the weeks and months to come...)
And in closing, thanks so much to The Market and all of its wonderful staff, to Kevin for your email and your generosity, and to Alex for your friendliness and information about the Community room!
