most things to many people

Posted: February 18, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Cooking, Local matters | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

I’ve written about how we enjoy our local family owned market, Rocca’s. The full-service meat counter means that we rarely buy meat at the supermarket any longer. I was thinking about the various constituencies that Rocca’s serves, based on my observations while shopping.

  • There are people like Terry and me, the foodies. We like Tom Rocca’s quality cuts of meat which we can get in whatever amount we need. There is Poppy’s fresh seafood. There’s the cheeses, sliced to order. They carry locally made Frantoio Grove olive oil and local honey. And, of course, the wine department curated by Dan Rocca with his selection of  local wines.
  • There’s the guys who are serious about their grillin’. Perhaps they don’t do a lot in the kitchen, I don’t know, but I imagine they know their way around the gas grill. They come into Rocca’s knowing they have the best meat.
  • There’s the folks from the surrounding neighborhood or driving down Monterey highway for whom Rocca’s is the convenient spot for their beer and junk food.

For us, we appreciate Rocca’s for the first point. (And to a lesser extent, the second.)

Roccas

why we love Rocca’s #425

Posted: April 2, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Local matters | Tags: | 1 Comment

I’ve written about why Terry and I so much appreciate Rocca’s Market, our locally owned, family owned grocery store. There is, of course, our favorite fish monger, Mike (otherwise known as Poppy) and his fresh fish. There is the full service meat counter. Then there’s simply the friendly way that they treat you there.

Here’s another reason. They really do care about quality and their customers there. Last Saturday I went shopping there for Easter dinner. Terry wanted green beans along with our roast. I kept looking, and couldn’t find any. Dan, co-owner with his brother Tom, was right there. (Not to be confused with Dan the guy who works in the meat department and makes those marvelous sausages.) I asked him and he said that he didn’t buy any because of the price and quality. He said he probably should have for Easter, but they just weren’t that good. I appreciated that.

I went down the road to our local Hispanic produce place to see if I could find green beans. I found them, and guess what? They were expensive and didn’t look all that good. I bought a few because Terry had requested them, but really, Dan was right.

You really have to value a store that works so hard to do the Right Thing for their customers.