This has, incidentally, always been my big beef with Whole Foods. You're cruising along, getting a ton of nice stuff, and then...
whammo... there's suddenly a gaping hole in their stock where some critical standard is completely absent. Well, that the and attitude I typically encounter in such situations. Actual conversation with a Whole Foods Flunky circa 1990:
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Me: Hey... I see you have a ton of extra virgin olive oil here, but I'm looking for a "regular" olive oil. Do you have any?
WFF: Well, sir, extra virgin olive oil is actually a far superior olive oil. It's the first pressing of the olives, so it has --
Me: Yes, I know what extra virgin olive oil is, but that's not what I'm looking for. Do you carry any that isn't extra virgin?
WFF: Well, sir, if you try the extra virgin, I think you'll find that it's a much better --
Me: Yes, yes, I know... I use extra virgin all the time, but for what I'm doing tonight, I'd really like a lighter, later pressing. Do you carry any?
WFF: You see, the extra virgin olive oil --
Me: Look... do you have any olive oil that isn't extra virgin or not?
WFF: Well, the extra virgin is --
Me: Forget it.
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In retrospect, it's probably because many later pressings are chemically treated, but really... a simple "no, I'm sorry, we don't" would have sufficed.
Maybe I'm being overly critical because they're supermarket-sized and have a supermarket appearance (I don't penalize smaller markets for not having some items), but I think it was just a few too many trips where I thought to myself "Oh, they'll have everything I need for tonight" only to discover that something very obvious was missing.
Dominic Armato
Dining Critic
The Arizona Republic and
azcentral.com