BreezyCooking
Washing Up
Okay - yes I know this is a supermarket (but WHAT a market!), but they also have several in-house dining areas, including a sushi bar, raw seafood bar, etc., etc. We just visited here today for the first time, I couldn't help but think it was worth a brief review. I think even non-area foodies would enjoy reading about it.
Fairfax (Fair Lakes)
4501 Market Commons Dr
Fairfax, VA 22033
Phone: 703.222.2058
Where to start, where to start. Talk about a kid in a candy shop. It’s not like I’ve never been in high-scale markets or gourmet stores before, but this place truly blew me away.
Let’s start with my favorite – the seafood department. OPEN cases of gorgeous bright-eyed, pink-gilled, glistening whole fish semi-buried in fresh crushed ice. Everything from 50-pound (I kid-you-not) grouper, to rockfish (striped bass to us northerners), to red snapper, to halibut, to the freshest whole bluefish & mackerel I’ve seen since I used to pull them out of the water myself. All can be cleaned & prepared to order, & they even have a chart available so you can order each fish the way you want it cut/cleaned. They even have a bin of scraps & fish heads for stock ($.99/lb.)!!!! Steamer clams, hard-shells, mussels, squid, & so many different already-cleaned & prepared fish, I couldn’t even begin to list them all here. Let’s just say it’s a seafood-lover’s paradise.
Meat & poultry? I’m getting faint – lol!! Everything you can think of – quail, duck, pheasant, every cut of organic chicken – fresh & frozen. And the sausages – oh, the sausages!!! I couldn’t resist buying a pound of the turkey pesto sausages – they were calling to me. The meat case takes up a whole side of the store. If you can’t find it here, it ain’t available – lol!!
Produce? Let’s see, I managed to restrain myself to a bunch of crisp Dino-kale (an heirloom Italian variety), & some samphire (also known as “sea bean” – an extremely tasty salt-marsh plant). But there was so much to choose from, I could easily have filled the cart with veggies alone. Also in the produce department? An exotic egg case: whole raw in-the-shell Ostrich eggs, Emu eggs, Duck eggs, Aracauna eggs, Quail eggs, & Amish-raised free-range hens eggs. All for LOOSE purchase. Ostrich & Emu were $19.99 EACH!! The others ranged between 2 & 4 for $1.00. Outrageous to see, if not buy.
They also had a raw seafood/oyster bar; several salad bars; an Asian food bar; & more prepared food for sale then most restaurants – lol!! There were several eat-in luncheon counters.
The breads fresh from the oven smelled heavenly, & we picked up a package of fresh warm store-made tortillas, as well as some cheese (the cheese counter is a huge horseshoe-shaped affair (again, if you can’t find it here – forget it, lol) & some lovely artisinal turkey salami.
I’ll definitely be back to this particular Whole Foods. It’s about an hour’s drive from me if I go during off-peak traffic hours, but even with gas prices, it’s worth it.
Fairfax (Fair Lakes)
4501 Market Commons Dr
Fairfax, VA 22033
Phone: 703.222.2058
Where to start, where to start. Talk about a kid in a candy shop. It’s not like I’ve never been in high-scale markets or gourmet stores before, but this place truly blew me away.
Let’s start with my favorite – the seafood department. OPEN cases of gorgeous bright-eyed, pink-gilled, glistening whole fish semi-buried in fresh crushed ice. Everything from 50-pound (I kid-you-not) grouper, to rockfish (striped bass to us northerners), to red snapper, to halibut, to the freshest whole bluefish & mackerel I’ve seen since I used to pull them out of the water myself. All can be cleaned & prepared to order, & they even have a chart available so you can order each fish the way you want it cut/cleaned. They even have a bin of scraps & fish heads for stock ($.99/lb.)!!!! Steamer clams, hard-shells, mussels, squid, & so many different already-cleaned & prepared fish, I couldn’t even begin to list them all here. Let’s just say it’s a seafood-lover’s paradise.
Meat & poultry? I’m getting faint – lol!! Everything you can think of – quail, duck, pheasant, every cut of organic chicken – fresh & frozen. And the sausages – oh, the sausages!!! I couldn’t resist buying a pound of the turkey pesto sausages – they were calling to me. The meat case takes up a whole side of the store. If you can’t find it here, it ain’t available – lol!!
Produce? Let’s see, I managed to restrain myself to a bunch of crisp Dino-kale (an heirloom Italian variety), & some samphire (also known as “sea bean” – an extremely tasty salt-marsh plant). But there was so much to choose from, I could easily have filled the cart with veggies alone. Also in the produce department? An exotic egg case: whole raw in-the-shell Ostrich eggs, Emu eggs, Duck eggs, Aracauna eggs, Quail eggs, & Amish-raised free-range hens eggs. All for LOOSE purchase. Ostrich & Emu were $19.99 EACH!! The others ranged between 2 & 4 for $1.00. Outrageous to see, if not buy.
They also had a raw seafood/oyster bar; several salad bars; an Asian food bar; & more prepared food for sale then most restaurants – lol!! There were several eat-in luncheon counters.
The breads fresh from the oven smelled heavenly, & we picked up a package of fresh warm store-made tortillas, as well as some cheese (the cheese counter is a huge horseshoe-shaped affair (again, if you can’t find it here – forget it, lol) & some lovely artisinal turkey salami.
I’ll definitely be back to this particular Whole Foods. It’s about an hour’s drive from me if I go during off-peak traffic hours, but even with gas prices, it’s worth it.
