So I drive past a strip mall which is as utterly bland as its name (West Belt Plaza), next to the Willowbrook mall in Wayne, and I see a sign that says "Chengdu 23". Having a good feeling that it's not related to the awesome Chengdu 1 in Cedar Grove, and hoping it has nothing to do with the way-too-80's Chengdu 46, I pulled into the lot to have a quick drive-by look-see. It didn't look promising at all. "Asian cuisine", the sign proclaims. Yuck. Bye-bye. I put the place out of my mind. I mean, what are the odds of a random Chinese restaurant opening and serving authentic food of any kind, if the sign says "Asian cuisine".
Until the other day, when I read a bit about the place on northjersey.com. "We make home-style Sichuan ... the type of food you'd get in central China, where they like things spicier," the owner says in the article. "Well fuck me," I thought. So, you know, off I went.
I'm finding myself shopping at Food Basics more and more. Food Basics is sort of a budget store, owned by the nice folks at the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (who own A&P, and others) that seems to cater to a lower-income audience than does say a Whole Foods or Stop & Shop. You'll also often find Food Basics in ethnically diverse neighbors. When a store caters to an ethinically diverse community, you're not only going to find great values, but you're going to find great products that you won't normally find:
Pigs feet? Check. Ox tail? Check. Pork shoulder? Not a problem. Tripe. Got it. Offal of all sorts? Yippers.
Gone are the days of calling Stop & Shop the day before a BBQ and pleading them to save a pork butt before turning them all into sausage. Food Basics always has a bunch of butts right there in the case. Carnitas is only some onions, OJ, and fennel seed away.
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