Westbrook Market update

Reasons to visit Westbrook Market, Cass and 63rd, Westmont now:

Polish Perla and Lomza beers, cheap

Michoacan-style semitas de anis rolls (anise flavored, challah-like bread, thus the "semetic" name), for Lent/Easter, cheap

Motadella, from Bologna, really cheap, like under five bucks a pound

Prosciutto from Parma, relatively speaking, cheap.

Huge produce section


Did I mention I like this place? Again, there is some kind of cooperative effort happening here among suburban "ethnic" megastores. Westbrook doesn't hide the fact that the Polish stuff is from Bobak's (and Miska's liquor), Asian (Chinese, Korean, Thai Viet) from Di Ho, Italian from Caputo's etc. Other well-represented foods include what I would shorthand as "Baltic" and "Balkan" with an emphasis on Bulgarian in the latter case, along with Filipino and especially among the fresh produce, Indian. Things are inconsistently shelved and stocked; the organization seems supplier-driven, with stuff that should be together stocked aisles apart.

Raw materials were purchased there for our Super Bowl feast.

Bacalao and fried potatoes in sofrito criollo (Cuban)

Frijoles negros and Cuban style fried rice

Ribs, both BBQ'd with oak and cherry and roasted/grilled after "gai yang" style marinade. Erik M. Style muslim curry, on the side. (BBQ'd a couple of racks while "baking" the marinated ones in foil, grilling briefly over direct heat at the end.) The basic profile for the "Thai ribs" was lifted from the TAC playbook, shamelessly.

Fears of competing flavors were unfounded. Everything was complimentary, and there were some common themes (stinky fishy stuff being one).

I visited my family in DG over the holidays, and mom told me she had a new favorite place to shop...so I had to go check out Wetbrook Mkt when I was there. Huge store (for those with long memories, it used to be a Zayre dept store years ago..kinda like a K-Mart). Huge produce and meat section, and lots of ethnic foods of all types. Even a non-food $1.00 store to get something for the kids.

I am constantly amazed at the meat counters of a lot of independent markets around the 'burbs when I visit...not only the variety but the great prices. Great alternatives to the Jewel, DOminicks, CUb Foods and others.

RSM,

Every city has its independent markets, some are better than others. What I find unusual here in the Chicagoland area is how the independent markets are generally less expensive than the large chains. I pay about 40% less at Eurofresh or Valli's or Garden Fresh or many of the Mexican markets than the large chains.

jlawrence01 wrote:RSM,

Every city has its independent markets, some are better than others. What I find unusual here in the Chicagoland area is how the independent markets are generally less expensive than the large chains. I pay about 40% less at Eurofresh or Valli's or Garden Fresh or many of the Mexican markets than the large chains.

The last time I was at Valli on a Sunday for lunchmeat, they were on number 95 and I had 38 , there was actully 43 people ahead of me .but it moves pretty fast when you have a dozen workers behind the counter. I picked up Sara Lee turkey for $3.99 lb , Bobek's smoked ham $2.99lb and Polish baby swiss $2.99lb. then I stopped at Dominicks for a sale item, not one person at the deli, two people behind the counter pre slicing , out of boredom.

Over the T-Giving weekend, which I spent at in-laws in the suburbs (I deepfried turkey, shrimp, oysters, beignets, hand-dipped corn dogs, etc. and BBQd a country ham), I had occasion to stop by Westbrook for an update.

The bad news: the ecclectic bread selection has suffered a major setback. Westbrook no longer appears to carry the Caputos-like selection of breads from ten or so independent Chicago and west suburban Italian bakeries. I suspect that the demand just did not justify the work involved in keeping so many fresh loaves around. The Filipino bread selection has increased, however.

The good news is that the produce section continues to grow. I can't imagine that a more diverse selection of greens exists elsewhere in Chicago. Mexican/Indian/South East Asian are the major themes, so you end up with epazote next to lemon grass next to raw peanuts next to fresh fenugreek and chinese keys.

Possibly the most striking change is the addition of many new obscure (in America) beers and wines. Moldovian and Georgian wine, Sri Lankan, Lithuanian and Russian beer, and a ton of Czech and Polish beer I've not seen before. And a fair selection of Indian beer that isn't what one can get at a resturant on Devon. I can't recall names, unfortunately.

The beer reflects recent immigration patterns, I suppose. The men come first, for work. Outside of the US, beer is local. The new guys want their beer, and beer isn't too hard to get, or to keep. If Westbrook market's beer aisle is an indicator, Chicagoland is becoming more diversely Eastern European and South Asian.