Whole Foods Meets Whoa-burn!

I hit the new Woburn Whole Foods Market yesterday, $10-off coupon conveniently in pocket. I'd been watching them build it for months (it sits in front of the Toys R Us, in place of a Shaw's).

All WFMs are pretty nice stores, but this one is NICE. They hand you a little map of the place when you walk in. (For which I'm grateful--as a regular at the Bedford WFM, I was completely disoriented at first.) As of yesterday, the produce department boasted 152 kinds of conventional and organic fruits, veggies, fungi, etc. (No, I didn't count them all. I know this because it said so on a sign.) All healthy, all good.

Then, just as you're about to make a commitment to healthier living (who wouldn't want to eat five-a-day with this bounty?), you run smack into the new chocolate/candy center. Wildly expensive ($45 a pound!!) handmade chocolates side-by-side with $2 pecan turtles. And a coffee bar. And--even better--a gelato and sorbet bar. Dulche de leche gelato--even better than it sounds.

Then there's the olive bar, the expanded cheese selection, the expanded prepared food counter, the expanded salad bars (including special Asian and Italian sections), and a dessert bar. Sushi, of course. And a new fish and chips (made to order) counter. Because it's grand-opening week, they were also doing a lot of sampling (though that's pretty much S.O.P. at most Whole Foods.)

Being as it's Whole Foods, many things are priced in the "just this once" category, although you have to admit that the house brand, 365, is pretty reasonable. And once again, I must sing the praises of Eden Brand Organic Cannellini Beans, a steal at $1.59 a can--you can practically make a meal out of a can, with a little olive oil and some garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. But I skipped the $14/can tuna.

I know it's pricey, and I know it's overboard on one version of "healthy" (you still can't buy diet soda and there's no Splenda at the coffee bar, but you can buy calorie-laden baked goods, for instance). But, still, there's room for beauty in this world, and that includes our food. Food to sigh for is nothing to sneeze at.

Much as my bank account is cringing in fear, I have to say: I'll be back. After all, I have at least 10 other flavors of gelato to sample.