La Marqueta

Happy end-o'Easter everybunny. Hope yours was fabulous! My husband and I saw a real deal bunny hopping around in downtown Stamford. Didn't see baskets or eggs, but that guy's all kinds of tricky. Instead, we saw the new La Marqueta Food Plaza across the street (80 Prospect Street; where the Food Mart used to be). We took a look inside and it was pretty spiffy!

Perhaps the name gives it away, but it's definitely got a Latin flare, featuring a few items that aren't part of my regular grocery list (for example, the flyer advertises Canamelao Panela, Inca Kola Soda and Phoebe Acassan - the only word I know in that list is soda...), but they seem to have all the staples I need and then some. They had a nice selection of produce, meats and dairy. They don't have every brand I might want (for example, I didn't see my favorite vaguely inappropriately named Fage yogurt) but hard to think of something basic I'd really need that I couldn't find.

I remember a friend saying they had to drive 20 minutes to get a decent looking apple for a downtown photo shoot once upon a time - no longer! It was not long ago that I needed hot dog buns in a jiffy, and I got them at the Rite Aid after my husband rejected the awesomely named For Your Convenience - only after I bought them did I see the expiration date was ancient history. Ick. Glad to have a walkable downtown option for a last minute food fix.

(photo from DeusXFlorida, flickr.com)