Fig Trees and Ptomaines
It looks like Myrtle Avenue is getting a new produce market: The Fig Tree Fruit Market. I hope that it’s something along the lines of a Mr. Kiwi’s. Even if it ends up being a bootleg version of Mr. Kiwi’s, I’m OK with that. There really aren’t any decent produce markets in the area, so I believe that this place should do some decent business. When I first moved to Bed-Stuy, this storefront housed a bridal shop that sold formal and semi-formal gowns as well as a few other types of clothes. It closed several months ago and the place has been empty for awhile.
The Fig Tree Fruit Market
724 Myrtle Avenue (corner of Walworth)
Something is Rotten in the State of Clinton
In other food related news, I’m SO DONE with the Myrtle Avenue Associated grocery store in Clinton Hill! I’ve tried to give this place the benefit of the doubt. It’s so crowded and ugly, but in the years that I’ve lived here I have noticed some modest improvements. They got rid of that shopping cart containment center that was blocking half of the sidewalk in front of the entryway (placed there so that we wouldn’t run off with their shopping carts). They upgraded their produce section by presenting each fruit and vegetable so lovingly in black wicker baskets. They created an extensive beverage section complete with dangling plastic flaps (you folks that shop there know what I’m talking about). I think they may have added a few lights and brightened up the place a bit too. But last week, in preparation for guests, I bought some meat from this grocery store and it was rotten. Terribly rotten. So I threw it in the trash. And I got angry.
Do you remember that episode of Good Times in which the Evans family gets sick after eating a roast Florida Evans bought from Borgen’s Supermarket? The best part of the episode comes when James and Florida pay a visit to the manager of the store, and James storms into the office and calls the supermarket a “ptomaine tabernacle.” From now on, that’s what I’m calling the Associated: Ptomaine Tabernacle. Let’s watch this clip and think back to a time when food poisoning and ghetto supermarkets were funny:
You know, the real measure of a supermarket is the quality of the dead animals it serves. Everyone knows this. So for all the superficial improvements the Myrtle Avenue Associated has done, underneath it all, it’s still rotten.
I’ve met so many vegetarians in Bed-Stuy, and now I know why. You can’t eat meat here! Not if you want to live. So just in case I have meat-eating guests over again, can anyone out there tell me where I can get some meat that won’t leave us with a bad case of food poisoning? I know that I can do Fresh Direct or head over to Manhattan for meat, but what about decent meat in Bed-Stuy?
29 December 2008, 12:44 pm
interesting! fig tree is just a couple blocks down from me, fingers crossed it will be decent. i’m not actually the biggest mr. kiwi fan, but it’s better than nothing.
have you been to choice greene yet?? the place is a godsend – AMAZING meat and produce selection, and very fairly priced, if not exactly cheap. of course it’s not in bed stuy proper, but still on the G or a quick bide ride away.
29 December 2008, 12:52 pm
I’d read about Choice Greene (on the Clinton Hill Blog and Brownstoner), and it is walking distance from my house! I can’t believe it slipped my mind. Thanks Sarah!
29 December 2008, 2:15 pm
This is very exciting as it’s only a block from me.
I walked by a few weeks ago and saw them working on the inside, very nice! Then I went by again but they didn’t have the signs up yet.. I had a feeling it was going to be a fruit market due due to the outside. Super!
I hope they have fresh flowers too. Am I asking for too much? Maybe, but it would be great.
As for Associated, I don’t really mind it. They usually have decent prices and the people are nice, plus I dig the shopping cart upgrade. Bravo on Bedford Avenue jacked up their prices and I’ve had some bad luck with them (getting deli and coming home to see it horribly smelling, rotten).
29 December 2008, 2:17 pm
One more thing, they better accept debit/credit.
29 December 2008, 3:04 pm
Fresh flowers would be nice. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for.
Oh yeah, I forgot that they added those rolling baskets to improve the shopping experience at the Associated. I’m still going to have to avoid them, though. That rotten meat that I bought had an expiration date of Dec. 30, 2008 (I opened it on the 24th). There’s no reason it should’ve gone bad.
I didn’t dare try the meat at the Bravo on Bedford. I saw them upping their game over the past year (upgrading their windows and expanding their high end foods section), but it smells funny in there, so I never purchased any meat from them.
29 December 2008, 4:10 pm
This is where the vegetarian chimes in to say “Become one of us and you won’t have that problem.”
29 December 2008, 4:17 pm
Super Foodtown on Fulton is my find. The deli meat is fresh and the meat is fresh. So far so good.
29 December 2008, 4:57 pm
@rh: You’re soooooo right! I never had this problem when I was a vegetarian. I still have a few days to make “Return to vegetarianism” my New Year’s resolution…
@Cherlyn: Thanks for that info. The next time I have to purchase some meat for guests, I might head over there.
29 December 2008, 6:11 pm
Myrtle and what ?
29 December 2008, 6:36 pm
speaking of meat-what’s happened with the bbq folks on bedford? that was seriously tasty takeout-and i’ve noticed that they’re closed. : (
29 December 2008, 6:39 pm
Hey electricgreek! Sorry I left the cross street information out. It’s on the southeast corner of Myrtle and Walworth.
@floydcat: I think they’ve reopened after a brief hiatus. Check out Kate’s comment here (last comment):
http://www.bedstuyblog.com/2008/10/22/kings-county-bbq-is-here/#comment-11171
29 December 2008, 10:06 pm
One of us! One of us!
29 December 2008, 10:21 pm
LOL, rh!!!! I’m always happy to join the freaks. They are my people!
On another note one of the eagle-eyed Brownstoner commenters noticed that the awning has a misspelling: Myrtle is spelled “Mytle.” This intersection has been plagued with misspellings in the past. I guess this is just a tribute to the area’s history…
30 December 2008, 12:51 pm
i really, really like choice greene. they just opened so their inventory is a little shallow but i’ve bought produce and seafood and been extremely pleased. seafood is around the same price as whole foods, perhaps a little less on some items, but considerably more reasonable than provisions in fort greene which had been a previous go-to. it’s very fresh and the quality is fantastic.
for meat i go to foodtown. i don’t eat red meat but they have anti-biotic-free poultry there and i’ve always had good experience with freshness. foodtown is the ONLY place i will buy meat in bed-stuy as i’ve been unpleasantly surprised upon opening a package to find it rotten even before its sell-by date at both bravo and keyfood. and, hello, why is it so hard to take expired yogurt off your shelf? i’m looking at you bravo and keyfood.
also, there is a hidden gem for fresh flowers in bed-stuy: earthly horizons. it’s a small flower shop on nostrand between jefferson and hancock, right next to the candle/incense spot. it’s somewhat hidden from view but if you enter the same door as you would to go into the candle shop it’s on your left. the owner and his wife are absolutely lovely and their prices are good. i get my fresh eucalyptus there. stop in an support them if you can!
30 December 2008, 12:56 pm
AMEN for FOODTOWN. Decent groceries is one of the many reasons my sister and I are headed to the southern part of the nabe. Not to mention many of our friends, Peaches, Brooks Valley, etc.
31 December 2008, 11:46 am
[...] sharing a taciturn, meatless holiday meal with my guests (Thanks, Ptomaine Tabernacle!), I thought that I should try to make it up to them after Christmas by getting them some meat. I [...]
31 December 2008, 7:18 pm
foodtown has great meat! And the butchers are really nice. Ditto for the deli counter people. They also have decent seafood.
02 January 2009, 2:11 pm
It’s important to note that the new produce market that’s opening up on Myrtle says “Kosher” on the sign, so you can expect it to cater to the Hasidic population in the ‘hood, not yuppie hipsters.
06 January 2009, 1:38 pm
Call me crazy… I haven’t had any problems (yet) with the meat at Key Food on Nostrand. Got some good steaks there… chicken is usually fresh. Good produce. No seafood, though.
16 January 2009, 9:56 am
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