No pictures allowed
Mariano's is beautiful--trust me
10/30/2012 12:10 PM
The produce section of Dierberg's Market in Creve Coeur.
A gooey butter cake. Loaded with butter and, presumably, goo.
The big grocery news in the West Loop today is the opening of the Mariano's Fresh Market at 40 W. Halsted. It's a lovely store, with tons of employees. They handed out free samples this morning. The aisles are wide and store is brightly lit.
There's a huge section of spirits and wine. The store even has a wine and oyster bar. They have a pizza oven for custom-baked pies, too.
I cannot actually show what the store looks like, though. I sent my wife to take pictures of Mariano's this morning. She got in big trouble with the Mariano's folks when she pulled out a camera.
"No pictures in the store!" the managers barked at her. She did get off one shot of Chicago Journal editor Ben Meyerson. Although Ben is a handsome dude, his mug doesn't say too much about the grocery store.
For the record, I'm headed back to Chicago tonight after a quick trip to St. Louis (where people are still wearing Cardinals gear, perhaps unaware that the team was beaten by San Francisco?). Otherwise, I would have attempted to get some shots at Mariano's myself. Maybe a James Bond spy camera would have done the trick.
When life hands you lemons--and I'm guessing the lemons at Mariano's are pristine--you make lemonade. So, I will offer you a picture of Dierbergs in a suburb of St. Louis called Creve Coeur. It's not any Dierbergs, though. This is the site used in the filming of the 1990 movie "White Palace" starring Susan Sarandon, James Spader and Jason Alexander.
The other photo is of a food specialty unique to St. Louis: gooey butter cake. Try to imagine a cake that's fallen in the middle. It's cloying and overly sweet. An acquired taste, like oysters. You can definitely get the latter at Mariano's. For gooey butter cake, you'll have to head down to St. Louis.
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By Malcolm Barnett from Creve Coeur
Posted: 10/31/2012 6:55 PM
Gooey Butter Cake is a taste best not acquired. But the natives love it. You can always tell who is from St. Louis by whether they buy it or not.
By Chuck G from W Loop
Posted: 10/31/2012 8:48 AM
I had the same thing happen at Whole Foods on Roosevelt when I was photographing their produce a few years ago. Grocers must be very proud of their displays! I was also at the Halsted Mariano's yesterday and a lot of people were taking pics with their phones, so give that a try!