Unless your head is buried in the sand – or in a good book – you probably know by now that Gelson’s South Laguna is closing. Which surprised absolutely no one because it was always empty. Probably because there was a bigger, better, more established Gelsons a mile away that offered a lot more, including a live deli and carving station, and lots more prepared foods. Why management believed they needed another so close will be studied in business schools as a classic case of numbnuttedness.
The announcement unleashed a wave of prognostication on what could and what should take its place, ranging from the aspirational, over-the-top Erewhon, to a new low of Stater Brothers, which would send our home values plummeting. With an interesting proposal somewhere in between to demolish the whole thing and replace it with affordable housing.
For those scoring at home, the closing will leave us with 3 grocery stores; Pavilions in North Laguna, Whole Foods downtown, and Ralphs in South Central. Meh. Pavilions is OK – they have a decent selection of organic veggies, but nothing special. Whole Foods is just too small and they’re almost all private label now (that annoying 365 label) probably because Amazon owns them. And Ralphs is just foul, with all kinds of sketchy people milling about and virtually nothing fresh in the meat and seafood sections. If you want to feel you’ve been instantly transported to Huntington Beach, go into Ralphs.
Where’s the good stuff? The healthy, organic, locally sourced produce? The top-drawer seafood, meats and cheese. The butcher, the baker, and the wine maker. Why not a hybrid grocery store with individual stalls that combine the meat of the Butchery, the seafood of Santa Monica Seafood, the Middle Eastern delights of Wholesome Choice, the Italian emporium of Eataly, the liquor selection of High Times, the cold pressed delights of Moon Juice, and the health food of Mothers. Anyone?
Something like this was just done in Costa Mesa, a massive Mexican food hall called Mercado Gonzalez, with over two dozen vendors. And it was done by a grocer chain called Northgate Market. Can the Gelson’s landlord muster up the same enthusiasm and recruit the vendors?
Don’t we deserve the decadence of exotic foods imported from around the world? I mean sure, we import these goods using fossil fuels and paying the least amount for labor. But hey, that’s globalism, so we might as well lean in. I want olive oils from Umbria and 30-year-old aged balsamic from Modena that I lick off my hand or drizzle on strawberries rather than waste on a salad. I want caviar from the Caspian Sea (if there’s any left), merguez lamb sausage from North Africa, Boerewors farmers sausage from South Africa, stone crabs from South Florida, crawfish from Louisiana, blue crabs from the Chesapeake Bay, and good ole Spiny lobsters from our local
waters (how exotic). How about pasta made from ancestral non-GMO wheat in Sicily, canaroli rice from Lombardy, a hundred variations of goat cheese from France, and squid and octopus from Spain. I want my juice with bee pollen, shilajit resin, lion’s mane, cat’s claw, Japanese knotweed, and of course horny goat weed. I want my spices from India, chiles from Mexico, and Marmite from the UK.
Is it too much to ask? Am I an elitist? Probably, but are we better off with cheap, processed food from yet another bloated chain? Since most of the groceries deal in bulk, most of their meat is from caged, over-crowded, hormone injected animal factories. Which is more expensive in the long run with all the medical bills we will rack up.
I know we’re supposed to be more low-key and modest about our obscene wealth than those flashy Philistines in Newport, but can’t the quality of our food match the beauty of our homes? Or be the culinary equivalent of our fabulous views?
This is our golden moment to create the world’s greatest gourmet emporium, right here in little Laguna Beach. You’ve heard of Peck in Milan, Harrods in London, Fauchon in Paris? How about a Lagunaporium of Heavenly Delights. I’m down for it. And I’ll scratch and save and pay the ridiculous premium prices and then Instagram it to the world.
As Carl Sigman and Herb Magidson wrote in 1949, “Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think, enjoy yourself, while you’re still in the pink. The years go by, as quickly as a wink, enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think.”
Billy is the CEO of La Vida Laguna, an outdoor adventure company. He can be reached at [email protected].
I totally agree with your appraisal of our food markets and new use for Gelson’s space! I am all for that kind of food mall with fresh, tasty, healthy, and exotic foods from all over the world. I, for one, would rather pay for quality foods in small amounts rather than the junk we can purchase at most of our local grocery stores. Go for it Lagunans!
Well said! I have no idea who owns the shopping center but am willing to bet they have no interest in doing the amount of developmental work necessary to bring about your vision. It would be unique and untried—a death nell to the unimaginative. That said, I draw the line at horny goat weed!
A food court or food hall in Laguna would be remarkable (and much appreciated by this reader). I agree that Laguna has a lackluster food scene. Costa Mesa kick our butt. However, South Lagunans may balk at having their only supermarket location repurposed. What about the former Laguna Drug space on Broadway? Prime downtown space with parking, which appears to be at least under utilized if not used at all.
I disagree w/your assessment of our little Ralph’s. To call it ‘foul ‘ is over the top. It’s a small store, and does a good job for it’s size. The veggies are always fresh, because it’s constantly being turned over, 24/7. I find the veggies often better than the Sat Farmers Market, at half the price. The meats are the same. Constant turnover. I will agree the Sea food is better at Pavilions. With more variety. And Ralph’s employees are friendly and always say hello, with only a couple exceptions. And the prices are the best in town. Little Ralphs packs a big bang for a small store. We are lucky to have a store so convenient in the middle of town.
It’s our last year here in LA and before we move to Laguna we plan to enjoy the great bounty of grocery shopping choices as described above, really, the only thing I will miss about LA. Hoping that the powers that be read these columns, I’d like to propose a newly built market we love called Lazy Acres.
This is a new company, so to speak, ALL markets are owned by bigger fish who are owned by even bigger fish, think hedge funds. That being said, someone of official standing should reach out to them, they may have NOT heard that Gelson’s in S.Laguna has closed.
Billy, I’m pretty sure that you don’t have the “juice” to make any decision about what will replace Gelsons in South Laguna. Your bourgeois “We” remark is an insult to the fine people of Laguna who have been here way longer than you have. By the way I like Stater Bros. and they won’t be coming to Laguna according to the manager @ the El Toro store.