Short Rib Pastrami At Whole Foods: House-Smoked Beef & Turkey Lured Me To Sandwiches

Short rib pastrami at Whole Foods

I'm still looking for the hidden gems at Whole Foods, and I'm trying to work the edge of store -- produce, cheeses, fish, and the like.

Generally, I'm not big on sandwiches, but the deli has me packing lunch with meats that they smoke and slice in house.  Smoked turkey is moist and full of flavor, and it's even better paired half-and-half with short rib pastrami.

I'd never heard of that before.  Look in the deli case.  The have pieces of smoked short rib.  Presumably, they brine and smoke the cut in the way that brisket or beef round becomes your normal pastrami.

The smoke amazes me.  A sandwich of smoked turkey and short rib pastrami tastes nothing like your generic sandwich.  The short rib is fatty.  I'm surprised how much I enjoy the meat because I normally ask for lean corned beef or pastrami.  But it's a dry texture, and the richness pairs nicely with turkey slices.  They both have that smokey flavor and a slightly crunchy edge.  Less than a quarter pound of meat has a "big sandwich" flavor.

What else have people discovered at the Whole Foods?  The fresh-squeezed orange juice is criminally expensive, but it's spectacularly delicious.  I enjoyed some fresh ravioli, and I'm very happy with all the fruit and vegetables that I've bought.

Whole Food Has House-Made Popsicles -- Juice Pressed, Mixed And Frozen In The Store

Store-made popsicles at Whole Foods

Mrs. HowChow had looked in the window of the new Columbia Whole Foods, so she knew that it was enormous when she told me that she only wanted one thing if I stopped on opening day.

House-made popsicles.

Whole Foods presses their own juices in the store on the Columbia lakefront.  Then they freeze them into 99-cent popsicles.  Little bundles of icy happiness.  Some adult flavors with kale and greens.  But most are sweet and fruity.  They're definitely worth checking out if you're still exploring the new Columbia store.

I'm still infatuated with the new Whole Foods.  I have gone the last two weekends and bought our food for the week.  I'm making a seasonal effort to cook whole grains, and the bulk section is a terrific way to try different stuff -- bulgar, quinoas, beans, etc.

Whole Foods Has Opened; The First Visit Left Me Overwhelmed, But I Finally Caught My Rockfish

The patio overlooking the Columbia lakefront

The couple was just behind me looking at the fish display.  Whole Foods opened in Columbia this morning, and we were in the lunchtime crowd.

They pointed.  They talked varieties.  They were clearly excited by just the idea of seafood because they were dressed for the office and clearly couldn't carry a fish with them.

Then the woman turned to the guy.  "Oh, wow," she said.  "We're in trouble."  He nodded.  "Yes, we are."

The pickle bar

If you're a Whole Food kind of shopper, then you are in trouble with the new store that opened in Columbia.  It's beautiful.  It's huge.  It's exactly the pricey temple to eating that you've seen in other towns, but now it's calling you from nearby

I barely looked at the central aisles today.  My first visit was a long circle around the edges where Whole Foods serves all kinds of convenience -- from ingredients like fish, sausages and meats to takeout like salads, fresh pasta, and olives to full meals like pizzas, bi bim bap, and sandwiches.

The meals seem as important to me as the grocery store.  Like Wegmans, Whole Foods offers tables after table of seating.  They want you to buy and sit.  They even have a deck and an indoor space that look over the lakefront.

I've said that this makes the Columbia lakefront a broad magnet.  People can shop.  They can just buy a meal.  In good weather, they can picnic outside.  Maybe stroll for a drink at Clyde's or our favorite cookie at Le Comptoir.

The cheeses

Today, I circled for things that I already know.  Some produce, a cheese, flowers, and the chicken sausage that will become a freezer staple for grilling, pasta sauces and more.   I planned to return for fresh pasta.  I gasped at the pickle bar.  A dozen kinds of pickled cucumbers.  Four kinds of kimchi.  A scattering of other cured vegetables.

I took my leap at that seafood counter.  I had two great fishing trips that both ended as fish-catching failures.  But Steve Vilnit talked up rockfish and showed me how they're caught in Chesapeake Bay traps.  I took the plunge on a small one that the fishmonger scaled, gutted and butterflied.  That's sitting now in the fridge with olive oil, roasted garlic, basil and lemon juice smeared inside.  Ready for the grill.

Does anyone else have stories from the Whole Foods opening day?  I'm sure that I'll post more as I try new items.  (Four kinds of kimchi!)  I'd love to hear about the actual meals -- the pizza, the lunch counter. . . .  Welcome to Whole Foods -- especially to the folks who moved to Columbia to work at the store.  I met a cheese guy who left California and felt duty-bound to warn him that this isn't the August heat that he should expect next year.

For more on the Whole Foods, check out the Two Dudes Who Love Food.  The teenaged bloggers made a short video about the store and making two healthy school lunches.  Just don't believe them about "wraps."  I love whole grains.  I love tortillas.  But America has ruined too many great sandwich ideas by switching bread for whole grain tortillas.

Whole Foods Opens Tomorrow!! I Can't Believe I'm Not Camped Out In Their Parking Lot

Whole Foods opens on Wednesday!!

Life has been so distracting recently that I don't feel like I've done this justice.  Wegmans changed the food options in Columbia two years ago.  Now, Whole Foods adds another dimension -- and really changes the lakefront.

I missed a media tour on Monday afternoon.  The Thrify Girl posted last night with descriptions and pictures.  I figure other folks went, and I'll link when I see posts.

Finishing Touches Going On The Whole Foods: Some Shelves Stocked, Aiming For Aug. 20

Finishing touches go on the Columbia Whole Foods

They've got a store almost built in Columbia, and the Whole Foods looks like it will change the entire lakefront -- at least for us.

The Whole Food sign it up.  The parking lot looks done.  Peeking through the glass windows, it looks like some of the shelves are stocked and people are working to install, unload and generally prepare for the August 20 grand opening.

The Whole Foods coming to Columbia will be in the white building across from the Columbia Mall on Little Patuxent Parkway.  It's between the main library and the new construction site for an apartment building.

For many people, this will just be another grocery store.  But we're expecting a big change as August turns into September.  We walked around the Whole Foods on Tuesday and talked about a dozen uses -- buying groceries, grabbing dinner, picking a drink after walking around the lake, buying a picnic and sitting outside on the grass ....

That's the striking part of this location.  The Whole Foods sits next to the lakefront park -- just up from Clyde's, Le Comptoir, Sushi Sono and more.  We shopped the Rockville store Monday, and it's just a beautiful array of food at the base of an apartment building.  The Columbia store really changes the entire lakefront.  We imagine walking that path, sitting on that grass watching boats on the lake.

Whole Foods first announced its lease in July 2012.  It's amazing how long some things take, but then it's a change so large that "Whole Foods Coming To Columbia" was my April Fool's joke just four years ago.  As I walked around the building, I thought that Wordbones would have loved the real estate and the change to Columbia.

Whole Foods To Open August 20 In Columbia

Whole Foods will open its new Columbia store on August 20, the company announced today.

The store will open in the former Rouse Company headquarters, the white office building on the lakefront and across from the mall.

You can follow some pre-opening events on Whole Foods' Facebook page.  Mrs. HowChow is super-excited about a popsicle bar.  They're making special juices and freezing them into popsicles.  We could have used those tonight.

Whole Foods Sign Is Up In Columbia; Dreaming Of Summer And Warm Walks For Exercise And Food

Sign Is Up At Whole Foods Columbia

The sign is up outside the Whole Foods in Columbia.

Check out the giant logo that Mrs. HowChow spotted while she was stopping for French pastries at the Columbia lakefront.

The Whole Foods folks have been saying that they aim to open in the first week of August.  The sign is just one of 1,000 steps in that process.  But we're already dreaming of summer and warm walks where a few thousand steps could take us for food.

Across the lake

On the first Sunday that the weather broke last month, we drove to Columbia and walked around the lake.  On that Sunday, the main draw was pastries and coffee from Le Comptoir, which I'll rave about later this week. But we walked past the Whole Foods construction site and imagined an afternoon that could include takeout lunch on the grass, a walk around the lake, and then shopping for groceries.

Our walk was fun even though the lake was frozen solid.  I can't recommend the trip enough on a day with friendly weather.  Park in the lot off Little Patuxent Parkway across from the Columbia Mall.  The lot is next to and beneath the Copeland's restaurant, but you want to walk down to the lakefront for a walk and then something to eat.  Sushi at Sushi Sono.  Sandwiches, pastries and coffee at Le Comptoir.  Large menus at Clyde's and Tomato Palace.

And by late summer . . . Whole Foods.

On the first trip, I will pour one out for Wordbones.  He would have loved the real estate talk as companies develop the lakefront neighborhood.  I imagine he also would have gotten a kick out of standing in Whole Foods and figuring out where his former office would have been inside the new store.

Whole Foods Is Aiming To Open August 6, 2014

The Whole Foods in Columbia is aiming to open August 6, 2014, some Whole Foods employees were telling people yesterday.

The Columbia Association and Whole Foods had an event to show off plans for the fitness center that CA will run on the ground floor under Whole Foods.  Mrs. HowChow stopped in, and the Whole Foods employees said they're aiming to open August 6 -- or some point in the first week of August.

The Whole Foods is going into the former Rouse Company building on the Columbia lakefront.  It's right across Little Patuxent Parkway from the mall.  Click here for all the posts about the Whole Foods in Columbia.

This isn't new, but Luke Lavoie wrote in March 2013 about how the parking and traffic will work at Whole Foods.  The Sun article includes a drawing of the parking lot and a description of the plan to install a traffic light at the entrance.

Something Big Is Coming To Howard County In Late Summer Or Early Fall, Plus "Wellness"

I don't think that I ever heard an official announcement, but Luke Lavoie reported that the Columbia Whole Foods would open in "late summer or early fall of 2014" in a story about a spa that the Columbia Association will build underneath.

Seven-to-nine months?  It is feel like such a long time to wait after already waiting a couple years.  But good things take time, and this will bring fun to Howard County.  It will certainly be a big change in the HowChow life.  It helps to know that other people have waited in the past and that things turned out well for them.

The Sun story made me really excited that CA is building a "holistic spa and integrative health services."  I have been waiting for CA's "mind-body wellness concept."  I just need classes that "strengthen the body and contribute to overall wellness."  Tough to wait, but I feel fortunate to have that time to figure out what Luke and the CA are talking about.

The Whole Foods is really exciting as we drive past and watch them gut the old building.  Does anyone know a more-precise estimate?  I feel a need for a count-down clock like the fun that we had with Wegmans during its construction.

Weeknight Dinner: An Hour's Work Leads To Days Of Flavor (The Secret Is Sausage And A Freezer)

Pizza made with time

All great meals take time to create, and I have learned that I just need to find a way to bank some time so that I can spend it later.

Pizza makes for an easy weeknight dinner, and it can be special when I have planned ahead.

Don't get me wrong.  I buy dough from Harris Teeter, and it's perfectly fine.  We have eaten many a night by breaking open packages of sauce, mozzarella and turkey pepperoni.

But I can do better -- like a pie with spicy sausage, pesto, and caramelized onions -- and the secret is the freezer.  The freezer for chicken sausage from Whole Foods and pesto that I made when basil was bushy and fragrant last summer.  Add another frozen bag of onions that I caramelized weeks ago while I was cooking other food, and some grated Parmesan made everything come together.  The pizza tasted like days of effort, but we pulled it from the oven less than hour after I came home.

I really believe in taking advantage of the work stored up in sausages, sauces, pickles and similar ingredients.  They're the way to get great flavor on a night when I don't have time.  A few jars or frozen bags are the way to avoid takeout.  Sausage is the perfect example.  You can buy it so many places around Howard County, and that butcher's work can become quick sandwiches, pasta sauces, or pizzas for you.

See The New Columbia Whole Foods -- Photos!

Where you'll eat lunch from Whole Foods

Take a tour of the new Columbia Whole Foods.  It's still under construction.  No food displays because they're still pour concrete, and there are no walls.

Duane got a tour, and he posted photos and descriptions on HoCo Connect.  He noted that windows -- even those overlooking the lake -- will be replaced by supermarket walls.  He also described some kind of spa and exercise facility that the Columbia Association will open in the same building.

I can't wait for Whole Foods to open in 2014.  Over the summer, we had a great day around the lake.  We ate at Sushi Sono, but I noticed the grassy areas between the Whole Foods and the lake.  That will be a great place to eat lunch.

The Whole Sign Is Up At Whole Foods

Coming in 2014!! Howard Hughes has posted a Whole Foods sign at the building that they're renovating for the upscale grocer.

Construction has really started at the former Rouse Company headquarters on LIttle Patuxent Parkway across from the Columbia Mall.  Fence up.  Parts of the first floor seem to have been torn down.

My Dream Of Whole Foods: Chicken Sausage

Pork andouille, chicken andouille, chicken brat, pork brat with hot dogs in back

We're still more than a year from the opening of the Columbia Whole Foods, but I have begun to dream -- and I dream of chicken sausage.

We hosted friends Sunday and centered the meal around sausages.  I learned to two things:  1) the bottled gas runs out on your busiest day and 2) people jump at good chicken sausages.

We had an array of links, including pork sweet Italian and pork andouille from Laurel Meat Market.  But I had bought more than two dozen chicken sausages at the Harbor East Whole Foods, and people jumped at the chance to eat the chicken bratwurst and chicken andouille.

Whole Foods makes great chicken sausages.  They're delicious.  They're zesty.  And they're leaner so you can eat two with so qualms.  (At least, you can eat two after you have rushed the second round of raw sausages off the quickly-cooling grill and onto a cast iron pan in the kitchen.  Mrs. HowChow opened windows avoid repeating last summer's visit from the firemen.)

I'm a huge proponent of sausages.  I have promoted them as the gateway drug to try local butchers and ethnic markets.  I recommend mixing the Laurel Meat Market hot Italian into both meatballs and into double-ground "firecracker" burgers.  And I relish a great pork sausage with great relish.

But I don't understand why Whole Foods and Harris Teeter are the only places where I find really good chicken sausage.  I like the raw links that you can cook whole or break up into pasta sauce or other dishes.  The chicken ones can have almost all the flavor with a fraction of the grease, and they convert sausages into something that I can eat regularly.

Apparently, I'm in the minority.  Laurel Meat Market makes a wonderful array of sausages -- hot Italian, sweet Italian, peppers & onions, bratwurst, etc. -- but they said they discontinued chicken sausages because they didn't sell that well.  Whole Foods often has four or six varieties in their butcher shop, and they're a variation from the Teeter's hot Italian.  I load up when we visit, and they'll get me into the store -- and buying -- when the Columbia Whole Foods opens in 2014.

The last timeline that I saw were the initial press releases that -- as reported in the Columbia Patch -- said the Whole Foods was aiming at late summer or fall 2014.  

Start Planning For The Whole Foods

The process to build a Whole Foods in Columbia has started -- reports Duane on the HoCo Connect blog.

Duane saw a posting for a March 7 meeting of county planning board to discuss the plans to build a Whole Foods in the former Rouse Company headquarters near the Columbia Mall.  Last I heard, the Whole Foods was slated to open in 2014.

What Howard County Needs: Shave Ice & Whole Foods (Or "What I Learned On WInter Vacation")

Shave ice on Maui

Snowballs are a wonderful tradition for Baltimore, but I'd drive a long way for the Hawaiian variation called shave ice.

It's Hawaiian so you can't drive.  But someone could definitely import a real shave ice machine and make a name offering the beauty of flavored snow.

Snowballs and other stands here serve up crunchy ice flavored with candy-colored syrups.  The Hawaiian ice machines grind finer.  The ice really feels like the fluffiest snow, and the syrups just spread into the ice.  Nothing pools on the bottom.

Ululani's in Kihei

At the top end, chains like Ululani's pour flavored syrups that they make themselves.  Basic fruits like banana, strawberry, and watermelon.  Tropicals like mangos, lychees, and passion fruit.  Exotics like tamarind or "tiger's blood."  They really taste like fruit, and the fluffy snow makes them completely unique.  

Okay, I'll say it:  It makes them better than snowballs.  (I love you snowballs.  But I have to speak the truth.)

They're getting about $5 a cone on Maui -- plus another dollar if you get coconut or macadamia ice cream on the bottom.  (And you have to get the ice cream on the bottom.)  It seems like someone could import a machine and skim a little of the frozen yogurt trend into a profitable business.  

A few summers ago, Mrs. HowChow and I found the snowy soft shave ice at an Artscape vendor, but we haven't seen it again.  I see Yelp reviews for Hula Honey's that looks like a mobile vendor or a food truck.  I'll need to campaign for a Howard County visit next summer.

Surprisingly, the other lesson that I learned on vacation was that I can't wait for Whole Foods to open in Columbia in 2014.  We stumbled on a Whole Foods one morning when we were heading out on a day-long drive, and we bought delicious sandwiches that we ate sitting on a black-sand beach.

Even without the beach, Whole Foods is going to bring some stuff that just doesn't exist here now.  The prepared foods were wonderful.  We stopped again and filled our hotel refrigerator with lunches -- poke and tortilla chips, then hummus, cheeses, olives and grilled vegetables.  

In Hawaii, these were delicious alternatives to hotel restaurants.  Back in Howard County, the prepared food will be a convenience, but the meats and fish will be my big draw.  Harris Teeter's spicy chicken sausage remains a great staple, but Whole Foods sometimes offers a half dozen chicken sausage variations.  Grill them.  Cut them in pasta sauce.  Crumble spicy ones into tacos.  I can't wait.

Columbia Whole Foods - A RoundUp With Recommendations From Mrs. HowChow

The Whole Foods in Columbia looks a like a reality -- although one that we won't see until 2014.

The supermarket will go across from the Columbia Mall at 10275 Little Patuxent Parkway.   It's the low-slung office building along the lake -- midway or so between Copeland's restaurant and the main Howard County library.

For the official word, check out stories from Andrew Metcalf in the Columbia Patch and Luke Lavoie in Explore Howard.  For other thoughts, check out posts on HoCo Rising and Tales of Two Cities.  More than anything, this is a real estate event -- a store that offers food, but frankly makes an entire neighborhood more exciting to people who want to live near one.

Amusingly, the store already had a Twitter account where someone at Whole Foods is writing about Columbia.

There will be lots to write about Whole Foods -- when it will open, what it will offer, how it will affect others.  For now, I'll defer to Mrs. HowChow, who was a Whole Foods regular when she lived in Los Angeles.  She was bummed when the Howard Hughes folks said their negotiations had stalled.  She was so excited when I emailed her last week that she worried that I might be joking:

I'm super exited.  To me, Whole Foods' prepared foods section is the best.  In LA, I would buy one serving and often split it into two meals.  Lasagna, different pastas.  I'd get fish like prepared salmon. 

When I go to Whole Foods now, I often get the bean and cheese burritos to bring for lunch.  I get cornichons, olives, crackers and cheeses.  I'm almost an antipasta eater.  I love the fruits as well.  The fresh orange juice is the best.  On special occasions, I get fresh squeezed tangerine or blood orange juice.

It is hard to put my finger on it, but I feel like this is complimentary.  It is a different niche than Wegmans or any other local places.  Oh, and I forgot -- Mr. HowChow laughs a lot because I bring home a lot of the baked goods and candies.  I especially like the candy fruit slices that I got at Silver Spring and the pies that they have in Baltimore.  I have served the vegan pies to unknowing guests when Whole Foods was out of the regular pies, and they're actually quite good.  (Shhhhhh.)  

Mrs. HowChow plans a countdown clock once we get a little closer -- or know a more-accurate time for opening.

Whole Foods Will Open A Columbia Store In 2014

Whole Foods announced this afternoon that they have signed a lease in Columbia, Maryland.

They'll go into the former Rouse Company headquarters near the mall.  That's the low building on Lake Kittamaqundi between the central library and the restaurant area with Clyde's, Red Pearl and Sushi Sono.

More details to come. 

(Update: Think 2014 for your Whole Foods shopping, according to a company press release.  Check out that release on Explore Howard or the Columbia Patch.  And keep an eye on the Tales of Two Cities blog for updates by Wordbones.  He has been in front of this story from the start.)

(Update 2: The store is set for 45,000 square feet.  For comparison, old press releases say the new Rockville Whole Foods is 51,000 square feet.  The new Columbia Wegmans is 145,000 square feet.)

(Update 3: Wordbones has renderings of the soon-to-be Whole Foods.  He also has news that Clyde's has renewed its lease in Columbia.  He says they'll be remodeling.)

Whole Foods Still Being Pursued For Downtown Columbia's Fmr. Rouse HQ, Says Wordbones

Whole Foods is still being pursued by downtown Columbia's major developer, even after negotiations were announced as "stalled" in March, reports Wordbones on the Tales of Two Cities blog.

Wordbones says a source told him a month ago that negotiations were continuing between Whole Foods and the Howard Hughes Corporation for a store in the former Rouse Company headquarters near the Columbia Mall.

Today, Wordbones writes that an HHC executive gave a slide presentation to the Columbia Council last week that included pictures of the building with the Whole Food logo gracing the facade.  Wordbones reads that as confirmation that the parties are at least talking.

Wordbones teases that Whole Foods may be lukewarm on Howard County because we haven't given enough love to the upscale market.  He says that sounds like a job for HowChow.

Oh, no.  That's a job for Mrs. HowChow -- who shimmied before her coffee this morning on hearing the advance word of Wordbones' post.  Whole Foods sells many amazing things, and it's quite a different place than Wegmans so I think they could both thrive amid all the local places that I enjoy.  We'll work to gin up local enthusiasm.

I'm sure this story will continue.  Click here for all the news about Whole Foods in Columbia.

No Whole Foods In The Old Rouse HQ

Whole Foods is no longer negotiating to open in the former Rouse Company headquarters in downtown Columbia, reports Kevin Rector in Explore Howard.

Kevin interviewed a Howard Hughes Co. executive, who said they're looking for another tenant for the lakefront building.  I'm all for that.  I have to admit that I had pictured the Whole Foods filling that place and spilling out with some chairs on the lake.  It would be great if they could find something fun.

Whole Foods: HHC Holds Dress Rehearsal

Wordbones has photos of an unusual event outside the Columbia building where the Howard Hughes Company appears to be trying to lease to Whole Foods.

Apparently, the company invited guests to mingle in front of the building in return for flowers, granola, dog biscuits and more.  No one talked on the record, but Wordbones said it was a dress rehearsal in the hopes that Whole Foods' CEO was driving past this morning.

Message to Whole Foods:  Columbia would be a great place for you to open.  That's one of the easiest places to drive from around the country, and a lakefront location could be awesome if you and HHC get creative with a cafe, seating, etc.

For more, check out the post on Tales of Two Cities.  He says the deal is close.