This was not going to be an ordinary trip to the market. When I pulled up to the brand-new Erewhon in Manhattan Beach, one woman was filming her review of a $20 smoothie and another was taste-testing an expensive assortment of healthy prepared sides including something called “killer cauliflower.” The scene gave me pause. I love supermarkets, but not the fancy ones. I grew up in the air-conditioned, processed-food comfort of Ralphs and Vons and remain a sucker for anything flavored with nacho cheese, sour cream and onion, sweet sriracha, honey mustard and cool ranch.
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But when Erewhon opened a short drive from the L.A. Times newsroom, I was immediately curious. Could I find my own particular food paradise at a place described as “Hollywood’s cult-favorite wellness location,” “L.A.’s hottest hangout,” “Whole Foods on steroids,” and the “VIP of grocery stores.” I was about to find out.
You can’t hide the truth from the supermarket scanner
In a city where deceptive brand building and selective narratives are a way of life, I’ve always found the supermarket the one place that reduces me to ground truths. It is here where the person I tell people I am collides with the person I actually am, the moment my cart merges into the checkout stand. I can talk all I want about lavish salads, a broiled piece of salmon, grain bowls, and the latest La Croix flavor. But the supermarket scanner records the real story: the teriyaki pita chips, fatty porterhouse steaks and premium ice cream bars that bring me such pleasure but always go publicly unspoken.
During the pandemic, my local Ralphs became an unlikely refuge. I roamed the aisles to collect steps as a break from the crushing news cycle. Wearing a mask was an added bonus, gliding through the self-checkout scanner with some guilt-reducing anonymity. When I am stressed or down or lonely, I often head to the store to clear my head.
Sometimes, my mood improves and I exit with 2,500 steps and not a single item. Other times, it ends with a bag of junk food I hope will do the job.
Some of the products at the Erewhon market in Manhattan Beach, include olives in a mason jar.
(Shelby Grad/Los Angeles Times)
The carrot, celery and Oreos ruse
The Pavillons in West Hollywood was my first market as an adult. I was 400 pounds and well into a lifetime cycle of diets. A sturdy metal shopping cart served as my walker, allowing me to get through the store faster than if I was struggling to walk on my own. My first stop was to the produce section, collecting a few heads of lettuce and bags of carrots and celery.
Then I did the real shopping — cookies, bread, butter, frozen dinners, chips, lunch meats. The vegetables served as a cover: I hid the junk food beneath it. This charade was costly, because the vegetables would always go into the trash can the minute I got home.
Flowing receipts could tell you so much about my life: The optimism of a New Year’s diet in January, the excesses to chase away the holiday blues in December.
Some of the products at the Erewhon market in Manhattan Beach.
(Shelby Grad/Los Angeles Times)
By the time I entered Erewhon, I’d overcome some of those hangups. I don’t care as much about what the shopper passing me in the cereal aisle thinks of what she sees in my cart.
I criss-crossed the aisles taking mental notes, debating whether any of the organic fare would appeal to me. Definitely not the “killer cauliflower.” The lack of all my familiar corporate logos and packaging momentarily rattled me.
So many items are sold in cute glass mason jars. But the closer I looked at those jars, the more comfortable I became. Some contained olives, dried figs, kale soup, overnight oats and small-batch kimchi. But there were just as many made for me: Biscotti studded with nuts, macaroons dipped in dark chocolate, chocolate-covered almonds mixed with pistachios.
Erewon was far from the eat-your-organic-spinach place I expected. I grabbed a jar of macaroons and another of dried mangos and headed for the checkout, which was lined with individual wrapped brownies, cookies, power bars and other sweet baked goods. I’ll definitely be back.
The week’s biggest storiesA scrambled race for governor
- With Kamala Harris out, the candidates for governor are trying to position themselves as the front runner, even though polling shows most voters remain undecided.
- Still, some political observers give the nod to former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, who appears to have a small leg up over her opponents.
- Others say naming a front runner at this stage is “ludicrous.”
- With such a wide-open field, factors such as endorsements and communication strategies will be important to watch, experts said. So will the candidates’ ability to raise money and use it to broaden their appeal.
Will UCLA settle with Trump?
- The Trump administration this week froze hundreds of millions of dollars in medical and science research grants to UCLA.
- Federal agencies said they cut off UCLA because of alleged campus antisemitism and use of race in admissions.
- The university must decide whether to settle, potentially paying a hefty fine, or go to court.
- The Times spoke to more than a dozen current and former senior UC leaders in addition to higher education experts about the rapid deliberations taking place this week.
L.A. and the Olympics
- L.A. city leaders are in negotiations with LA28, the private committee overseeing the Games, for the use of the city’s police, traffic officers and other employees during the Olympics and Paralympics.
- LA28 has billed the Games as a “no cost” event for the city.
- But depending on how “enhanced services” are defined, the city, which is in a precarious financial state, could end up bearing significant costs.
What else is going onMust readsOther meaty readsFor your downtime 
Kenyan-style chicken skewers brushed with chile-lemon-butter poussin sauce at the Jikoni pop-up in Culver City’s Citizen Public Market.
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
Going out
- Theater: After a bout with COVID, Josh Gad says he’ll perform Sunday in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’
- Restaurants: Cookbook author Kiano Moju takes the helm as chef of her pop-up Jikoni in Culver City’s Citizen Public Market.
Staying inL.A. Affairs
Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff writer
Diamy Wang, homepage intern
Izzy Nunes, audience intern
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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