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I had driven by the place probably a thousand times, never once curious to stop and check out the slapdash storefront under the blue awning. But a kind soul took me by the hand and showed me the light last week, and I haven’t been to Safeway since. When you walk through the doors of the Star Grocery store—a throwback market hidden in a commercial strip along a wooded residential section of Claremont Avenue—you’re greeted by the wall over the produce section, complete with giant wooden cut-outs of various fruits and vegetables that appear to have been left over props from an elementary school production. Beneath, an eclectic array of locally grown organic fruit and veggies exudes a raw and affordable glow. Fresh okra? Indeed (admitting to my out-of-control pickling habit, this discovery alone warranted a glowing review). Excavating the depths of the Star, one reaches the newly refurbished Baron meat department. I’ve been told the best butcher in town but so far I haven’t made it past their sandwich menu. It reads as a roll call of famous Scorsese films with a few local names thrown in, each unique and ample. Cheese, wine, local artisan goods from soap to suds (beers even I have never encountered) and a wicked friendly staff complete the scene of my favorite new old-timey grocery store.
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