I came home to my apartment to the blender going, interesting ingredients being thrown into the appliance and a roommate with a unique Gainesville exploration story.
Nutritional Yeast and Asafoetida (more commonly known as Hing) lead my roommate to discover one of Gainesville’s widely undiscovered gems.
The two ingredients listed above are in the coveted almond salad dressing served every day at Krishna lunch.
The $5 a meal investment was becoming a habit for Stephanie Blitz because of this dressing, so she decided to make a version of her own.
Nutritional Yeast and Asafoetida were the two troubling ingredients she had to find. Publix was a no and even the health and organic conscious Trader Joe’s didn’t carry it. She didn’t even bother going to Walmart.
So, Stephanie conducted a search that many college students are familiar with. Call mom.
A Google search by her mother led her to find a store that sells seasonings and spices in jars, so you can just take what you needed. This in turn led Stephanie to Ward’s Supermarket.
My curiosity got the better of me. I decided to venture there myself.
It turns out that Ward’s, located at 515 NW 23rd Ave, is the only independent grocery store in Gainesville, according to store manager Trish Ward.
“We’ve been open since 1951,” Ward said, who started working at the young age of 15 as a grocery bagger.
It’s now forty seven years later and Ward’s two children and their spouses make the 4th generation of Wards to work at the store.
The grocery pulls from 350 local farms and venders in the area and actually started to raise their own beef (hoping to eventually go grass fed) in Brooker, Florida.
While walking through the store I found myself noticing items you wouldn’t see in your average grocery store.
They had tubs of fresh ground peanut butter along with regular honey, orange blossom honey, wildflower honey and even honey combs.
There was also a baked goods section that had everything from focaccia bread to pita bread to bagels. Craving sweets? Ward’s boasts fresh apple pies and chocolate chip cookies as big as your hand.
There was every type of produce you could think of, but what I found extremely impressive was the meat section.
In the precooked meat section, they had wings, drumsticks and thighs, spare ribs in their signature maple rub and whole chickens in Cajun, brown sugar barbecue and dry rub seasoning. A whole chicken at Ward’s cost only $5.
Darrin Williams, an employee that works with the meats, told me they have a smoker where they cook their own meats. A company supplies the rub, but it is a Ward’s mix of seasonings.
Four large steak-sized pork chops cost only about $4 dollars. That’s about as much, if not less, than what you pay for four small cuts of the same meat at Target or Publix.
My favorite part, however, was the sections where you could take as much as you needed.
Ward’s offers dispensers of beans, oatmeal and coffee in addition to a tub of tea and spices. Accuracy is also a priority, because there are scales that let you know exactly how much you’re purchasing.
“It’s great for during the holidays when you’re baking something,” Ward said. “You can get as little as a spoonful.”
Ward’s storefront is a botanist’s dream, offering an insane variety of flowers and herbs alike. Looking for some homegrown vegetables? I suggest combing through their selection snow pea plants, sugar snap pea plants and even broccoli plants.
If you’re in the market (pun intended) for “everyday items” such as Lays or regular hot dogs, expect to pay a little bit more than the average price at Publix. I will, however, definitely venture out to Ward’s for my produce, meats and spices. In fact, I think our whole apartment will be making the Ward’s adventure a lot more often.
But I think we’ll get our potato chips elsewhere.
Featured photo courtesy of: Getting Through This
