Fresh whole mangoes at Fine Fare in Harlem. I love the perfect reddish mango. Just waiting to be peeled and eaten.

My husband Sean and I live in the heart of Harlem. This is my second time living in the hood, I first lived in Harlem years ago after graduate school at Columbia University. I’ve seen first-hand how much this historical neighborhood is changing; Harlem has long-been described fashionably as ‘up-and-coming’ and I’ve seen what exactly constitutes both ‘up’ and ‘coming’ — some parts glamorous and some parts ghetto, a real mixed bag. But never a dull moment, that’s for sure.

I love New York City. I love Lower Manhattan, Midtown, the Upper West Side, and the Upper East Side. I love all of it. But somehow, I’ve always lived north of Central Park (see the purple and orange sections at the top of the map below) — I’m an Uptown Girl. Even if you don’t like Billy Joel, you can’t help but think of that song, right? It was a super hit song in 1983 guys. Christie Brinkley. Remember? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then I’m definitely getting old.

Source: nyctourist.com

Living in Harlem without a car, my regular grocery shopping is pretty much a combination of ordering FreshDirect home delivery every two weeks + ordering Indian groceries online + dropping by the local grocery chain Fine Fare.

Fine Fare Supermarkets are in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and provide folks with lower-priced groceries alongside leading name brands like Barilla pasta, Lindt chocolate, Lavazza espresso, and Organic Valley milk. One thing I like about Fine Fare is you can find produce that is local to tropical countries like mangoes and chayote squash, typically from the Caribbean, Costa Rica, and Mexico. There are lovely surprises like small-variety bananas I ate in India during childhood summer vacations. They are, hands down, the tastiest bananas I’ve ever had. Just the right firmness, texture, sweetness, and flavor to create that perfect bite with cereal and cold milk. You know how sometimes you only use half of a regular-sized banana in your morning cereal, and you have to fold it over and use the other half the next morning only to find it has blackened around the edges? You only need one of these cute bananas for the perfect banana-milk-cereal ratio — one provides exactly the right amount of banana!

Small-variety bananas at Fine Fare

Chayote squash from Costa Rica, used commonly in South Indian dishes

Whole mangoes from Mexico at Fine Fare

You will also find specialty products and spices from places like Jamaica and Trinidad. At Fine Fare, I can see the historical influence of Indian spices everywhere I look…

Jamaican curry powder

Trinidadian turmeric powder

Caribbean curry hot sauce with scotch bonnet peppers

And for Sean, the best thing of all: Fine Fare carries his favorite Canadian craft beers from Quebec by Unibroue like “La Fin du Monde” — what a surprise since only selected shops in Manhattan carry them. These beers can definitely stand toe-to-toe with the best Belgian craft beers and are well-stocked at Fine Fare (well, Sean also does his part to keep them in business).

Just mentioning Fine Fare triggers reactions and debate. Some say Fine Fare is a ‘ghetto supermarket chain’ of puzzling proportions because it accepts food stamps from its many customers while also carrying leading brand name goods that some consider overpriced. See, this whole “Harlem is up-and-coming’ thing is a complex act of catering to a wide range of folks and meeting their different needs. A good MBA case study. Sean and I buy mangoes, chayote squash, okra, Canadian craft beer, and Lindt chocolate at Fine Fare, so we fall somewhere in the middle, I suppose.

There is a small Harlem grocer called Organic Forever that is just past the corner where Central Park West meets Central Park North.

Organic Forever in Harlem

Leading organic name brands at Organic Forever

And finally, according to the grapevine and press speculation, rumor has it that WholeFoods may be coming to Harlem. Wow. Now this, I’ve gotta see.

“Whole Foods CEO indicates possible new store in Harlem”
Columbia Spectator
June 8, 2012

Now, granted, Fine Fare is hardly comparable to WholeFoods. Night and day. From decor and lighting to customer service to the beautiful displays and countless organic items. You probably won’t find this Fine Fare sign on the front door at Whole Foods. That said, I do love that the perfect, tiniest bananas are just a few hundred feet from my front door in Harlem.