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Local food

I went to The Barrelman beside Eno's with the intent of picking up some Georgia cheese's to bring to my brother's tomorrow. I love that there's a little cheese shop right down the street and that it offers a choice of local produce. We've gone there a couple of times before, and I am constantly making resolutions to support the local shops by making weekly sallies to the cheesemonger. Cheese, Gromit!

It wasn't meant to be. The salesperson was busy with a wine enthusiast--they also sell wines, of course--so I had some time to read over the cheese-names-I've-never-heard-of and decide on a good set based on their descriptions and respective animals. After five or so minutes of reading, I did the eye contact thing. The wine customer seemed to be finished and was making small talk. Several minutes of attempted and successful direct eye contact and nods and raised eyebrows and gestures and such got me no response. No acknowledgement or even a simple "I'll be right with you." Hmm. I was 10 minutes in so just gave up.

Second half of the trip was at Toast where they have fresh loaves of bread for sale. The last time we ate there, I had noticed and asked about the small bakery in the front. Their selection is small but looks very good. I walked out with a ginormous loaf of bread for $4, plus two apple torte things that they threw in for free. Very friendly and pleasant--as was our previous meal there.

Now, I'm not trying to draw any conclusions. Not as such. Maybe I get a little too cranky with waiting and this was only one instance, but the experience at The Barrelman was such an inattentive snub that I will probably not go there again. Eno's an excellent place to dine or sit at the wine bar, so I don't know what's up at the sister shop. I think they're makin' the Big Buck off of wine collectors and probably very little off of cheese eaters. I should've just lined up eight of the rarest vintages on the counter and stood there with my wallet open ... and then walked out.

People love local shops with good food and service--how did they screw this up so badly?