Russo’s Market — “The Food Lover’s Food Store” (or — “I’ve Died and Gone to Heaven”)

Posted by Tammy, January 13th, 2009 at 11:39 am

Russo’s Market — I don’t even know how to begin. I walked in, looked around and then sent The Husband the following text message:

Me: “I’m leaving you… I’m going to live at Russo’s Market.”
Him: “Finally!”

No joke. This place is AMAZING… and I cannot tell you how ashamed I am to admit that I have not been to this wonderland before today. What’s wrong with me you ask??? I just don’t know. What I do know though, is that I will never buy my produce from any where else ever again.” Well, probably not.

So where is this mystical place located? In Watertown, MA — at 560 Pleasant Street to be exact.

After making a few wrong turns, letting several nasty words escape my lips and pulling a couple of illegal U turns, I finally made it to the Russo’s parking lot. With anticipation practically exploding out of my chest… I parked and walked inside. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Russo’s — they are a family owned and operated market that has been in business for over 75 years. They supply many local restaurants with fresh produce and ingredients and are known for the diversity of the exceptional products they carry.

Please join me on a photo tour of what I experienced… you are sure to be impressed!

Fresh flowers galore… at a very fair price.

Shelf, upon shelf,of crisp and aromatic apples…

Baby brussel sprouts and every onion and potato known to man…

Fresh almonds and chestnuts — and this is just in the “exterior” portion of the store…

Then I stepped inside to the view straight ahead. The aroma in the air was intoxicating… You know how when you go to an Asian grocery store it often smells like a combination of ripe garbage and rotten fish? Well Russo’s is the opposite… you are bowled over by the sweetness in the air. There are so many aromatic fruits that the entire building smells sweet. I kid you not.

This is the view to the left…

I ventured to the left first and was inundated with many of the Asian specialty produce I could only find at Super 88 previously… cabbages, bok choys, herbs, root vegetables, melons and fresh water chestnuts (just to name a few) — as shown here:

Bin after bin of every kind of hot pepper you could ever need:

Eggplants? SURE! Round large ones, long skinny ones, black ones…

Love the color purple, but not in the mood for eggplant? Well… here is some sugar cane to die for…

Feeling a little adventurous? How about some Indian Bitter Melon (a product of Honduras) at $1.98/pound:

I was absolutely overwhelmed, excited and freaking out over the amount of fresh produce, cheese, breads, charcuterie and specialty products in front of me. I spent $36.22 and got the following… however, you will have to tune back in for more posts re: what I did with these ingredients and to see what they look like.