THE NEW YORK TIMES: Gourmet grocery stores are upping their game in the Hamptons, serving a welcoming wealthy clientele.
It wasn’t even 8:30 on a recent morning when a shopper emptied his basket of dinner ingredients onto the counter of the Farm & Forage Market in Southampton: two king crab legs, two bags of frozen dumplings, two packages of ramen noodles and a bag of dried sea kelp.
The cash register rang up an already eye-popping tally before the customer realized he had forgotten the caviar. He tossed a jar of it onto the counter. The grand total was $1,860.
“I’ll put that on your tab, right?” asked Jonathan Bernard, owner of the tiny, tidy store. The shopper, a private chef who works in a home nearby, nodded and noted he would be back later for truffles.
In New York City, Zohran Mamdani just won the Democratic nomination for mayor after running on a platform that included city-run grocery stores to help struggling residents. Yet a $1,195 helicopter ride-away in the Hamptons, signs of extreme affluence have long been celebrated, at the Pilates studio where exercisers in designer athleisure compete for spots in $50 classes, on the beach where $20 smoothies can be delivered to sunbathers, on restaurant menus with $100 salads — and now at the grocery store. » | Dionne Searcey | Friday, July 4, 2025
Leer en español:
Adiós, ensalada de langosta de 100 dólares. Ya llegó el melón de 400 dólares: En los Hamptons se disputa una nueva guerra entre supermercados finos que atienden a su adinerada clientela. »
What does this tell us about über-rich Americans’ intelligence and/or common sense? – © Mark Alexander
