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No one outside of LA would believe it, but the vast majority of the nation has never been to Erehwon and doesn’t really know what it is. Here are some notes from my virgin visit to catch everyone up.
The Tesla Roadster was released in 2008, and at the time was an odd-toy exclusive to nerdy millionaires… today the Model 3 is one of the nation’s most sought after and recognizable cars.
Let’s hope the ultra-high end natural food trends that Erehwon is setting trickle down and gather scale nationally.
The glass-jarred bone broths are a stand-out but will cost you a humerus and a femur
Table of Contents
What is Erehwon?
Erehwon is a chic, yet aggressively branded high-end grocery chain in the Los Angeles area. The stores are in prime locations, are generally about half the size of a Whole Foods with extremely dense shelves.
Erehwon shines in ultra-high end packaged and prepared food, many of which is white labeled (in-house fresh bison chili in glass jars etc)
Erehwon lacks legitimate fresh butchers or fish counters, but features extensive prepared food, served in-house as well as cafe’s and jucieries.
The name "Erewhon" is derived from the 1872 satirical novel Erewhon by Samuel Butler. In the novel, Erewhon, an anagram of "nowhere", is a utopia in which individuals are responsible for their own health and prosecuted for the crime of being ill.
The tote bag sold at checkout costs $138
Highlights
Ratings are relative to the highest-end specialty stores I’m familiar with in NYC. Price is taken for granted to be absurd.
Parking
Rating: B+
The parking lots are tight, as the stores generally aren’t huge, but each location without a dedicated underground lot has valet parking as well as workers in vests guiding people in and out of spots and directing traffic, a nice touch.
Produce
Rating: A
Incredible selection, much of it local. Has coconuts, oranic Rock-it apples and a variety of pre-cut options.
Santa Monica’s produce section
Essential airplane companions
Packaged
Rating A+
By far the highest density of seed oil free snacks in America. Masa Chips reigns supreme, many freeze-dried single ingredient snacks, and seed oil free options of traditional snacks
Like walking through a dream
Masa is the #1 selling chip in Erehwon
Broth aisle
Rating A+
Incredible selection of glass jarred broths and prepared chili’s/soups. Hard to complain outside of the price, which you basically are forced to take for granted once inside.
Water
Rating A+
Incredible selection in glass, cold and room temp. Full suite of flavored Mountain Valley, and my personal favorite European sparkling waters Vichy & Gerolsteiner.
The Antipodes is a standout as well.
Hot food & prepared
Rating B+
It’s likely the best you’d see at any operation of this scale in America, but several fried items are done in rice bran oil. Everything else except for one chicken salad is seed oil free, and done with incredible ingredients. Generally ~$30/lb.
Our A+ needs to cook with more saturated fats, like butter ghee and tallow.
A scout can dine happily at Erehwon if they are ok with large amounts of avocado oil.
They know whats up
Fats and oils
Rating: A+
Incredible selection, no complaints. White labeled EVOO was new/23’ harvest, as well.
The great wall of GHEE, almost worth its weight in gold
EVOO is harvested in November/Dec, 23’ is what you want to see
Dairy and eggs
Rating A
Includes RAW farms and a soy-and-corn-free local egg option. Also includes glass-bottled raw milk and frozen camel milk.
Butter selection is not incredibly impressive in my opinion.
Yogurt has one standout, Aris foods kefir yogurts, which are potentially the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my life… otherwise pretty uninspiring, same as Whole Foods.
I come to Erehwon for the essentials
Grains
Rating A+
Greatest selection of germinated/sprouted organic rice and grains I’ve found.
Dark chocolate
Rating A+
All of my personal favorites and some incredible newcomers, bravo.
100% Fruition is still king
Lowlights
Rice bran oil
Shows up in prepared foods and fried cauliflower etc in hot bar. Will blast them on instagram for it, stay tuned 🫡
Fish
Rating B-
Can survive off this but doesn’t really live up to the sourcing and dedication of the rest of the operation.
Meat
Rating B-
Relies heavily on thawed Force of Nature products. Good frozen Bison and Elk + marrow bones, but to breach an A I think you need a dedicated butcher.
This pork may actually be low in PUFA based on the Pachamama site.
Cheese
Rating B-
Nothing special here. California doesn’t really seem to import much Euro cheese.
Strange delights
Some of the rarest curiosities I sampled down the Erehwon rabbit hole
Frozen camel milk: did not enjoy it but was interesting
Freeze dried sweet potatoes from Sweetpotato Awesome, enjoyable styrofoam-like texture
Germinated brown rice from Planet Rice: Incredibly tasty, allegedly incredibly healthy
Coconut kefir
Ground Wild Boar from Force of Nature meats
“Limited edition” sauerkraut
Various freeze dried fruits and berries
Antipodes water, structured water, various waters
In conclusion
Everyone would be happy to have an Erehwon next-door and an extra income to support their new camel-milk addiction. For now, we can think of it as a wacky proving-ground for a new wave of healthier products to reach mass-market scale and prices.
Most of us will be cheering from the sidelines, if you’re in LA it’s definitely worth a visit.
🫡