I'm sorry. Not everywhere is like NY/NJ. Thanks!

I know exactly what you mean, I've spent my whole life living in southern states and now living in Ohio. I can't even find freakin' Frito Lay's bean dip except in the middle of the summer SOMETIMES IF I'M LUCKY. The list goes on and on. One thing I noticed here...just a small oddity...but the sweet relish has this strange clove type taste in the North, it did not taste like that in the south and it is NASTY! YUCK!!!! All sausage has that disgusting fennel seed stuff in it that smells just like moth balls, how can anyone eat that mess? Give me Tex Mex anyday! I miss my TexMex food!!!!!!!!!

You're right. Olympia is not like NY/NJ. But, it's a beautiful location & you should have yummy seafood available. Don't forget you can get Junior's cheesecake & Nathan's hot dogs from QVC! When I moved from SoCA to Denver in the mid-70s it was culture shock. Then, when I moved from Denver to New Hampshire I learned what culture shock was really about! No Mexican food in New Hampshire, at that time. What?! No Mexican food - I immediately went into withdrawal. I had care packages sent from home for the next decade. The experience though forced me into learning to prepare the cuisine at home so now I'm not dependent on a restaurant when the urge strikes. Now, I'm in CT & it's different again! Variety is good.

Some areas of the PNW are foodie heaven. You'll just have to get familar with the area &, maybe, shop closer to either Portland or Seattle once every few months. We've got several people here that can offer suggestions.

/tricia

Slowly but surely you may be able to ferret out the places where you can get the things you crave. Probably not in ye olde supermarket like you could in NY, but I'll bet they can be had, somewhere. It takes a while. I am still discovering Allentown's foodie treasures eight years after I moved here.

The Pacific NW was a food shock for me too when I first visited in 1976. I could not find fresh tortillas in the grocery stores, and I had always had them since childhood in Texas and then just as available in California. When I first went to Victoria, BC the same year, I asked a young woman in a shop where the Jewish Community Center was (since I was a member of the one in San Francisco), and she told me that not only was there no JCC, but that she had to send to Vancouver to get bagels for her wedding! Fresh tortillas have always been a major staple in my diet, and so it was always difficult to adapt to places where they were essentially unavailable. I did appreciate the salmon in the NW, however.

It seems that not that many people from NY moved the the Pacific NW, whereas there are hoards from them in San Francisco and L.A. However, NY Jews tend to settle in L.A. and NY Italians in San Francisco, which affects the food available in these two cities. L.A. has great delis, and SF has great Italian restaurants and delis (at least it did when I lived in North Beach).

Since I've always cooked my own Tex-Mex food, I didn't care whether there were restaurants available, but I did care about ingredients.

Lars

Well - I hate to say it, but it might be time to adjust your point of view and embrace all the wonderful things you can get now that you couldn't get in NY/NJ. As others have mentioned, you can mail order (or come back to visit - I have a guest room you can stay in and I am an hour from Manhattan by train) and resolve a few cravings that way, but I bet there are foodie treasures you could never have imagined that are now available to you.

In the mean time, Ann T's bagel recipe is TDF and I have a super gravlax recipe that will make you forget Nova ever existed. Well, maybe not, but they can both be made in your kitchen and they are darn good!

Alexa

I appreciate all your words of encouragement but first, Triciae, I need to know what is QVC--thought for a moment it was QFC, a store around here. As for the seafood, I'm looking hard for what I thought would be a bonanza, because I love seafood. So far, however, hard as it is to believe, its all been frozen. We're surrounded by water, but the seafood frozen--somehow that doesn't compute:>) Today I tried to buy jarred horseradish to make sauce for prime rib--no such animal. I didn't think it was exotic, but apparently it is here.

QVC - The original home shopping network!

Here is a link that might be useful: Juniors Cheesecake on QVC

Olympia is a small town, especially compared to Metro NYC, and that is reason enough for a culture shock. I went through severe culture shock when I moved from San Francisco to Austin in 1985, and I think people in Austin were a bit shocked when I arrived as well. In S.F. I had been designing and making clothes, and so I had a lot of original outfits that I had made for myself as well as a lot of clothes that I had bought in SF and Vancouver that the buyers had bought in England. Austin is not known for its fashion scene but rather for its lack of one, and so I got a lot of stares from people. Guys would walk past me on campus and try to keep a straight face, but as soon as I would say hello to them, they would crack up. What I did like about Austin was that pretty much everyone on campus would say Hi or Hello to me as they walked past and would generally make eye contact when it was possible for them to do so without laughing. My art teachers loved my outfits, however and found them stimulating. There was a tiny avant garde group in Austin, but it was nothing at all like what I was used to on the West Coast. Back then Austin did not have much variety in restaurants and the live music was not as good as in S.F. despite what people in Austin claim.

Olympia might take a while to catch up. I did find some interesting antique shops there.

Lars

Is the brewery closed? I don't drink beer and I doubt Oly was any good anyway, but they had a nice stein museum.

Look around--you'll find stuff eventually! Those small towns can surprise you.

Mmmm...culture shock is not a bad thing. We lived in Belgium for a while. Yes, you could find peanut butter in the stores... a tiny container for an outrageous price. But we learned that Nutella was a better choice. Friends packed peanut butter, ranch dressing, pecans, and Oreos for us when they came to visit from the States....

In the mean time, we learned to LOVE all the fantastic foods Belgium offered. Bakeries within walking distance, *great* produce, fantastic chocolates, waffles, cookies to die for. The restaurants...the little mom and pop shops we found...sigh.

These days our Belgian friends bring us Belgian coffees, chocolate, cookies, and other treats when they visit us in Texas. From time to time, my son will walk through the room and say, why don't we hop a plane and have supper at the Grand Place in Brussels. If only...

I hope you can embrace the unique features of Olympia. I've lived in a tiny Texas town before. Smack in the middle of no where. Even there, unique foods were to be found.

Have fun exploring!

Now might be a good time to strike upa conversation with the grocery store manager and see if they can order some items for you. If you present it right, he could increase his sales.

Isn't Terri in the area also?

I feel your pain. I'm from SC, and when I moved to FL, I could not find a small jar of plain old dill pickles anywhere, still can't. No mustard-based bbq sauce either. No boxes of quail in the freezer section. No slabs of uncut bacon or streak o' lean for seasoning. No fresh greens in the winter, and let me tell you, GA peaches picked green and shipped in do NOT taste like our marvelous SC peaches fresh off the tree! NO decent bbq restaurants! Sonny's bbq thinks that bbq pork is slices of pork with some horrid kind of red sauce on it. All the food here is totally TASTELESS! Since there are so many NY'ers here, there are PLENTY of Italian restaurants, and there are Chinese restaurants galore.

So I just buckled down and started to learn to cook. I pulled out my old southern cookbooks and made my own bbq sauce for real pulled pork. Found out they do sell ham hocks, so I use those instead of streak o' lean in my beans and greens. Greens are hard, because I have to use frozen. I tried growing them, but without the cold weather, they are just bitter and nasty. I had to settle for those huge dill pickles, though. At least they are Mt. Olive, not Vlasic.

On the upside, we grow some wonderful tomatoes down here, and farm-fresh veggies are plentiful and cheap in the winter unless there is a big freeze. And the citrus...OMG! There is nothing like picking fruit right off your own tree. Plus, mangoes are cheap and I can eat them all the time, instead of as an expensive treat.

I do still miss Krispy Kreme, though. Dunkin Donuts just isn't the same.

dirtygardener, at my local farmers market we have had fresh greens available for the last month. The vendor grows his own and picks the day before the market. It might be worth your while to check out the farmers markets in your area. We get really good SC peaches at our market too!

I also have a local specialty shop with a real butcher. They make their own sausages and have uncut bacon.

I guess the selection of food depends on your locale.

I think you need to explore the area some more. I know that can be challenging but surely you have numerous grocery stores with a population of what, 46,000? I did google Olympia to find out a little about it because our county has 66,000 and that includes quite a few towns. We have lots of grocery stores (regular chain types) although it's nothing like a big city with specialty shops.

I may have to go to a certain store to get what I want and will never get things like lox, but I could get jarred horseradish in most of the stores and pickles everywhere.
But I might have to hunt down the horseradish. I did this summer but I found it.
I would never expect one store to carry everything I wanted.

We go to to Myrtle Beach all the time and you would think all the grocery stores would have at least a little fresh seafood but some have only the exact same frozen stuff we have at home. I had to hunt down some fresh seafood stands but I did find them.

Give it time and I think you will find a lot of what you're missing.

I remember when I moved from Philadelphia to Hartford CT for a few years. I almost passed out when I realized I couldn't get Tasty Kakes there. I was young and I think that's when I realized they are a regional item.

Olympia sounds so beautiful. I would love to try a new place like that. What took you there?

I, too, missed Tasty Kakes when I moved from PA to Denver--along with lebanon balogna, beer pretzels, Breyers ice cream and local potato chips (like Kay & Rays.) My sister flew out to see me and packed a pound of scrapple wrapped in newspaper in her suitcase. Try to get that past TSA now.

Of course, when I moved back east, I immediately went through Tex-Mex withdrawal and still miss deep fried rellenos with smothered with green chili. Enjoy exploring your new surroundings. :)

I live south of Olympia in small-town Oregon but I think with a little searching you will find much of what you're missing (and maybe some new foods as well).

While lox is less common in this area than the dry-smoked salmon, there should be some around. If not, as mentioned, lox is very easy to make and there's no shortage of fresh salmon in your area.

I feel kind of sad that the focus is on what you're missing rather than what you're discovering.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Olympia Farmers Market

I, too, was going to recommend the Olympia Farmers Market.
Fun stop. Seattle is just a short trip and you may be able to find some of the things you're looking for there.

I agree that there is much to be discovered as well as missed. Any regional area is going to be different but that's part of the adventure.

Deanna (even further south than Carol in middle/western Oregon).

I don't want you to think I haven't been looking around, and just going "woe is me", but if you want to get an idea of what I miss take a look at the entry for Wegman's down below on the forum. The town I'm in has every conceivable fast food franchise you can think of, but a reasonably good restaurant is hard to find, and I think that says volumes about the food tastes of the area.

Olympia sounds beautiful. I envy your new adventure with the exception of the lack of what I would also consider to be food essentials.

Maybe this is a good opportunity to meet some new people as well. Tap into a local gourmet or cooking club and see what they have to offer. Put out the word on chowhounds or another foodie site, maybe something interesting will come up.

I do feel your pain. When we visit family in Pittsburgh, even for a week, my DH complains about the food. No decent bagels, lox, etc... and he just doesn't get the local flavor or why I crave Primanti's sandwiches!

BTW, Lars, you crack me up. Had I been in Austin at the time, we would have been friends for sure!

AM

Years ago, I moved from the SF Bay Area to a small town in Southern Maine for a year. None of the little ethnic restaurants I so loved, and long drives into Boston just to buy ingredients to make a few of my favorite foods.

After that experience, knowing that my intention was to eventually move somewhere less urban for good, I began to teach myself to cook the foods I loved but knew I'd otherwise have to do without.

Then came the search for sources. A few small, Asian or Indian groceries do exist within a half hour drive, and I'm really only an hour or so away from more sources. Even my old favorites are only a couple of hours away.

You'll find sources for some things, pay postage to get others from mail order, and stock up whenever possible. It's rough, but all transitions are.

We visit SW Florida often and I am always amazed at the lack of diversity in the food there.

Metro Detroit has a rich, diverse ethnic history -- you can find Polish food, Hungarian food, Mexican food, Indian food and even decent Chinese food.

I can't even find decent Mexican food down there.

Years ago I read a story in the Detroit News about a couple that retired to SW FL -- they stayed only two years and came "home" because there were no Coney Islands there!

It shows you how much food is part of our culture.

leel - I hope others are right and that it's just a matter of time before you scout out places to shop. I can fully imagine that coming from the NY Metro area, the majority of the country would leave you in food culture shock. I used to work long term assignments in other cities, and even in the outskirts of major areas (e.g. Boston, Chicago, Charlotte) I always found food shopping a challenge at first, and in some cases never found some things that are common around here. So I feel your pain.

I'm surprised at the seafood issue; I'd have to think you just haven't found the right place yet. Bagels, come on, you knew they wouldn't be the same, right? Nathans are good but there've got to be other choices you'll like. I see that there are some Costco's in the general area. Have you been to them to see what's available? That might help you with some of your staples. (Just a guess; I've barely ever been in one.)

Good luck with the adjustment!

I suspect it's more a result of moving from one of the largest, most sophisticated, and most ethnically diverse metropolitan areas of the USA to a small, mostly white town in the extreme upper left corner of the country.

In PDX or SEA, it would be different - though certain specific East Coast brands might still be rare.

Don't worry, you'll eventually find some eats that you like, including new ones, and you'll probably learn to make the old ones at home. The PNW has its own foodie scene, emphasis on fresh, local, healthy, veggie, etc etc, which should be interesting.

It takes time to get used to a new place. When I moved from the SF Bay Area to Portland, I was appalled at the state of Chinese food in PDX. It took well over a year before we found some of the better places in town, which admittedly would rank as only mid-pack in the Bay Area.

I agree w/ you on the lox vs smoked salmon. The latter is good, but the former is great - to me. A toasted bagel with smoked salmon just isn't the same as with lox.

You might try looking on Yelp - the reviews are often infantile, but it is a quick way to size up the different offerings in town.

I think John hit the nail on the head, the difference is not so much the coastal thing as it is big city, small town. Face it, in a small town, ruralish area there just aren't that many people who can afford to go out to eat and buy expensive and premade items. You might find some awesome diners but not much in the way of fine food. Same with delis, but the produce might be tons better than what makes it into New York. In my small midwestern home town, one cannot find good bread to save your life. No one is going to pay over $4.00 a loaf for bread. Well, yes a few folks in my town have that kind of money but very few. Those with a hankering for good bread make excursions into a larger city, or order it from Zingerman's, lol! But here in Allentown, where the German influence is strong, the bread is awesome!! On the other hand, the produce is only "meh" in my opinion, not awesome like I can find in MI. So there are trade offs. Lox is expensive, I wouldn't expect to find much of it in a small town anywhere unless it was a tourist town or within the NYC Jewish population influence. I live where you can't spit without hitting lox for sale but I can't afford it. It's economics as much as culture. Some tony tourist place might have lots of different types of foods, but not ye olde town in the heartland. NYC will spoil you, that's for sure!

Leel, I feel your pain. I have lived in small towns before and it's true you won't find the selection you find in a big city. I am sure you aren't complaining about everything in Olympia but you come to a cooking forum and this is the place you can let others know who will understand where you are coming from about the food.
There will be trade-offs, I'm sure there is a good reason why you moved all the way across the country, but Olympia is not Seattle. Food is probably not going to be the main reason you will like Olympia but I am sure there are other things to like there. I lived further north on the penisula for about a year. It felt like living in a strip mall to me; Seattle was about an hour and a half away, so not a place to go to during the week. I have lived in small towns (pre-internet) with just two radio stations one AM and one FM. I never adjusted to it.
It is a pretty part of the country though.
Good luck with your adjustment.

John, I have to agree about Portland and Chinese food. You have to really search it out here.

I've been a Pacific Northwest guy for many years now. Olympia is a beautiful little town and the waterways are fantastic. Find a boat owner and become their friend.

The town is not known for it's sophisticated eating choices so your focus needs to be about the other reasons to be there.

Make food quests an adventure and a special treat when you visit Seattle. Great food abounds there but a bit of preliminary research will help you find them easier.

You are very close to one of my favorite spots in the state, the Longbeach/Seaview area. This ocean community has stopped in time somewhere in the 70's and some absolutely fantastic food can be found there. A handful of high end chefs have migrated there for the lifestyle and opened little restaurants.

Make your new town an adventure. Find the good stuff, it's there. Look up Batdorf and Bronson for some very good coffee.

When I get back to NYC, I buy 50 bagels on flight day, get them home in a duffle bag, cut em in half and toss them in the freezer. It's not as nice as getting them at the corner bakery but it satisfies a longing and a memory.

here's a couple links to some recommended eateries and my favorite at the ocean, The Depot, in Seaview:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g58653-Olympia_Washington.html
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/14743
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g58733-Seaview_Washington.html

michaelp

Thanks everyone for your sympathetic and encouraging words. Particular thanks to michaelmaxp;I've followed some of your links, and perhaps there's hope! But would you let me know the next time you make a bagel run? I'll supply a larger bag!