Mark’s Score 8.6
Bethany is a family beach town, which means that the vast majority of people who visit Bethany either rent cottages or stay in places like the Bethany Beach Suites, in other words, places with working kitchens. You can eat every meal out, there are more than enough good restaurants to take you through an entire holiday without ever cooking anything, but if you want to eat at home, there are options.
On my holidays I have taken both approaches. Sometimes I eat out the entire holiday. Sometimes I purposely rent accommodations that offer me the opportunity to cook my own meals. Either way, I have a philosophy about holidays, they are about treating yourself. They are also about trying new things, having new experiences, and most especially eating interesting and excellent food, and it is this philosophy that brought me to Green Island Market.
Green Island Market is a specialty food store in the center of Bethany. I stumbled across it while walking to the coffee shop one morning. I believe they are new to Bethany; I don’t remember them being there when we were in Bethany last Thanksgiving. They focus on specialty, high quality, food items such as jams, sauces, a variety of oils, snacks, cheeses, but of most interest to me, high quality pre-packaged easy to cook meals. Of particular interest were the Tiberino “Italian-one-pot” prepared meals. Tiberino is a family-owned Italian company that produces high quality food, that is easy to cook, and fantastically delicious, in short, perfect for holiday meals. Rental units don’t generally have well kitted out kitchens, and who wants to bring a whole cabinet of spices and sauces on holiday? On the other hand, who wants to eat boring ordinary food on holiday?
After I had my coffee (and with my dog, Arturo in tow) I had time to talk, browse, and buy some items. One of the owners, Curtis, immediately won me over by welcoming Arturo into the store and giving him a cookie. The savvy business owner knows you can always win points with dog owners by being nice to their dogs. And I did buy some of the Tiberino “Italian-one-pots.” But the most important thing that I learned from Curtis was that they were planning to expand to the second floor of their building. They are planning to add a line of fresh, locally grown food items, and it is for that reason I write this review. Shopping should be an experience, and if you are going to shop while on holiday, shouldn’t you shop for local products? Why go to Bethany to buy something made in China when I can do that at home or on the net? I will look forward to visiting their local produce section when we returned to Bethany next year.
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