WTF is... Erewhon?
The first in a new series where I dissect quintessentially LA things for your entertainment.
Isn't that where people in LA go to spend $20 on a smoothie?
Correct. You may have heard me mention Erewhon once or twice! It's a very high-end organic grocery store frequented by rich people and TikTok influencers. The kind of place you pop in to for a celebrity-branded wellness smoothie (thanks to the likes of Hailee Bieber, Bella Hadid and Miranda Kerr) or a savoury treat from the grab-and-go hot bar (think Sushi Sandwiches and Buffalo Cauliflower) and leave with a $39.99 jar of Sea Moss Gel that was wildcrafted and sourced from the pristine waters of St Lucia.
That's not even so LA, that's like, peak LA.
I know, right? It's actually the reason the Instagram account, 'Overheard in LA' first started. Legend has it that back in 2015, Jesse Margolis was sitting in an Erewhon store when he heard a conversation so ridiculous and rambling (everything from egg freezing to pit bulls) he had to write it down. And then he Instagrammed the shit out of it. In other words, come for the Kombucha, stay for the content.
Chicken soup for the soul. For $21.00. (And yes, I thought they were juices too).
When they're not ordering overpriced drinks or overhearing conversations, does anyone actually shop for produce?
If they can afford it. Erewhon is a Certified Organic Retailer and Certified B Corp. It sells beautiful, colourful, covetable produce. But it's very expensive. I would say the people buying their (washed, chopped and neatly packaged) fruit and vegetables at Erewhon are the same people who don't cut their own vegetables. Because they don't know where their knives are kept. Because they have someone do it for them. You get me?
Sounds like a very exclusive members club...
In many ways, it is. You can literally become an Erewhon member. My friend Hannah paid $200 for the year. She gets $1 off every $10 she spends but since she doesn't shop there all the time she still has a way to go before she breaks even. "It doesn’t feel right to shop at Erewhon exclusively when there is a Trader Joes across the street," she told me, echoing literally everyone I know. "So I only buy treats and sunscreen." When you live in LA, I replied, what more could you need?
A whole refrigerator for… Sea Moss Gel. At £39.99 a pop. (And yes, I thought they were juices too).
Will I spot any celebrities?
If you hang out there as long as the paps do! Remember in the pandemic when we couldn't go anywhere except supermarkets? (Simpler times etc.) Well, Vanity Fair dubbed Erewhon 'the hottest pandemic club in Los Angeles' because everyone from Cara Delevingne to Miley Cyrus started rocking up. Presumably because they had nothing else to do.
What is everyone else saying about Erewhon? I bet the Yelp reviews are gold.
You want me to dig out funny things strangers are saying about the place? Are we really doing this?
Okay fine, here are a few of my personal favourites.
The one who is ecstatic to find a purple bell pepper...
"Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Purple Peppers! I didn't know they actually existed," she exclaims. "Mixed in with red, yellow, green, orange, --- the purple did not seem to have any distinct taste, but still was a FUN find."
The one whose boyfriend is not a healthy eater...
"BUT EREWHON HAS A WAY OF INVIGORATING PEOPLE TO ENJOY EVEN THEIR MOST DISLIKED FOODS!!” she cries. “My jaw was basically on the floor by the end of our meal because not only did he not complain about the food, BUT MY BOYFRIEND ATE AND FINISHED EVERYTHING. LIKE NOT A CRUMB OF QUINOA WAS LEFT STANDING. If that doesn't impress you I don't know what will."
And the one who - I can’t, even…
"My mentor helped create these grocery stores - The Kushi's" she explains. "My alkaline water, sea moss, organic shampoo, and charcoal lemonade is just perfect... Everyone should be buying the sea moss drinks and pure sea moss from here I literally can't stop having it. I ate half the jar when I was supposed to have just 2tbl spoons. While everyone else is eating jam, sugar, and colored artificial foods I'm eating things that come from the earth. Not everyone can be intelligent that's why they make those toxic foods for unintelligent & uneducated people."
Once you pop (water lily seeds) you can’t stop…
No words. Except, who are The Kushi's?
Michio and Aveline Kushi were the Japanese couple who founded Erewhon - considered the first natural food store - in Boston in 1966, before bringing it to Los Angeles a couple of years later. There are now 10 branches between Venice and Silverlake.
Any more fun facts?
Erewhon actually gets its name from the 1872 satirical novel, Erewhon, by Samuel Butler. In the novel (which I haven't read, I'm literally taking this from Wikipedia) Erewhon - an anagram of nowhere - is a utopia in which individuals are responsible for their own health. Bonus fun fact: the fictional LA grocery store, Anavrin, where Joe works in season two of Netflix thriller, You, is loosely based on Erewhon. It spells 'Nirvana' backwards.
I’d love to know what you think of this new series. Let me know if there is anything you’d like to see featured!