Around The Store With Stew: Valentine's Edition

GRUMPY MONDAY MORNING RANCHERS IN KC – I was rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday and thinking about our ranchers in Kansas and Missouri. After all, they are keeping our shelves full! The bad news is that the Chiefs lost. The good news? We sold A LOT of our ranchers’ Porterhouse steaks!

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK – My daughter Madison is at USC Film School and told me about an author named David Foster Wallace. I watched one of his commencement speeches on YouTube and it made me think. It goes something like this: two young fish are swimming along and happen to meet an older fish, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” The two fish swim away, look at each other and say, “What the heck is water?” My takeaway? In this difficult pandemic environment that we all are living in, you have to remind yourself what’s in plain sight all the time and to be grateful.

CHICKEN WINGS WERE OUR SUPER BOWL WINNER! Chicken Wings were our #1 gameday item and you picked the Buc’s Cannonball BBQ sauce as the winner (2-1) in our Instagram poll. Good pick! Want to hear a crazy thing? Our chefs make fresh guacamole in our kitchen every day, but some of our South American Team Members told me that they could make a better one. So, we let ‘em loose! Now we have TWO guacamoles: one sold in our produce department and the other in the kitchen. For Super Bowl, the guacamole in produce sold better! What do I do now? How about you voting?

Vote For Your Favorite

BANG, BANG, SUPER BOWL, AND SNOW – We had a “double punch” this past weekend: first, the Super Bowl and then the snowstorm! Saturday was extra busy, but sales and customer traffic died off at about 2 p.m. on Sunday. Looks like we’ll be getting more snow soon. We’ll be fully stocked with everything you need to get through the next storm – including fresh produce, meat, eggs, and milk! Be sure to stop by before those first flakes fall.

It’s all about Surf & Turf, chocolate, and roses for Valentine’s Day. We have filet mignon and lobster tails on sale this week. Check out a video I did about creating an amazing surf and turf dinner for two, and I’ll show you how easy it is to sear off filet mignon in a cast-iron skillet and steam lobster tails in a little white wine – all topped with a little bit of herb-flavored butter. Really good.

PRESS EVENT OF THE WEEK – Good Day New York interviewed me live from our Norwalk store this morning! We set up a table in the store with Stew Leonard’s Valentine’s Day favorites. My wife of 37 years, Kim, even joined me! We dipped jumbo strawberries in Belgian Chocolate, showed off our “hot chocolate bombs” for hot cocoa, and of course, we included lots of beautiful roses. I even asked co-anchors Rosanna Scotto and Lori Stokes to be my Valentines … but don’t worry, I checked with Kim, first!

MAKING OUR APP SIZZLE – We have over 200,000 subscribers to our Stew Leonard’s app and it’s growing. Last week we gave EVERYONE that used the app a FREE BAG OF TORTILLA CHIPS (the only catch is that you had to spend at least $50). We ordered an extra trailer load! They are made by a family in Pennsylvania and are a great chip for our guacamole. If you haven't yet, you can download our App HERE

TASTE TEST OF THE WEEK – Norma Gardella (a long-time customer) called and said that our High-Top Chicken Pot Pie was “dry.” She stopped buying it. I tasted one and agreed. Our chefs went to work. They added more “chunky” chicken, fewer potatoes, and eliminated the filo dough on the bottom of the pie. I made two deliveries to Norma’s house, we tweaked it some more, and now she’s happy! She told me, “I’m going to tell all my friends!” My father built the business on “Word of Mouth” advertising. I’m sure we’ll see sales go up.

PRODUCT ADDICTION – I can’t get enough of Cara Cara oranges this week. WOW! Sweetest navel orange I have EVER tasted! They are “brixing” (sweetness measurement) at a 23. Regular oranges are at a 12!

COMMUNITY AWARD - Congrats to our team in Yonkers! They were recognized as the BEST of the BEST in Westchester Magazine’s “Best of” list spanning the past two decades. WOW!

TEAM MEMBER STORY – One of our Team Members was seen walking out of the store with 2 boxes of chocolate chip cookies. At first glance, it looked like he was stealing. Security was on it, but stopped immediately when they realized what was going on. He saw a mom with two kids in the parking lot and 2 boxes of broken chocolate chip cookies on the ground. It put a smile on my face.

FAVORITE RESTAURANT MEAL – I love eating at Bryant & Cooper in Roslyn, Long Island. You can’t beat their butcher shop, the steaks are the best, and I always feel welcome! Plus, they’re a family business, just like Stew’s! I love that I see brothers (and owners!) Gilles or George Poll there often. I also love their restaurant on Route 100, The Bryant! We even sell their steak sauce at Stew’s.

NEW! BLAKE’S WINE CORNER - What’s hot for Valentine’s Day? Red wine blends! One of my favorites is Friendship Fado from Portugal. It’s easy to enjoy and a great gift for anyone who likes trying something new. For Valentine’s Day this year, I’ll be giving my husband a bottle of Hidden Vines Cabernet – Cabernet is our best-selling varietal and it’s made by an A-list Napa winemaker. And, if you’re celebrating with friends and want to shake things up, try a chocolate martini. All you need is a bottle of Godiva chocolate liqueur and your favorite vodka to shake up an utterly delicious martini.