I buy most of my regular groceries at Whole Foods. Items that Whole Foods doesn’t sell I procure through a variety of sources, including The Spice House (the other side of the Penzey spice-merchant family), King Arthur Flour‘s Baker’s Store, Nuts.com, and general-line retailers like supermarkets and Amazon. For specialty meats, in addition to Whole Foods (which frequently doesn’t have what I want), I’ll also go to MF Dulock in Somerville and Savenor’s, but usually come away empty-handed. The best cheese shop by far is Formaggio Kitchen in Huron Village, Cambridge.
I’ll add more notes to this page as I discover other sources and ingredient preferences.
Mayonnaise
Most supermarket mayonnaise is terrible, but for a single person who doesn’t make a lot of sandwiches, the amount of homemade mayonnaise a single egg makes is far too much to use before it spoils. I’m a fan of Delouis mayonnaise, imported in small containers from France. Whole Foods occasionally has tiny plastic containers of it in the refrigerator case (specialty department), but Formaggio has the same stuff in larger, shelf-stable glass jars across from the cheese counter.
Occasionally Coherent 