There's a new, huge

There's a new, huge apartment building on the main drag in our neighborhood. It's the largest building on the street--taking up an entire block and 20 stories. It's a really posh place, called L'Age.

For the last two months, the construction workers have been fixing up the sidewalks and the landscaping and it's beginning to look less like a construction site and more like a residence. Although I don't think anyone's moved in yet, the first floor shops are beginning to open up. Yesterday a new gourmet grocery introduced itself to our neighborhood.

I decided to join the curious crowds at lunchtime on the first day of "soft open" (I guess this is what happens before Grand Open) and see what the new shop, Queen's Isetan, is all about. It's about trendy vegetables, a meat-carving station and foreign foods. Rather hipster and upscale, but I'm not complaining.

Queen's Isetan is going to save me a lot of running across town. I used to have to go half an hour by train to get American ingredients like molasses and ground ginger. Now I just have to go around the corner and across the street.