Interestingly, my mentioned Ralph's Market Is owned by and is the West Coast version of Kroger. Yours and mine are probably approximately the same size, meaning a major commercial outlet.
What also strikes me is that you found your lobster/seafood at Kroger, while I find most of mine at Ralph’s, when in truth they are owned by the same entity.
Since this seems to be the main place for conversation, I would direct your attention to the waiter carrying the tray of glasses in my after party image.
What makes this interesting is that virtually any arts opening or quasi- public after party is that the wine is universally served in, nice enough, but still a plastic cup.
At the Getty however, the wine is served in actual glasses. One might ask, how does the Getty have on hand a hundred or so elegant wine glasses?
It’s the Getty! I'm not being critical of the Getty if you are wondering. A number of people are very now anti-plutocrats (who isn’t?) but I do have to say that the Getty, both the museum and the Villa, are art institutions that have had great positive influence on my life, continuing through today.
I need to write a defense of the Getty and publish it around because it maybe should be said that John Paul Getty, for all his vast wealth, did put much of it to good use in support of the Arts.
This is not to defend plutocrats, our semi-evil demon of our day, but except for maybe Buffett and the Gates, Bill and Malinda, he did succeed in doing some lasting good with his wealth. (Can I take a moment to decry what Mr David Geffen has done with his money in the destruction of LACMA to be able to rebuild it in his name {the Geffen Galleries}...I have said is and will be an ugly disaster but we will see when LACMA finally opens again in April, 2026. I have organized and fought against this, for years now, I could be wrong and hope that I am...we will see. Best Wishes, Traveller (please understand that I am a poor guy, but my enthusiasm carries me far...lol)
One of the best things I've eaten was half-cooked tuna (tataki de thon) at the Geneva branch of Brasserie Lipp (https://www.brasserielipp.ch/en/menus/). I long ago decided not to spoil the magic by attempting to cook it myself. A high heat suggestion for you that I look forward to hearing about.
I tried something that will probably sound sacrilegious to a chef of your stature. The local Kroger (surprisingly not on your list) had lobster tails on sale, so I picked up a couple for me and the wife. How did I cook it? In the air fryer, of course! Ours has a broil setting (which does a nice job on tuna steak), and it produced a flavorful, moist pair of queue de homard.
Actually this was a slow covered frying pan cook with some searing at the end. I have eaten good tuna raw trying to make my own sushi but...it was messy, (but good).
what I am finding interesting is...the number of markets I shop at for...what they are good at:
My Pavillions for beef, Harris Ranch...and some Sushi when on sale
My Ralph's market for their small sea food section...but great on sale seafood almost ever day...and their Cherry Pies
Costco of course for banana's, apples, oranges, spring mix greens, mushrooms, fetta cheese and whatever else they have that week...the problem with Costco is that often you will find something you love and it will never be seen in store again!
My Aldi for celery, tomato's and salad dressings..
My Mexican market for mexican white corn and...often produce in general.
This is a damned large collection of stores, isn't it?
I will try high heat searing next time. Best Wishes, Traveller