Thank you for your comment! You are absolutely right – it was Jungle Jim’s International Market, in Fairfield, Ohio, that I wrote about in my post. And all of your advice is perfect: we spent four hours in Jungle Jim’s, so the comfortable shoes turned out to be a necessity. It took us an hour and a half just to get through the cheese department (where there were samples of a lovely Danish bleu). Our cooler was packed for the drive back to Columbus. It’s a nice day trip from the Columbus area. While you’re there, be sure to watch “The Evolution of Jungle Jim’s” in the in-store move theater. It tells the very interesting story of how an outdoor vegetable stand became the Jungle Jim’s food experience. Enjoy! And thank you for reading our classical music blog!

Thank you for writing in! The “mecca” I wrote about in my post is Jingle Jim’s International Market, in Fairfield, Ohio. Don’t be alarmed by its enormous proportions – it’s excess in the grandest possible sense of the word. The place truly has a wealth of truly interesting and delicious items. Some of my favorite finds there: Lindt dark chocolate with fleur de sel (affordable!), a cremy vache de chalais cheese round (never had it before!) and, for jazz lovers out there, the Brother Thelonious Belgian ale, proceeds from the sale of which go to support the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Enjoy!

http://www.junglejims.com/

If this is the place, it is all that and more! Worth a special trip. Bring a cooler or two if you plan on buying perishables. Wear comfortable shoes and go there hungry- they offer a LOT of samples.

Dare we ask the location of this mecca?