Whole Foods (nee Fresh & Wild), Stoke Newington, London

Well you’re either a fairly well-off self-obsessed navel gazing wholemeal wheatgrass type and will love Fresh and Wild, or you’re not and will do well to steer clear.

I feel slightly dirty spending £35 or £40 to barely fill a single shopping bag.

As other reviewers have noted you can spend serious cash in here on a few odds and sods. When this first opened in Stoke Newington a friend christened it “Fresh and Wildly Overpriced”, this makes me smile as I type because it’s spot on still today, five or so years later.

A word of warning on the wheatgrass juice. I drank a shot and during the course of a ten minute walk home the glands around my body (armpits, groin, neck) became swollen and my breathing started to become laboured.

It got to the point where I started looking for a plastic biro to dissemble in preparation to jam through my trachea to be able to continue breathing. Too much information I know, but don’t believe a hippy who tells you that, without any qualification, natural equals good.

Luckily as you’ve guessed, I survived, and can now avenge the devil’s work that is wheatgrass juice via the joy of qype.

Good food in the cafe.

This is effectively my corner shop, albeit an expensive one. I’ve been going here since it first opened and get most of what I eat from here. I preferred it before it was taken over by the American company Wholefood Markets. In the good ol’ days, everything in the shop was organic, but now the emphasis is more on wholefoods and they don’t really seem that bothered about whether its organic. It’s more half, half now. Look closely at the labels if organic is what you’re after (they call non organic 'conventional’).

The staff are a real mixed bag. Some of them are lovely, welcoming and friendly. Others are churlish, rude and lacking in social skills. It never seems to be well managed, and even though I’ve been going here for years, I have no idea who the manager is!

There are quite often long queues at peak times and little attempt to manage these effectively or come up with a more efficient queueing system that doesn’t block the food aisles.

Still, I’ll carry on going there as it’s so handy. The coffee is good too.

Health concious new agers would kill to live right next to this place and have the farmers market opposite.
However as much as I’m put of by the try hard hippies that frequent this gourmet homage to the age of aquarias, I must admit that I cannot honestly find any weekness in it’s delivery of a food centre of excellence.
If I had lots of money - I don’t think I’d shop anywhere else. As it is - I almost never go in here. Sure organic bannanas that don’t cause oppression taste much better, but I can buy it for less than half at Morrisons.
The wines look great as do the olives and the sexily presented take out meals. But nup - less than half price every where else.
In short - perfect for what it is, but I never go there cause I’m a cheap skate.

This is I guess what you call a 'premium’ organic wholefood store.
The atmosphere is quite relaxing, no harsh lights or jangly music and it has a wide selection of all things organic,local seasonal and every other 'foodie’ buzz word out there!
There is also a wide selection of cheeses, wines and lunches so you can feel virtuous even if you are having a quick snack.
The vitamin/mineral/beauty section is pretty good and as expected is totally organic,cruelty free and lacking in other chemical nasties you may find in the stuff in your local chemist.

Be minded that this store is not cheap. You should expect to spend a small fortune for the minimum of items in your basket. I have gone to the checkout with 3 or 4 items and it regulary comes to £20.

Good for additional shopping but unless your loaded or have very high principals, a full weekly shop is impossible.

I LOVE Fresh & Wild. I cannot rave about it enough. It is expensive, yes - I wouldn't recommend you do your weekly shop here - but the quality and variety of foods on offer here is just astounding. If it's speciality food you're after, for example, gluten-free-sugar-free-dairy-free chocolate, you will be pleasantly surprised at Fresh & Wild. Try their homemade hummus, or grind your own peanut butter there and then. There are always freebies available, too - you can't go wrong with a bit of free, mouth-watering food.
The staff in the Stoke Newington branch are particularly chirpy and bouncy and every time I've been in there (and yes, there have been a lot of times) they've always been happy to go out of their way to find anything out for you. If you want to stop off for some food (check out the hot counters or go for the "Grab & Go" section and try the vegan sushi, fruity porridge or freshly prepared salads) or just for a Monkey Shake beverage you can and in Stoke Newington you can take a seat outside and people-watch.
They also sell 'Green Baby' baby clothes, such as cute all-in-ones - there isn't a massive selection so don't expect a day out clothes shopping for your child just in this store. Or if you feel eating healthily just isn't enough, try Burts Bees' skincare range available in the Organic Beauty section.
I thoroughly recommend any Fresh & Wild store (I'm assuming they're all fairly big).

This whole foods market store is based in the heart of Stoke Newingtons Chruch Street and is part of the Whole Food Market. It's aim is sell organic foods produced by local London suppliers in order to prevent larger business' from pushing them into out. The food therefore is top quality and natural, very important if you are a fan of organic foods. Fresh and Wild also has its own bakery which provides home cooked bread and it's own cafe which provides a range of dished to be eaten in or taken home. All cooked instore daily. There is also a range of freshly made Smoothies and Super drinks to choose from all of which are absolutely natural and delicious. The food choice is varied and unusal and if you are an adventurous cook then this is the place to visit to find new exotic ingredients, which more often that not are actually of British origin.