I tried to buy a week's worth of groceries at Erewhon, a high-end grocery store in Los Angeles. I quickly blew through my budget, but I'd shop there again.

Ever since I made a cross-country move to Los Angeles in the fall, many friends and colleagues have asked me some variation of the same question: Have you visited Erewhon yet?

For the uninducted, Erewhon is not your traditional LA tourist attraction like the Hollywood sign or the Santa Monica Pier. It's a ritzy grocery store.

Source: The New York Times

Erewhon was founded in 1966, but it has recently exploded in popularity. It reportedly even inspired the fictional grocery store "Anavrin," which was heavily featured in season 2 of the hit show "You."

Source: Insider

Armed with new private equity funding, Erewhon has expanded from just 1 location to 8 grocery stores in Los Angeles in less than a decade.

Source: The New York Times

The grocery chain says it sells "exceptional organic products" and focuses on healthy foods. "We believe that nutrition is the key to a radiant lifestyle," its website reads.

Erewhon has also gained the reputation of being one of the most expensive grocery stores in America, frequented by celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, and many others.

Armed with a budget of $100, roughly what my household spends on a week's groceries, I decided to partake in the Erewhon experience myself.

I visited Erewhon's location in West Hollywood – right down the street from the grocery chain's original location. At first glance, the store looked like a regular upscale grocery store, similar to Whole Foods.

Source: LA Times

Upon closer inspection, I saw it was no ordinary grocery retailer. Many products were offered in reusable glass jars, and the snack aisle was filled with healthy options, like raw kale and $30 trail mix.

Walking through the aisles, I saw products that were unfamiliar to me, like sea moss gel, which can apparently be consumed straight from the jar or added to meals…

…and dairy products I wasn't used to seeing in traditional US grocery stores, like camel milk and raw kefir.

After much time gawking at the products and puzzling over a $26 bottle of water, I started tackling my grocery list.

For breakfast, I usually have cereal and non-dairy milk. I grabbed some oat milk and a cereal called "real corn flakes," which only had two ingredients: organic corn grits and sea salt.

My dreams for a homemade organic pizza were dashed when a store employee told me they didn't carry pizza crust or dough at the West Hollywood location, so I pivoted to tacos. One can of black beans was $5, which is significantly more than I normally spend.

It wasn't just the beans that were higher-priced than what I was accustomed to: most ingredients I purchased cost more than I'd normally spend, including $12 for "paleo" tortillas and $12 for plant-based taco meat.

Next, I saw ricotta gnocchi pasta that caught my eye, so I picked up a box for dinner. However, I couldn't justify the price of some of the pasta sauce offerings, so I decided to use what I had at home.

After grabbing some additional groceries, including bananas, peanut butter, and eggs, I realized I had run through my $100 budget before barely making a dent in my list.

I left Erewhon with a week's worth of breakfast, but I could only snag the ingredients for two dinners before going over budget.

I found shopping at Erewhon to be more entertaining than the usual chore of a grocery store visit. While I don't think I'll attempt to buy a full week's worth of groceries at Erewhon again, I could see myself returning to the store for the occasional special treat.

Some may poke fun at LA's obsessive health culture, but Erewhon seems to have a legion of loyal fans, and it's setting its sights on expansion: the grocery chain is reportedly looking to open a new store on the East Coast.

Source: LA Times