Making the time for specialty stops

Growing up, Jason Humblias only knew the two sides of a sandwich to be squishy, white Wonder Bread, something he ate regularly and enthusiastically. That changed in the late 1980s while Humblias was attending Boston University. He started doing odd jobs around the city to make extra money and, after weeding someone's yard in Brookline, was offered a sandwich for lunch. That's when he ate real bread for the first time. The taste, the texture, even the smell was unrecognizable and immediately irresistible. From that day on, Humblias was hooked.

Fast-forward nearly 20 years, and the former Wonder Bread lover is now committed to shopping for his loaves in small bakeries. He stops at Brookline's Clear Flour Bread several times a week (in fact, that first delectable sandwich was made on the bakery's slices). The Brookline resident, who works in Burlington, will also go out of his way to drive to a butcher he likes and prefers the local fishmonger to buying his daily catch at one of the area's many sprawling supermarkets.

Humblias is shopping the European way, in which consumers make multiple stops for different ingredients and wouldn't consider the once-weekly system of stocking up. He and others like him take time to go to various specialty stores, where they know the butcher, and they're recognized by the baker. As appealing as all this sounds, it's not common nowadays. In many families, both parents are working, there are fewer minutes to spare, and more activities to cram into a day. That said, there are still people - foodies, health nuts, ingredient snobs, and other persnickety customers - who are keeping the tradition alive, eschewing the large chains that beckon with endless options and ever expanding hours.

"Our household has been doing that for a long time," says Tim Fulham, of Wellesley. "When you have a great store, you're going to get service and quality the chains can't provide."

It's no accident that customer service is excellent at many specialty food stores. Abe Faber of Clear Flour understands that his regulars are going out of their way to frequent his bakery. "We try to make it worth their while when they walk in the door," he says. "The people coming in here don't have to come. They made a choice to come. People have very busy lives and people are taking time out of their day to come here."

Everyone knows that bread is highly perishable, and best when it goes straight from the baker's oven to your table. But large markets are introducing fresh fish programs that claim the same quality as independent fishmongers. One popular fish market doesn't seem worried about competition. "The service and quality will make them make that extra stop," says Kim Marden, owner of Captain Marden's Seafoods in Wellesley. "There is one segment of people who are always going to go to the bakery, always going to go to the fish store and the meat market."

Fulham's family is so committed to small markets that while he heads to the meat market, his wife, Lise Olney, will go to another little shop.

Humblias, the Brookline resident, wants to limit the amount of processed food his two sons eat and hopes they will enjoy wholesome ingredients. "I want them eating fresh, handmade stuff," says this dad. "Paying the extra dollars, driving out of my way, it's totally worth it," says Humblias, who, along with his wife, Nicole, enjoys the adventure. He watches his kids sample cheese at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge while he gets a quick tutorial on what they're eating.

Although he typically shops at small fish stores, Fulham was short of time recently and opted for convenience and bought salmon at a chain he won't name. Once he unwrapped the fish he was disappointed to see that it hadn't been boned, wasn't as fresh, and didn't taste as good as the local fishmonger. "I'm spoiled," he says.

In most cases, sticking with the small purveyors means spending more. Humblias is quick to note the steep $6 price tag on a loaf of white bread. And he does go to the larger grocery stores for cereals, condiments, and other products. "I know it sounds nuts, but we'll go to two grocery stores," says Humblias, who buys meat at Newton's John Dewar & Co. where he will often shop with an entire week in mind. "The taste is so much better, and you have no chance of veiny, tough meat."

Small proprietors take their work seriously. "It's their craft," says Humblias. "There's something to be said for people who cut meat and bake bread."

At a time when consumers want to know how their food was made and who made it, Faber, the baker, wonders if small merchants like him aren't coming back into fashion. "Hopefully we're the wave of the future," he says.