If my date invited me to Stew Leonard’s, I would definitely give him the last rose.
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There’s no better way to get to know Fairfield County, Connecticut than with some lobster rolls… and maybe some robot cows and animatronic milk cartons. In the latest Monday episode of ABC Networks The BacheloretteJenn Tran – the leading actress of this season – traveled across the country to visit the hometowns of her four remaining suitors.
She went running in Houston, played lacrosse in San Diego, and sat on a bench in Tacoma, Washington (so funny!), but the most iconic date of the episode was without a doubt the one at Stew Leonard’s grocery store in Fairfield, Connecticut.
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Fairfield, where Bachelorette Contestant Jeremy Simon is from, is pretty much like any other coastal suburb in Fairfield County. There’s a charming town square, long hiking trails through the woods, and some rocky beaches. But as someone who is also from Fairfield County, I can safely say that the absolute best thing to do when you first visit the area is to visit the very first branch of Stew Leonard’s, which opened in 1969.
Stew Leonard’s is not like other grocery stores. In addition to seasonal produce, high-quality dairy products, and an excellent prepared foods section, Stew Leonard’s is a movie-like experience. Instead of traditional aisles, Stew Leonard’s eight stores are laid out more like Ikea, where customers follow a path that takes them through all the departments of the store, and along that path are occasionally dancing and singing animatronics.
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From the bakery section, with freshly baked bagels and rice cakes, you move on to the dairy section, where there’s a life-sized animatronic cow—pull a rope and it makes a loud “moo” (a sound notorious for terrifying young children). There are puppets doing flips on horizontal bars, a five-person milk carton band, avocados and bananas with their own jingles, and enough free samples to make a shopping trip a meal.
There’s also a full butcher shop and fish market, a flower shop in the spring, a patio where you can order barbecue in the summer, a pumpkin patch in the fall, and Christmas trees in the winter. Plus, it has some of the best soft serve ice cream in Connecticut. (If you spend over $100 on food, you get a free cone.) It’s a whimsical food wonderland, and Jeremy made the very wise decision to take Jenn there for his hometown date. Did I forget to mention that Ripley’s Believe It Or Not called the original Norwalk, Connecticut location “the world’s largest dairy store”?
“This place is very nostalgic for me,” Jeremy said in the episode. “Bringing Jenn here today gives a little glimpse of what the future will be like.” He and Jenn explored the store together, juggling avocados, sampling cheese and popcorn, and even trying their hand at bagging groceries. “Today was crazy, insane, and so much fun,” Jenn said. “This is the wildest grocery store I’ve ever been to.”
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Tragically, Jeremy was eliminated at the end of the episode. It’s unclear why Jenn didn’t offer him a rose, but one thing is for sure: it’s not Stew Leonard’s fault.
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