Okay, this has been weighing heavily on my mind for a few months now. I suffered through 9 months of pregnancy without being able to eat raw fish and alcohol. Granted, I have had my fair share of wine since having had SB, but my raw fish intake has not gone so well.
One of the first things I had after having SB was Ahi Poke from Fresh and Easy. I had been craving those raw little ahi cubes for 9 months…salivating at the thought of them marinated in that poke goodness. I started imagining those little cubes with arms and legs and sunglasses, relaxing in the marinade as if it were a jacuzzi. A jacuzzi of mouth watering flavor, that is.
After I had Ahi Poke that one time in early November, I’d go back to see that it was no longer on the shelves. It wasn’t uncommon for it to be sold out by the time I got there, so I figured I just had some rotten luck…No biggie, I’ll come back again and maybe I’ll be lucky enough to find it.
Every week as I’d go back to Fresh and Easy, I’d look for it and see nothing. I’d only see some measly 1.5 inch wide filets of overpriced fish staring back at me. I looked at the tags on the fish shelf and saw nothing that said “Ahi Poke.” It was absent and without warning…it was gone.
For weeks I had been wondering, why? Had it made someone sick? That was the only issue I could think of.
Yesterday, as I was making my usual supermarket rounds (yes, I go to a few on a single day), I went to Fresh and Easy and looked again for my beloved Poke. The shelf stared back at me with that empty white LED glare. I trudged on, heartbroken.
I was at the self checkout when the girl that worked there began to bag my stuff….She asked me the usual, “Did you find everything okay today?” I gave her that automatic “Yes,” but then I realized, “Here’s my chance to find out what happened.” I said, “Wait, No….Can I ask you a question?” She said, “Sure,” and I came back at her with, “Whatever happened to the Ahi Poke? I love that stuff and it hasn’t been on the shelves for awhile now.”
She looked at me with this annoyed face, as if this were not the first time she’s heard that question. In fact, she said, “I’ve been getting that question a lot lately.”
She didn’t seem to have a straight answer, as if she wasn’t given the memo on talking points about the disappearance of the Ahi Poke. All she said was, “Well, it probably wasn’t doing too well, it wasn’t selling out.”
As she said that, the angry Cuban in me came back at her with, “No, that’s not true. It was always sold out! I’d come here to buy it for dinner and it was all gone by the time I got here after work!”
I realized my pent-up rage was not something I should force upon this poor girl. I mean, it wasn’t her fault, right? Anyways, she gave me a few suggestion cards and told me to fill them out and sent me on my way home, broken at the thought of never having Ahi Poke again.
That said, I just filled out an online comment card at Fresh and Easy, hoping they will hear my plea, but who knows. I think, if anything, “the man” has won.
I must now search out an Ahi Poke recipe.
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maybe shes stealing the ahi poke!
i put so much care into my complaint to F&E, and all I got back was a lousy form letter. que sera sera.
It’s back, just in case you’re still missing it.