ELAT EXPERIENCE

THE ELAT EXPERIENCE

Many thanks to Lauren T. Silverman, of the Beverly Hills Weekly for her work on this story of utmost importance and interest.

When I was first given the assignment to write about the Elat Market, I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical. I was assigned a story about a grocery store. What could be so interesting about that? Had it been robbed? Was there a fire? None of the above. I was told that Elat Market was a Persian-owned market on Pico, with a very steady stream of customers. It definitely sounded like a grocery store to me. Then I was told it was not that simple. I was told to talk to people who ere Elat regulars and then to go see it myself. I was told that only then would I understand.

Roy Golbari, along with Faramaz Kashani, Farhad Kamani and Kyan Novinbakht jointly own Elat Market. According to Golbari, the market originally opened in 1982 on Pico and Doheny. Ten years ago, the market moved to Pico and Robertson where there was space for a large market... The owner had said the busiest days were Friday and Sunday. I looked down at my small feet, picturing skid marks through the middle of them. I chose a Wednesday.

The first thing I noticed was the place was small and packed and there was not a cart in sight. I was forced to use one of the little red baskets because the man at the front of the door would not tell me in English where the "big carts" were magically appearing from. Once inside, I took the grand tour. I first found myself in the produce area, and noticed that, the selection was diverse and well priced. I also noticed that grocery store employees kept coming and going with cartons of fruits and vegetables to put out front... In line, I was behind an older gentleman who just kept staring at this little packaged cake I was going to purchase. He looked at me and gestured toward the cake, I assumed his way of asking if he could examine it. I nodded, and held my breath. I thought this is the moment. This man is going to snatch my cake right off its spot on the conveyor belt like the stories I had heard of. I was going to witness a cart stealer in the act! But the main put it down, paid for his groceries and joked with the checkout girl about how she was taking all the money he would normally spend on his girlfriends, and left the market.

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