Being the first of several reviews of grocery stores in the Kingston, New York area.

Adams Fairacre Farms is a three-store chain in the Hudson Valley of New York.  It’s really more of a “Super Farm Market,” as they advertise themselves, than a grocery store.

The good

When you walk into Adams, you walk into the store’s best department:  the fruits and vegetables.  Adams works with local farms to stock as much local produce as possible.  In general, they have higher-quality produce than any of the chain stores at any given time of year, even if it isn’t local.  If you care about quality veg, one trip to Adams will convince you to make it a regular weekly stop.

Adams’ meat department is no comparison to the local competition; it rivals any dedicated butcher shop for variety and quality.  They stock both quality “store brand” meat—typically better than the premium national brands found at other stores—and high-end brands like Bell and Evans.  They typically stock a selection of USDA Prime beef, as well as local beef.  The meat department is well-staffed, and they will gladly handle special requests.  There’s also a full-service seafood department.

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I like to grill in the summer.  If it’s not raining, I’m more likely than not making dinner on the grill.  So, a few years ago, my birthday present to myself was a top-of-the-line Weber Summit Platinum D gas grill.

It’s a great grill.  It grills evenly, it has predicable heat, it can sear like nobody’s business and give you beautiful grill marks.

And yes, it cost a lot of money.

Last year, one of the burners no longer wanted to light.  Weber’s instructions include detailed annual-maintenance tear-down instructions.  I found that one of the ignitors had a cracked insulator.  This happens with gas grills; I expected that I just needed an inexpensive part.  It’s the sort of thing that one would consider a “wear item.”

Now, Weber doesn’t have an online store for their spare parts.  You have to email customer service.  Normally, I’d complain about this.

In Weber’s case, though, it seems that customer service usually replies with “that’s covered under warranty.”

They sent me a new ignitor at no charge.

I love this grill.  I do a maintenance every year, taking it apart and cleaning out the burners.  Even with this, two of the burner tubes have clogged up so that they don’t burn evenly any more.  Once again, I emailed Weber to get the price for two new burner tubes.

I didn’t include a serial number or anything.  I just said I needed the price for a burner tube part number such-and-so.

Paraphrasing: Well, Mr. Levandowski, our records show your grill is still under warranty.  How many do you need, and are you still at the same address?  We’ll ship them right out.

Wow.

There are a lot of companies that are willing to charge you tons of money for a product that’s top-notch when you buy it.  Sadly, it seems like few of those companies are interested in doing anything after they have your money.

Weber isn’t like that.  They understand: I paid top dollar for a top-of-the-line grill.  Even though this is a very durable grill with an impressive warranty, some day I will be in the market for another grill.  Or I will know someone who wants a grill.

When that day comes, I’ll be remembering that Weber didn’t nickel-and-dime me with spare parts — they went out of their way to save me money and keep me happy.

If you’re looking for a gas grill, buy as much Weber as you can.  It will be a good investment.