Maido! — The Japanese Marketplace Only In Philadelphia

Narberth, PA [OnlyInPhiladelphia]— Every great metropolis has it’s own exotic food market in hiding that has a true passion for a certain culture and the retailing of it’s food specialties. But one of these aimed at bringing you an experience of Japan Only In Philadelphia!

That’s right, OIP has found it for you: The only Japanese-owned grocery store in the Greater Philadelphia area– Maido! – a name that comes from a familiar greeting that’s said in the Kansai Region of western Japan, literally translating to “everytime” but more closely as “nice to see you again!”

Maido! Japanese Grocery was founded in 2003 by Seiko Dailey that inspires to give you the experience of visiting Japan right here in Philadelphia. With sushi made fresh everyday, an eat in lunch counter, and inexpensive authentic Japanese meals like Okonomiyaki, Yakisoba, chicken curry, and onigiri offered, there is no better reason to stop in today.

In addition to the Japanese cuisine, Maido! offers toys, magazines, books, DVDs & VHS tapes rentals for 7 days at just $5.0o, fresh produce, frozen foods by Ajinomoto® and a complimentary Sumo Wrestling tournament beamed in live from Japan via satellite, which is 14 hours ahead of the eastern time zone (EST) in the States.

“Each week we have fresh Japanese vegetables and fruit delivered to our store from Suzuki Farms in Maryland. Featured in “The Washington Post” for his innovative techniques and extensive line-up of Japanese vegetables, Mr. Suzuki is the preferred supplier to the best Japanese restaurants in New York, Washington DC, and “Morimoto” in Philadelphia.” it says about Maido’s produce on their website.

“We have one of the most interesting selection of toys and gifts straight from Japan! From inexpensive to extravagant, practical to wacky, we can pretty much guarantee NO ONE will duplicate YOUR gift!” Maidookini.com writes.

If you are getting a gift for a female, I highly recommend any of the Hello Kitty (Harō Kiti) gifts!

Your Saturday morning hangovers will never be the same– a Saturday morning Maido Shuttle Service starting at 9:30 AM that runs through the Japanese Language School of Philadelphia (1101 City Line Ave.) to Maido! will nurse your headache once you sip on some delectable miso soup and hydrate with green and black teas.

I had the opportunity to briefly interview Maido! President and head of the Narberth Business Association, Patrick Dailey, about the marketplace:

OIP: What piqued your interest in Japanese culture, Patrick?

PD: After graduating college I was looking for adventure, and thought of joining the military as an officer. The other services were happy to take me, but the Marines honestly intimidated me a bit. You essentially have to “try-out” to be a Marine Officer with 10 weeks of Officer Candidate School, and no guarantees of successfully finishing, unlike boot-camp. It was probably the biggest challenge of my life, but I endured and it all worked out. After I was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant I was sent to Okinawa, Japan on a one-year assignment. I found Japan to be incredibly interesting and the people very gracious and kind-hearted, with a great sense of humor and as curious about me as I was about them. I started taking a basic Japanese language class in the evenings just for fun and soon had a number of Japanese friends, which accelerated my proficiency. Suddenly I found that my one-year was almost up! I was enjoying myself there and so I requested to stay three more years, which was granted. My Japanese was still basic, but better than most Marines there and I was soon offered the opportunity to travel on Officer Exchange Programs with the Japanese Army and later the Japanese Air Force. I got to see quite a bit more of Japan than most
Marines because of this, and it only encouraged me to continue to study and practice. Later I met a lovely Japanese girl from Osaka and after dating for about 2 years we decided to marry… and she’s the “President” of Maido!

OIP: What inspired Seiko and yourself to open Maido? As your site says, “We focus on bringing you the experience of visiting Japan.” By that statement are you implying a grocery shopping experience similar to that
in Japan?

PD: We can’t exactly duplicate the experience of shopping in a Japanese supermarket, but it’s really not all that different from an American Supermarket– just a bit smaller because of the high cost of land in Japan. In that regard, Maido! is smaller than most Asian chain supermarkets that have begun to appear over the last 10 years, but because we specialize in Japanese cuisine, we don’t need the huge “footprint” of these larger markets, and in fact we usually carry a more diverse selection of Japanese products than a typical Asian supermarket. Sometimes it frustrates Americans who come to us for Korean or Chinese ingredients, but that’s just not our specialty and we have to suggest Chinatown or Upper Darby to those customers. Occasionally when Americans are confused as to why we don’t carry Chinese ingredients I tell them that Chinese and Japanese cuisines are about as similar as Mexican and Norwegian cuisines… they seem then to understand that the two really ARE different. In fact, in Japan if you want to impress someone by taking them out for an exotic meal, you take them to a Chinese restaurant! Being married to a Japanese woman, I was always noticed and was sometimes amused by how important food was to the Japanese. They seem to thoroughly enjoy eating, especially their own cuisine… and yet they are rarely fat!

I remember a Japanese friend of mine once mentioned to me: “We Japanese who are assigned to work in foreign countries, no matter where in the world, all have the same fear: What will we eat?!” Like many of her Japanese friends in the Philadelphia area, my wife used to make semi-monthly trips to the Japanese supermarkets in or near New York City. I realized that perhaps the small Japanese community here in the Philadelphia area could support a store that really focused on authenticity. Not only would it save them time in not having to travel 2 hours up and 2 hours back from NYC, but it might encourage other Japanese companies to consider coming to our region. It would also offer them the convenience of one place to go to find all the ingredients and food familiar to them, rather than hunting in various Asian supermarkets.

OIP: How does Maido differentiate from other supermarkets that have ‘Asian food’ sections in their aisles

PD: As I mentioned, we heavily specialize in Japanese foods. It’s also a relief for Japanese people to know that they can speak Japanese to any employee at Maido!, and that’s a big deal because many people in Korean or Chinese supermarkets are, of course Korean or Chinese, so you’re both communicating in a second language to each other, and sometimes questions get misunderstood. Our Japanese customers can also read complementary Japanese newspapers, watch Japanese satellite TV, and grab some authentic inexpensive Japanese “comfort food” while they’re here: okonomiyaki, yaki-soba, curry stew over rice, and gyu-don. It’s very rare to find these dishes offered in any Japanese restaurant outside of Japan because this is inexpensive “street food”, much like cheese steaks are to Philadelphia, or chowder would be to Boston. We’re not a sushi bar– but that’s the point. Sushi is to Japan as Prime Rib is to America; not something you typically eat everyday, and when you do have it, it’s usually at a restaurant. We also get our produce from a Japanese farmer in Delaware who specializes in vegetables for high-end Sushi restaurants like Morimoto in Philadelphia and Nobu in NYC, so his vegetables are restaurant quality and always very fresh. Some non-Japanese find our selection of produce somewhat limited, but Japanese cuisine is very seasonal, and so what’s naturally available in June is not available in November, and if you pay attention in an authentic Japanese restaurant, you’ll see the menu change accordingly. That’s one of the reasons scientists think that the Japanese are so healthy; their diet is varied throughout the year with seasonal vegetables and fruits. We also clean… a lot!

OIP: How long did the vision of a Japanese-owned grocery store in the United States reiterate itself in your head before you decided to pursue it?

PD: I guess I thought about it on and off for about 5 or 6 years, often accompanying my wife on her shopping pilgrimages to NYC or northern NJ. I got serious about 2 years before we opened Maido! and did a lot of research and tried to find other small store owners who would talk with me. One of the difficulties (and yet one of the reasons I wanted to open Maido!) was that there are no small family-owned Japanese markets in the Philadelphia area, and so I found myself seeking out people in South Carolina, California, and even Canada. I knew that to make our store successful, we’d have to offer an eat-in food counter because every Saturday there is a Japanese public school that rents the campus of Friends Central School on City Avenue in Wynnewood. About 100 families gather there every Saturday morning, and when school is over at 12: 30 the kids and parents are hungry! If a grocery store also had a food counter serving inexpensive “real” Japanese food, it would be attractive to them. This also meant twice the work, research, and investment however. Maido! is technically both a restaurant AND a food store, and that requires double the number of permits and inspections. We find though that people often come for our food counter, and then enjoy it so much that they shop too. We have Japanese people drive here for lunch from west of Harrisburg, southern Maryland, and New York. This is very unique cuisine not often found outside Japan, so it amuses me to think that some of our regular American customers will one day find themselves in Japan and unknowingly impress a Japanese local there with their familiarity with Okonomiyaki. Imagine yourself at Pat’s Cheesesteaks in South Philadelphia and seeing a Japanese tourist approach the counter and shout (in poor English) “Yo–gimme one wiz wit-out!” That would certainly amaze me.

OIP: What would you like to see happen in the future of the Maido
Marketplace?

PD: I’d like to see us expand a bit– we’re getting a little tight in our present space, but we do like Narberth. Perhaps a second store in the region would be nice, if we can afford it in the future and the demographics would support it.

OIP: When is the best time, in your opinion, to visit Maido?

PD: The best time to get a seat at our food counter is probably after 2:00pm on a weekend or most any weekday. Week day afternoons are usually good if you need advice on recipes, as my wife probably has a minute to spare to talk and show you around. We’re busiest on Saturday afternoons, so if you like crowds… We also have events at our store year-round and typically advertise them well in advance, so that’s a fun time too.

OIP: We want to know, what is your favorite dish on the lunch menu?

PD: I’d have to say Okonomiyaki. It’s like nothing I’ve had before and that’s what makes it interesting. It’s our specialty because my wife is from Osaka, and that’s what Osaka is famous for.

Photos: Maidookini.com

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