Anavrin from “You”

I loved Season 1 of You, but Season 2 was even more gripping, engrossing and enjoyable!  I think a large part of that had to do with Anavrin (pronounced “uh-nah-vrin”), the impossibly idyllic grocery store where Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) landed a job in episode 1, “A Fresh Start,” and worked throughout.  The charming market is Season 2’s central locale, one that I wanted to fully immerse myself in.  The place is so inviting, in fact, that I was convinced it was purely the stuff of a production designer’s imagination, a picturesque set created inside of a vacant warehouse solely for the show.  So I was shocked to learn via a Backstage article that filming had actually taken place at a real downtown L.A. grocery store named Urban Radish!  To the top of my To-Stalk List the market went and I headed right on over there while in the area the first week of January.

Opened in summer 2013, Urban Radish is the brainchild of business partners Carol Paxton and Keri Aivazis.  Housed in a former glass factory in downtown’s Arts District, the whimsical 8,200-square-foot market was designed by Creative Space and Linear City Development.  The transformation from former warehouse to upscale grocery store took nine months and $1.7 million to complete.

And it was worth every penny!

Along with the typical grocery store trappings, the specialty market boasts a gourmet deli, onsite butcher (who makes all sausage offerings in-house!), outdoor grill and patio, wine alcove, and espresso bar.

I can’t think of a prettier place to shop!

That produce section, amirite?

It isn’t very hard to see how the place came to be chosen for You.

Of the market, Joe, dripping with sarcasm, says, “In Los Angeles, grocery stores aren’t just the place you buy carrots.  They’re a pristine, non-GMO Disneyland.  And king among these is Anavrin.  Come for the spring lettuce mix, stay for the perfect life that could be yours if you just spend enough and quit gluten, you f*cking *sshole!  And yeah, obviously Anavrin is – wait for it – Nirvana spelled backwards.”

Joe might not have been able to hide his disdain for the shop, but I, understandably, fell in love with it upon sight.

Urban Radish was dressed pretty significantly for the You shoot.  Per Google Street View imagery, the outside of the market was light gray up until March 2019, smack dab in the middle of the filming of the show’s second season.  So it appears that the royal blue paint that now graces the exterior was a production decision that the owners chose to leave intact after the shoot wrapped.  A pergola-shaded patio draped with flowers was also added to the premises . . .

. . . as was a florist stand.  Sadly, both of those elements were dismantled when filming concluded.

Even without all the bells and whistles, though, Urban Radish is pretty darn special and entirely recognizable.

Though I would have loved to see it in its dressed state.

While Urban Radish’s exterior was used extensively throughout Season 2, the interior only appeared in “A Fresh Start.”  It is in the market’s actual produce section that Joe orchestrates a meet-cute with Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti).  Love also shops there prior to making a meal for Joe later in the episode.  As you can see in Yelp photos taken pre-2019, the shop’s signage was formerly very different, so it appears the chic reclaimed wood display boards that now adorn the walls were another production decision the owners chose to leave intact post-filming.

Urban Radish’s deli area also appeared in “A Fresh Start,” though it was modified a bit with the rear exit door and metal wall paneling covered over.

The bulk of the Anavrin scenes, though, were shot on a studio-built set.  Yes, sadly, the magical light-filled new-age café, book alcove and kitchen, where most of the action took place, are not actual elements of Urban Radish.

While the market does have an open kitchen in real life, it is less central, situated off the wine aisle, and much smaller than its onscreen counterpart.

Considering its fabulously unique aesthetic, I am surprised that Urban Radish has not been featured in countless other productions, but I could find no record of any additional cinematic appearances.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Urban Radish, aka Anavrin from You, is located at 661 Imperial Street in downtown Los Angeles.  You can visit the market’s official website here.

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