Whole Foods Market will open its eighth Connecticut store in Fairfield on Friday, June 3, with storewide tastings, vendor sampling, special sale items, cooking demonstrations, gift bags and more. Five percent of sales that day will be donated to Wholesome Wave, a local non-profit organization whose mission is to nourish neighborhoods across the U.S. through creating access to healthy, locally-grown food to underinvested communities and promoting agriculture and food policy change. Wholesome Wave‘s founder and CEO, Chef Michel Nischan of Fairfield, will lead cooking demos throughout the day and will sign his latest book, Sustainably Delicious, with recipes from his restaurant, Dressing Room, in Westport. Whole Foods Market Fairfield will be the first store in the area to feature an in-store Cooking department. The Cooking Fairfield program and in-store department combines designated workspaces, cookbooks, cooking tools, demonstrations, and themed, seasonal menus to engage, inspire and educate shoppers about the joy of cooking. The Cooking area features butcher block workspace, and on-site tablet kiosks with specially developed content, recipes and information compiled in partnership with the online social media food hub, Food52, started by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs.

Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. Whole Foods Fairfield is located at 350 Grasmere Avenue