By the time we got to Shops at Don Mills, it was almost one pm and everyone was famished. And what do you know, the first thing we see as we turned to the covered parking lot was celebrity chef Mark McEwan's eponymous food emporium slash cafe. We occassionally follow his show on Food Network, and dining at his restaurants, Bymark or North 44 is something we'd like to do in the future.
Ever the curious foodie, the hubby practically stormed its doors (yes, he was that hungry hahaha). From the outside, it occurred to me the fancy grocery would be something like Pusateri's . But while both do carry premium items, I like the wide and well-lighted aisles, the mix of store and branded items at McEwan. (Window) shopping a far more pleasant experience here.
At the hot food counter, the hubby ordered a rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. The herb and spice-marinated chicken, though easily 30% more expensive than what one can pick up at either Costco or Loblaw, was really good and juicy to the core. Let's just the girls got chicken fingers, literally. The mashed potatoes were buttery, and the brussel sprouts went well with the caramelized onions. Did everything taste better because we're hungry? Perhaps, but knowing the hubby, hungry or not, if he says its good, it is.
Lunch done, we wandered around around the store to check out the goodies. I wanted to pick up some Montasio cheese, but was surprised they didn't carry it. The hubby picked up some prosciutto slices. The man at the counter said it was made from Berkshire pigs daw, which, of course, only drew a blank stare from me. In fairness, I found the prosciutto a lot less salty and rubbery than the vacuum-packed ones we usually buy when the hubby used it with salmon for dinner the same night.
As is our practice whenever we wander at swish food shops like this, we debate whether we'd splurge on a bottle of Rao's pasta sauce. This is exactly what we did on our first trip to Pusateri's. So intrigued were we at the $20 price tag/bottle (compared, to say, a bottle of Paesana, our default brand, at $5. Never mind Ragu---which he absolutely won't touch---at $1.99 on sale) that we actually succumbed to this little indulgence and picked up a bottle of vodka sauce. Rao's became our little private joke whenever we want to buy a luxury food item. But oh yeah, the sauce was divine.
Turns out we didn't even bother looking for Rao's on this trip. The prosciutto alone was enough to make him happy. For now.
.jpg)
