When it comes to fulfilling grocery needs, Torontonians are blessed with options. From neighbourhood convenience markets and bodegas, to big-box grocery stores and decked-out gourmet food emporiums, there’s plenty to stimulate the palate in any corner of the city. These local outlets are sure to help you manage any cravings. In-person, curbside pickup or delivery, grocery shopping can even be accomplished through a few clicks on your keypad.
Eataly
Making Toronto home at the tail end of 2019, Eataly’s 40th location occupies three floors of the Manulife Centre overlooking the intersection of Bay and Bloor. The Italian-focussed food and beverage emporium is like a culinary amusement park.
In Pastaio Luca Donofrio, you’ll find year-round favourites like tagliatelle, tagliolini, squid-ink cittara and agnolotti del plin filled with mixture of beef, pork and veal. There are also seasonal items, like the ravioli di zucca, a fall-only butternut squash ravioli.
The marketplace is brought to life with wood-burning ovens baking fresh bread made from Italian organic and stone-ground flours, fresh pasta and dessert stations, seafood, meat and deli counters and a basement brewery.
Whole sections are dedicated to pantry staples, from carefully racked displays of extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars to dried pastas, jarred sauces, biscotti and fine nut-based spreads.
The wall of Parmigiano Reggiano features 80-pound wheels that have been aged for a minimum of 12 months and includes Parmigiano Reggiano DOP Vacche Rosse that’s made from the milk of the Vacche Rosse Red Cow, an ancient breed of Reggio Emilia cows.
There’s pristine produce, including direct-from-Italy imported vegetables like pink radicchio, artisan butters and name-brand dairy and alternative dairy products. The seafood counter that’s operated by Diana’s Seafood might have whole, oven-ready stuffed branzino or Oceanwisecertified sustainable oysters, while the in-store butcher section carries a selection of voluptuous prepared or carved-to-order meats.
Besides display cases filled with desserts and a gelateria, there’s a retail section dedicated to high-end Italian chocolatier Venchi, best known for its crema gianduja.
Eataly’s macelleria (butcher shop) has a glorious display of dry-aged cuts and carries top-quality beef, including Snake River Farms wagyu, which is served at many of North America’s top tables, including The French Laundry and The Restaurant at Meadowood.
For observers of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), (DOP in Italian) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) products, the openconcept space brims with certified products, including prized Parmigiano Reggiano in full wheels and mildly piccante, top quality gorgonzola. Tasty to be sure, especially atop a quattro fromaggi pizza that’s available as a takeaway kit for two.
Those wanting an immediate fix can choose to dine on Napolitana pizza with their thin, round and pillowy blackened crust available from in-store la Pizza e la Pasta restaurant or pizza alla pala, aka Romanstyle pizzas, that come in big, rustic rectangular slabs from Eataly’s bakery.
Turophiles will have a field day at the Salumi & Formaggi counter, where up to 600 different types of cheese reside, including housepulled mozzarella and 36-month aged Parmigiano Reggiano DOP in chunks or whole wheel.
Expect to find a variety of local Indie Alehouse brews like Bionda, an Italian Pilsner brewed by Birroteca, and the Ritual Madness, a Flanders-style red ale that’s been barrel-aged for two years before release.
Beer nerds will appreciate the variety of brews coming out of Indie alehouse’s birroteca and on-site brewery, while resident refined restaurant Trattoria Milano offers oenophiles access to a consignment wine list that’s peppered with hard-to-source tipples, like the Il Poggione from Tuscan Brunello di Montalcino, or green and flinty Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi from la Staffa.
Eataly
55 Bloor St. W
437-374-0250
eataly.ca
Summerhill Market
For a one-stop shop for both quality made-from-scratch gourmet classics like paella or osso bucco to trendy, hard-to-find gourmet goods, look no further than Summerhill Market. Geared towards time-limited gastronomic foods, the family-owned and operated independent grocer is equipped to address the contemporary shopping and dining needs of its customers, dedicating a majority of its space to grab-and-go items, fresh, daily-delivered produce, quality made-from-scratch prepared and gourmet plant-based foods.
Surrounding the perimeter of Summerhill Market’s 6,000 square-foot open-concept food mart in the Annex are hand-woven macramé tapestries by Loom Studio, depicting the brand’s 66-year history from the 1954 opening of the original Rosedale location to the current Annex location.
The store is stocked with exclusive imports of first-to-market and exclusive-to-Canada speciality food items, including trending brands like Beyond Meat, Oatly, Halo Top and Siggi’s dairy line of Icelandic skyr yogurt. you’ll find everything from nutrient-dense and folk medicine hero chaga or cordyceps mushrooms to sustainable alternative proteins like edible crickets and mealworms.
Summerhill’s commissary prepares more than 100 branded products, including a sophisticated line of global flavours. The brand’s best known item is their Chicken Pot Pie, which debuted in 1995 and uses King Capon free-range chickens and is available in multiple sizes.
This is a haven for unique and gourmet snacks, including the store’s popular private label truffle popcorn, chocolate bars and buttery-crisp cheese straws. Besides keto-friendly chocolate peanut butter cups, a gamut of dairy-free alternative milk products (eggs, cream cheese and yoghurt), there’s collagen-infused water, veganfriendly confections and store-branded fresh squeezed and coldpressed juices.
There are hard-to-find speciality goods, like these paleo-friendly, no sugaradded chocolates, birch syrup and cauliflower crisps.
Families looking for back-to-school solutions can pack lunches with worry-free snacks, such as allergen-free granola bars, plus vacuumsealed lunch options to help with meal planning.
Looking for alternative carbohydrates, such as gluten-free pizza crust mix, pastas and grains, chips and taco shells? Summerhill has all your nonwheat needs taken care of.
Summerhill Market, multiple locations including its newest annex outlet at 1014 Bathurst St., 416-350-1678, summerhillmarket.com
Inabuggy.com
Shopping from your favourite grocery stores and having everything delivered right to your doorstep within as little as an hour is highly attractive when time is of the essence. But when it comes to convenience, the ability to choose food, pet care and household goods from multiple vendors—from high-end gourmet to mid-priced or discount chains, like Costco and Rexall Pharma Plus—through a single transaction is hard to beat.
That’s one of the perks when shopping with Canadian-based inabuggy.com. In addition to its diverse range of products and “freshness guarantee,” it even has partnerships with upscale retailers like Toronto-based McEwan’s and Summerhill Market. Also, it gives you access to the lCBO, where picking up a magnum of Chateau lafiteRothschild 1986 is simply shy of $10,000—and just a click away.
When you log in to Inabuggy.com, all the partner vendors within your delivery area are listed. Be it Galleria, Bruno’s Fine Foods or Coppa’s Fresh Market, stock your shopping cart with its Nonna Francesca line of pantry staples. Choose goods from a single or multiple grocers (note, however, the list of items available from each retailer can only be accessed through the individual vendor’s webpage).
A selection of goods from uptown’s Grande Cheese. A few of the items ordered weren’t in stock, so Bruno offered replacements, ensuring price adjustments for new or removed items were made to all purchased products.
Type in what you’re looking for in the search box or review the variety carefully sorted out through their grocery categories, which you’ll be able to review at checkout (with the option for similar substitutes if the marked item is unavailable), before setting your delivery date and time frame. The whole process has a fixed picking, packing and delivery fee, with a supplemental delivery fee for any additional shopping stops. HST and optional tip are added at the end.
Fill up on McEwan’s family of four-meat combos that could feature uSDa prime and PEI steaks, pre-marinated packaged meats like a stuffed rack of pork, or even Bymark restaurant’s burger patties. Choose from Rowe Farms’ large vegan-friendly or organic goods that include their own farm-raised meats and whole rotisserie chickens using airchilled Ross breed birds. Meanwhile, get all your organic baby products, pet food and personal care goods at Organic Garage, or the known and loved prepared meals and trending superfoods at Summerhill Market.
Access Grande Cheese’s virtual shelves with a 500-deep catalogue of cheeses and fine-cured meats sourced from Canada and Italy. From whole wheels to wedges, artisanal charcuterie and foie gras mousse to a huge array of pastas, there’s many delicious items to pair with the store’s own handcrafted Italian cheeses like Parmesan, Ricotta, Mozzarella and Fior Di latte, using Ontario farm-fresh milk processed through traditional recipes.
Inabuggy.com/INABUGGY APP
Getting your groceries delivered by Inabuggy can be done through their app and can be fulfilled in as little as one hour.
