Last year I mentioned my love affair with a little place you may have heard of called the Cheese Boutique. I was pretty adamant that I would not be adding my usual, witty commentary to the site regarding them because they are a purveyor, not a restaurant. The winds have changed though, and I feel that it is necessary to give you a few cents, if for no other reason than to be able to relate to you a funny story involving them.
On New Year’s Eve I had to work a half day. The night before I’d had the brilliant idea that the Everyman and I should visit The Cheese Boutique and the LCBO the following afternoon to procure some supplies for the next few days. The next day after leaving work I headed to the LCBO to rendez-vous with the Everyman. However, I have the same problem with the LCBO that I do with any good grocery store; if you leave me in there for too long, I just start randomly picking up things I didn’t come for that I want to try. By the time the Everyman showed up I’d amassed a cart of 15+ bottles plus a few types of bubbles for good measure. While I’d been browsing, I noticed a man that looked slightly familiar. Upon closer inspection I realized it was Ed Ho, owner of Globe Bistro. I recognized him from the episode of Opening Soon when they had profiled Globe a few years ago. I figured that he must live in the area and was doing much the same as we were, stocking up for New Year’s Eve. After loading up the car, we hopped in and headed on our way to The Cheese Boutique.
It was packed. It seemed like all the gourmets in Toronto had had the exact same idea as me, and the place was swarming. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it that busy or with that much staff on the floor before. As we entered the main room and I started browsing, I turned around and who did I see, but Ed Ho again! I motioned to the Everyman to take a look, and told him who it was. The Everyman muttered something to me about how he wondered if the guy had any hard feelings about Mark Cutrara leaving him to start his own (probably more successful) restaurant. I didn’t hear everything that he said so as I continued around the store I asked him to repeat it; only to see Ed Ho within earshot as he said “…but not as good as Cowbell!” Ouch. He shot us some eye daggers and was on his way. It’s probably a good thing we don’t intend to visit Globe Bistro any time soon, because after that I’d be seriously worried about him recognizing us and trying to poison our food LOL. Not that there’s anything wrong with Globe Bistro though, it’s just that I can get the same quality of food that they serve somewhere a little closer to my house, like at Cowbell or now, The Black Hoof.
Anyhow, now that I’ve relayed my funny story, I can get back to writing about the food. When you enter The Cheese Boutique, you become extremely aware of the mind-boggling amount of choice available. Not just some corner cheese shop, they dabble in deli, produce, pastry, bread, condiments… you name it, they most likely will have it or know where to get it. They happen to be my absolute favorite place to buy fresh figs because the ones they choose are so luscious and bursting that you just can’t not want to eat them. The tiny prepared foods counter is excellent also, with the best thing I’ve sampled from it being a smoked chicken quesadilla bite. All of the bread comes from only the best sources in Toronto, including Thuet, Celestin, Ace, Fred’s and many others. The pizza nuda is absolutely fabulous, by the way, but so are any number of loaves they carry. The cheese selection is so large as to be intimidating, however all of the staff behind the counter are so warm and friendly that they whisk you away and wrap you in their extreme devotion to cheese, coaxing out you likes and dislikes as they bring you sample after sample. Every time we’ve been I come away with another new cheese I’ve never heard of or tasted before, and have rarely been disappointed. They even make their own in-house version of a fresh bufala mozzarella, although they don’t call it that. Nonetheless, it is wonderful, being both creamy, silky and rich all at the same time. The meat selection is like heaven for the Everyman, and if I had any complaint about the place, it would have to be that they have always been out of the one type of meat I wanted every time we visit; guanciale. I tried it once at The Healthy Butcher, and I’ve been hooked ever since. As a sidebar, I recently completed my set of The Good Cook cookbooks by Time Life and I’m looking forward to when they arrive so I can read the Variety Meats book to learn about things like cheek (which Guanciale is made from) and marrow, tongue, etc.
Overall, the selection at The Cheese Boutique just can’t be beat, and I look forward longingly each time I get to return. The sheer quality of the products that they sell shows you just how much the Pristine family (who owns it) love food and entertaining. If you haven’t been, I urge you to go. You’ll probably end up coming away with more than you bargained for, and everything you didn’t know you really needed.
Until next time…
Tags: Ace Bakery, Celestin, Cowbell, Ed Ho, Fred's Breads, Globe Bistro, Grant Van Gameren, guanciale, Marc Thuet, Mark Cutrara, The Black Hoof, The Cheese Boutique, The Healthy Butcher, Thuet
