Bayer said:
Eataly (or as I often call it, Wheataly) will bring competition, but there's only so much Italian food one can take. I go to BSM every day, and I don't see many people buying prepared foods. I never do, except for their roast chicken.
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The prepared foods there aren't that great.
 
Bayer said:
Eataly (or as I often call it, Wheataly) will bring competition, but there's only so much Italian food one can take. I go to BSM every day, and I don't see many people buying prepared foods. I never do, except for their roast chicken.
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The Prep/togo counter is rather busy around lunchtime and right after work, and its poor location makes it a terrible bottleneck to getting into the store. But I suspect that's already starting to change.
 
alenka said:
There is an unoccupied niche in the neighbourhood , however, and it is in the hours of operation. One thing I have noticed is the lack of casual dining/take out later in the evening. We very often work late during the week, and that is exactly the time when you do not want to cook or do dishes. Bloor street Diner was occupying this niche and was open until midnight and they had night time menu but now, even arround 8 pm BMS is the only place to go to. I already tried McEvan arround that time but they close at 8.30 and there was very little choice. I also noticed that about 8 pm many customers try to get to Scaccia (close to BMS) and they get turned away “we are closing” they say. Pusateri close their prep. foods even sooner, arround 7pm. It is surprising to me that in this area, which is praised for dining out there is nowhere to eat casually (or take out) between 8 and 11 pm.
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It’s one of my few issues with this area, too. Condo construction has taken out a number of restaurants in the last few years, and will no doubt take out many more. Many of the mid-range food businesses left in the Y&B area cater strictly to the business crowd and shut down before 7pm. Most of what we’re left with is fast food (McDonalds, Tim Hortons, KFC and soon Chick-fil-A), pubs (Firkin, Fionn McCools, Jack Astor’s) or vast swaths of various Vietnamese, Korean or Japanese joints (nothing against, but some more diversity would be appreciated). Yorkville has pricey fine dining wrapped up, but Y&B specifically seems a prime spot for someone to set up a mid market place to cater to locals as much as the office jockeys and isn’t a massive nuke&puke chain. Naan X Kebab is a nice addition, and I think Paramount Fine Foods would do better closer to Yonge. Something like the Gabaradine would be appreciated. Or hey, Rocco Agostino, if you’re reading this, There are thousands of new condo units going up in the next few years, just steps from this corner; a Libretto would quickly make friends here.
 
So, I finally had a chance to check out this iteration of McEwan.

(I'm familiar w/the Don Mills and TD branches of the grocery biz) .

Observations:

The wall at the bottom of the escalator does not appeal to me aesthetically at all. It looks like a 1980's interpretation of a bleak future.

I don't want to know what Mark paid someone for that............but I digress.

Most of the offering is similar to what one would have seen in Other McEwan outposts albeit with it with a somewhat tighter selection.

While there was some very good product on offer...........on balance I wasn't overly impressed.

The produce quality was uneven, at best. Harvest Wagon would throw half of it out. ( strawberries that were 25% white!) ...don't get me wrong, they shouldn't actually be thrown out, but they are not of the
quality one would be expect for the price point and position of the store.

Meat was high quality and mostly reasonable for the price.

Though, if I recall correctly, the Wagyu was at $176 per kg for the strip steak.

That's not out of a line for what it is............but it's a steep ask.......and .....I could do better for what was on offer.

Many items, albeit high-end items, were fairly valued for what they were..........Neal Brothers Chips were under $3 a bag (142grams) ...there were some excellent pastries from Cheese Boutique that were $1.50 a pop and
that's quite reasonable. I got the Dulce de Leche one, and haven't the the slightest complaint.

On the downside, Nature Clean Dish soap, priced at $3.99 at Metro, week in, week out, was over $10 for the identical product. Now, I'm not going to McEwan to buy dish soap, but that mark-up is so far from justifiable as to be bizarre.

Also tried a couple of the Samosas...........only $1.20 each; but a bit on the dry side, under seasoned, and the Tandoori ones had next to no heat. (always a problem w/Mark's stuff).

The pizza slices, branded as Fabbrica for $6 a piece are the rare case of something seeming highly priced, but worth every penny. I've had them before..... best bloody pizza crust going!

In summation, with much to recommend it, there is lots of fine tuning required.

Some price adjustments (lowering) needed.

Some need to improve quality/authenticity on prepared food product.

Some need to refine selection.....will someone please make a habit of selling venison chops already! I know of only 3 places in Toronto where I can get them, and that's ridiculous.

Produce management needs to either be fussier or lower the price.

Also why would any reputable high-end place carry Kawartha Dairy Ice Cream.................Belly is much better.

This place is no threat to BSM at all, in anyway whatsoever.

In point of fact, BSM has a better selection of Olive oils, vinegars and mustards.
 
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Northern Light said:
The produce was uneven, at best. Harvest Wagon would throw half of it out. ( strawberries that were 25% white!) ...don't get me wrong, they shouldn't actually be thrown out, but they are not of the quality one would be expect for the price point and position of the store.
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Produce of all kinds has been terrible this year; the California wildfires have caused air pollution and smoke damage for a lot of crops to produce itself, as well as causing the delay and cancellation of harvests near affected areas. That's in addition to the ongoing drought and the water limitations in effect (strawberries need a lot of water). Due to weather, Florida's winter strawberry harvest only started this month, as opposed to the usual December. Summer strawberries in the southern hemisphere have also had issues, with wet weather in New Zealand. China's been seeing huge demand for strawberries, and small local harvests have driven the prices up dramatically, making it far more attractive to sell there rather than here. A lot of grocery stores have either been low or completely out of stock for nearly a month, and those that are out aren't very good.

Unfortunately, it's one of those crops that—despite being almost entirely a summer fruit—we've come to expect and demand during hard winter months. All grocery stores have been carrying substandard berries, or charging out the backend ($9+/lb) for halfway decent ones.
 
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zang said:
It’s one of my few issues with this area, too. Condo construction has taken out a number of restaurants in the last few years, and will no doubt take out many more. Many of the mid-range food businesses left in the Y&B area cater strictly to the business crowd and shut down before 7pm. Most of what we’re left with is fast food (McDonalds, Tim Hortons, KFC and soon Chick-fil-A), pubs (Firkin, Fionn McCools, Jack Astor’s) or vast swaths of various Vietnamese, Korean or Japanese joints (nothing against, but some more diversity would be appreciated). Yorkville has pricey fine dining wrapped up, but Y&B specifically seems a prime spot for someone to set up a mid market place to cater to locals as much as the office jockeys and isn’t a massive nuke&puke chain. Naan X Kebab is a nice addition, and I think Paramount Fine Foods would do better closer to Yonge. Something like the Gabaradine would be appreciated. Or hey, Rocco Agostino, if you’re reading this, There are thousands of new condo units going up in the next few years, just steps from this corner; a Libretto would quickly make friends here.
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I would like to see something like “Against the grain” or mid-range “Oliver and Bonaccini”, may be like “Canteen” something that is not comfort food, pizza, pasta, hamburger/sandwich type...something more healthy/modern.
 
zang said:
Produce of all kinds has been terrible this year; the California wildfires have caused air pollution and smoke damage for a lot of crops to produce itself, as well as causing the delay and cancellation of harvests near affected areas. That's in addition to the ongoing drought and the water limitations in effect (strawberries need a lot of water). Due to weather, Florida's winter strawberry harvest only started this month, as opposed to the usual December. Summer strawberries in the southern hemisphere have also had issues, with wet weather in New Zealand. China's been seeing huge demand for strawberries, and small local harvests have driven the prices up dramatically, making it far more attractive to sell there rather than here. A lot of grocery stores have either been low or completely out of stock for nearly a month, and those that are out aren't very good.

Unfortunately, it's one of those crops that—despite being almost entirely a summer fruit—we've come to expect and demand during hard winter months. All grocery stores have been carrying substandard berries, or charging out the backend ($9+/lb) for halfway decent ones.
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Good info.

I've seen Harvest Wagon import them from Israel in winter, sometimes.

Also, there is one Ontario greenhouse grower that goes year round I believe.

But that does result in a price of $8.99 per 1/2 pint.

But given where Mark's typical price point is, I think he'd be better off being that fussy.
 
Northern Light said:
But given where Mark's typical price point is, I think he'd be better off being that fussy.
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Fair enough, but given that it's still the first week or so, my suspicion is it's more about getting stuff on the shelves. And as is painfully evident, it's not there to be a grocery store, it's there to be a prepared food outlet/food court.
 
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