I have loved cool Grocery Stores all the way back to my first trip to Zabars, Fairway Market and Dean & Deluca in NYC in the early 90's. I was anxious to see Mark McEwans new food store last year and stopped in again this trip to see how they have progressed since last years opening. Don Mills has not been a good experience for many retailers but McEwans seemed reasonably busy.
Overall the merchandising is great. The fish and meat departments were amazing with a good selection of pre-marinated take home vacu-sealed fish and meats. Not sure why more gourmet stores don't do that. Best way to cook fish. Really liked the canning products. Simple and great presentation. Store shelves are well marked and the layout was easy to navigate around with good customer interaction. Staff were friendly, knowledgable and very helpful.
The cappuccino bar was using an automatic espresso machine which was disappointing. I know it avoids straff training issues but it is impossible to control the milk temperature and I hate 180 degree milk in my cappuccino. The cappuccino was a 6 out of 10 and it should be at least an 8 out of 10 for this type of demographic and store.
Overall great store and wish I lived close by. Very similar to Meinhardts in Vancouver, which I also love, but Meinhardts has better cappuccinos.