This is the other real-deal butcher shop in the Bloor / Ossington hood. Vince Gasparro's has been in Toronto forever and has survived due to one consistent ingredient; greatness. This is one of Toronto's destination meat markets (No silly Yelpers! The OTHER kind ...)
Nick and Pat are expert butchers who take care not only in the cutting, but the sourcing of the products as well. Many of my friends who didn't grow up in Canada complain that the supermarket chicken has no taste and that the eggs all taste a bit past their prime. I smile and point them to Vinny G's. The Mennonite chicken and eggs are free range (really!) and OMG you can taste the difference.
Barese Sausage. Not the generic Italian sausage, but the authentic-house made-insanely delicious-different from all other sausages in the GTA-have you started out to pick some up yet?- kind of goodness. You want this sausage, you need this sausage, you better not buy all of it and leave some of this sausage. This sublime substance is incredibly versatile; great with a bit of asiago and Italian parsley in an omelette, great with some rice and lentils, great with roasted red peppers over cous-cous drizzled with a bit of olive oil. This stuff is one of my not-so secret ingredients and invariably the answer to :How come it doesn't taste like that when I make it?
The meat from Gasparro's will restore your faith in food and help quash any lingering doubts about your carnivorous ways. As great as Gasparro's is, they cannot salvage your reputation with the hot vegan if they happen to run into you on your way back home as you will invariably be carrying a carload of carrion. At least that's the way they'll see it...but time and Barese sausage heal all wounds.