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| - Of all the specialty stores around the fruit and vegetabley glory that is Jean Talon Market, Capitol is maybe the very best in terms of overall usefulness in preparing a snazzy meal. There are some incredible marinated and prepared meats which are perfect for the bbq: massive beef ribs, pre-cooked short ribs, filet mignon brochettes, souvlaki chicken, spicy California burgers. Yum, etc. Come early, the bbq stuff sells out. There is also a great cheese and deli counter where the homemade bacon is tasty and the handmade signs to let you know about cheeses that are recently award-winning are both helpful and endearing.
On the weekend there are a few small tables with umbrellas where you can sit, eat and people watch, but you're next to a (great) fish shop, so it's not romantic or anything. The staff are low key, helpful, and seem to speak at least three languages at any given time (English, French, Italian.)
There is a freezer section in the back full of homemade pastas stuffed with things like panchetta and portobello mushrooms and cheap yummy homemade pizza dough. Some things are eyebrow-raisingly expensive: the multi-coloured olives and the wild mushrooms are in this category, so are some of the kooky fine vinegars, oils, teas and chocolates, and the rarer cuts of meat. This is to be expected I guess but as a local I appreciate that you can also always get fresh quality basics like eggs, milk and sour cream here.
I also like that they recently expanded the prepared foods section by the cash to include pulled pork sandwiches. And I'll leave you with this final thought: hooray for pulled pork sandwiches.
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