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| - Grocery stores are one of my favourite places on earth. When I travel, I make a point of roaming local grocery stores to get an idea of the local fresh produce and how things vary from country to country. If it's true that you are what you eat, I get closer to the truth of any culture than any other tourist out there. Needless to say, I know a good grocery store when I see one.
Fiesta Farms is an excellent grocery store.
Not only is their produce wonderful, well priced and varied, but I was flabberghasted to see hen of the Wood mushrooms and black trumpets in March and a whole locked display case of all things truffle.
Great selection of game meat. They had portioned rabbit saddle separate from the legs, duck breast, chicken livers, rabbit livers... if I hadn't been shopping for a Mexican dinner, I would have been buying offal galore!
The fish is fresh and the selection is good-- everything from pre
made salmon and cod cakes, to nice fresh tuna and salmon.
In additional to many national brands, Fiesta Farms carries many smaller label foodstuffs in almost every aisle.
Now, normally the people at any given grocery store are the worst part and it's difficult to find anyone working there that gives a rat's ass about anything, let alone the customers. One of the produce guys noticed that my purse was open and he came over and reminded me, citing a story of some incidents in Barrie in which women were having things stolen from their purses.
I'm careful to make sure I don't leave my cart in places where people are browsing or staff are restocking. One guy, who was stocking veggies thanked me for this.
Ladies at the checkout were friendly-- like small town friendly! Now, I come from a small town and I appreciate people who just want to shoot she shit and chat about vegetables or whatever.
The people here are excellent, as well.
And almost all my veggies and incidentals for my Mexican dinner, plus three bundles of beautiful tulips came to just over $40! I reckon that all that stuff would have set me back double that price at Loblaws.
All this, and I haven't even visited the nursery! I might just burst when I come here in the spring!!
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