St. Lawrence Market - Toronto

[GordonCooks]

[sadistick]

Great pictures!!!

I must say though, I prefer kensington market vs St. Lawrence...dont know why, but I do...

Oh, one big reason, global cheese! Mmm the samples!

[Marlene]

Beautiful, Gordon! Thank you for sharing with us. It's been simply ages since I've been to the market. I'm thinking that this would make a good reason to stay downtown on a Friday night soon and get up at that ungodly early hour that is required to get the best stuff at the market!

[maggiethecat]

Thanks for the pictures of one of my very favorite North American markets -- it's a wonderworld. I hope you had the peameal bacon on a kaiser for lunch.

[GordonCooks]

Beautiful, Gordon!  Thank you for sharing with us.  It's been simply ages since I've been to the market.  I'm thinking that this would make a good reason to stay downtown on a Friday night soon and get up at that ungodly early hour that is required to get the best stuff at the market!

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That, and a peameal on a hardroll

[GordonCooks]

Thanks for the pictures of one of my very favorite North American markets --  it's a wonderworld.  I hope you had the peameal bacon on a kaiser for lunch.

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The peameal was for breakfast my dear - I also had the better part of a Mustachio's Eggplant Foccacia to give me the energy to walk back to the hotel.

[Dianne]

Great pictures as always, Gordon. But where are the ones from the Farmer's Market in the north building?

[emmapeel]

Thanks for the photos, they are wonderful... by the way, what is peameal bacon?

Edited March 21, 2005 by emmapeel (log)

[Madge]

Great pictures. I was also at the market on Saturday am. Of course peameal on a kaiser is a must. It makes me wonder why I don't go more often as I live quite close.

[GordonCooks]

Great pictures as always, Gordon. But where are the ones from the Farmer's Market in the north building?

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Sorry, I was running late - I had to make it back to the hotel before my girl made it over to Holt-Renfrew.

[sadistick]

I hope my response did not come off as rude or snobby, that was nowhere near my intent.

I simply wanted to point you out to another one of Toronto's fun and exciting markets, being Kensington, which is around Spadina and Dundas area (north of dundas, west side of spadina) which many are not aware of.

It is much different than St Lawrence, as it is spread out over a few streets, with individual shops...

Oh, another reason why I love it, is the Empinadas (sp) at one of the stores.....sooooo good!

[rgruby]

Nice pictures.

I gather they weren't taken today - a Monday - as the market is closed on Mondays.

Where else did you eat (other than Susur)?

Cheers,

Geoff Ruby

[wrek92]

Mmmmm...Mustachio's Foccacia sandwiches

My brother lives about a 10 minute walk from St. Lawrence. I actually had him smuggle about 5 Mustachio sandwiches on his flight down to Florida for me. This was pre-9/11 when there was no such thing as Homeland Security. Now I get my fix on my yearly trek to Toronto. That and my $1.50 CDN Banh Mi Vietnamese sub fix.

The other thing that is practically impossible to find down here is the peameal bacon. As far as what it is, I think it's pickled loin of pork rolled in peameal.

Kensington is pretty cool too if I am thinking of the right one. Is that the one over by Chinatown?

[GordonCooks]

Nice pictures.

I gather they weren't taken today - a Monday - as the market is closed on Mondays.

Where else did you eat (other than Susur)?

Cheers,

Geoff Ruby

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We grabbed a late dinner at Canoe on fri night. I must say that the food is really improving there - meals have gone from good to very good to excellent. The Sablefish was as fantastic along with the canoe plate of apps, the raw plate, the foie gras, and the bison was like butter. I'd love to make there early enough for a full tasting menu sometime.

[Oyster Guy]

Thank you Gordon for the photos!

It has been too long since I have been to my favourite market and I miss it terribly. (or is it that I just can't get a good peameal bacon on a kaiser out here on the West Coast?)

I lived in Toronto for 35 years and this is one of the places that I miss the most since I moved out here. (along with Kensington Market and good cheap Chinese food, something they just don't have here in Vancouver, despite their efforts)

Vancouver doesn't have anything that even comes close.

Granville Island Market is a joke and looks more like a photo op for the tourist than an actual market.

It just made me realize how much I miss my old hometown.

I used to go to the Market every Saturday to pick up whatever we got shorted on the produce order and I really miss everything about the place.

Especially, the peameal bacon on a kaiser!!

Thanks for the photos (memories) again.

Oyster Guy

[Librarian_chef]

Great pictures!!!

I must say though, I prefer kensington market vs St. Lawrence...dont know why, but I do...

Oh, one big reason, global cheese! Mmm the samples!

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I prefer Kensington Market 20 years ago, but now St. Lawrence takes the cake. And Alex Farms will give you samples of almost anything, too. The embanadas are great, I agree, but many of the great shops are gone now. Far too many bars in the area too, for my taste.

I love that you got pics of Mustachios and Kozliks. I didn't see a picture of Carousel bakery though and their peameal, maybe next time.

There is also a great polish shop that makes incredible Kielbasa on the lower floor at the north-west end of the building.

Mark

[GordonCooks]

Great pictures!!!

I must say though, I prefer kensington market vs St. Lawrence...dont know why, but I do...

Oh, one big reason, global cheese! Mmm the samples!

←

I prefer Kensington Market 20 years ago, but now St. Lawrence takes the cake. And Alex Farms will give you samples of almost anything, too. The embanadas are great, I agree, but many of the great shops are gone now. Far too many bars in the area too, for my taste.

I love that you got pics of Mustachios and Kozliks. I didn't see a picture of Carousel bakery though and their peameal, maybe next time.

There is also a great polish shop that makes incredible Kielbasa on the lower floor at the north-west end of the building.

Mark

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I agree about Kensington - If you're looking for a hard-to-find ingredient, you may have better luck, but for everyday gourmet - it's the best around for 200 miles.

Edited for our Canadian friends "It's the best around for 320 km"

Edited March 22, 2005 by GordonCooks (log)

[sadistick]

At Kensington last week I was amazed, I walked in to this south american store, and found soooo many varities of dried chillis I thought I died and went to heaven...and they had KEY LIMES....AND.....Tomatillos...I was in love....

Needless to say I made a grilled tomatillo and ancho chilli salsa that night

[Dianne]

Yep, Kensington is great too. But you CAN go to both markets. I do.

[rgruby]

I use both markets, but often for different things.

I prefer St. Lawrence for meat, seafood, some cheeses, olive oils, vinegars, olives and peameal bacon sandwhiches.

I prefer Kensington/Chinatown for veggies, but during the winter months a lot of places are not, or barely, heated especially at night, so the produce can go through the freeze/ thaw process. The result is that in the winter, I don't go to Kensington as much for produce. I do like the place in the basement of St. Lawrence that labels the origin of almost all of its produce. I prefer to buy local if it's available. It also has herbs like tarragon and chervil, that I don't see in Kensington very often. Kensington gets the nod for spices and most dry goods, but there is a fantastic place stuck in the far (NW) corner of the basement at St. Lawrence where you can find most of the stuff Kensington has (maybe not a wide variety of dried chiles or more obscure Indian spices). My wife also prefers the bagels in Kensington! And, Kensington has empanadas and pupusas, and tacos al pastor.

At the end of the day, I'm glad to have both markets - I hope they will both continue to thrive despite the challenges that they face.

A question for Gordon - apart from the wide variety of foodstuffs under one roof, are you seeing things at St. Lawrence that just aren't available in upstate NY? Different fish, cuts of meat etc? And, have you been to Pusateries or the Cheese Boutique?

[GordonCooks]

A question for Gordon - apart from the wide variety of foodstuffs under one roof, are you seeing things at St. Lawrence that just aren't available in upstate NY? Different fish, cuts of meat etc?  And, have you been to Pusateries or the Cheese Boutique?

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You just won't find so much quality (or quantity) for such cheap prices. The seafood is superior and plentiful, the cheese selection is tremendous (esp the raw milk which we cannot get), and the availibility of specialty ingredients. Many of the items I buy locally are from restaurant wholesalers and specialty shops - at the STL, I can buy chorizo, foie gras, specialty honey, fresh fig jam, strawberries, and beluga 00 caviar under one roof.

Pusateris is similiar to our upscale Wegmans chain (esp the Pittsford store) I've stopped at the one in yorkville.

[Jake]

I highly recommend the gentleman selling elk in the North Market. I have purchased elk tenderloin and rib steak from him, the quality is wonderful.

I do most of my weekly shopping at the market and visit Kensington frequently for variety or other ethnic ingredients esp. crema and other latin ingredients.

[Dianne]

And the same gentleman who sells the elk has wonderful duck and pheasant and "wild" boar. Really worth looking into.

[Stalder]

can anyone suggest where to park when going to St. Lawrence market

[Dianne]

We get there no later than 7:00 AM and park on the street. You don't have to feed the meters till 8:00 AM. This is on Sat. There is a parking lot to the south of the market which has a good rate for the first 2 hours on a Sat. Good luck.