Italian Center

ILast week we visited my favourite local grocery store. This week we are visiting my favourite local specialty store. The Italian Center has served Edmontonians for over 60 years. Frank Spinelli opens a small Italian Confectionery shop in 1959 , his daughter takes over the business in the late 1990s and brings  grocery shopping to the next level in Edmonton.

As you walk through the door , you notice something a little different, the smell of fresh pastries baking in the oven with a hint of fresh coffee beans being ground. The visual display of fresh local produce on display and it’s a fun vibe to be shopping here, the staff are so friendly and helpful.

As you enter the store you follow your senses and head straight to the bakery section. The selection of traditional and European pastries are one of the best in the city, the pastry chef are continually producing product throughout the day. A couple of my recommendations are the Portuguese Egg Tarts and the Sausage Rolls. I typically head to the bakery, grab a sausage roll and continue my shopping.

One could spend hours just drinking Espresso and trying all the wonderful baked goods in the coffee bar.

Once you leave the fresh pastry counter, you encounter, all the different types of fresh bread and buns, the secret is getting to the store early to get the best selection. From French Style Breads to European Rye the choice is endless.

Now you have gotten through the bakery section, they have well stocked isles of almost everything imaginable that has to do with European food. They have a full isle of just pasta most is imported from Europe and all parts of Italy.

Once you are through the pasta isle, the next isle brings you to the Olive Oil/ Vinegar and Tomatoes products. San Marzano Tomatoes, Pasatta, and variety of Tomato Paste are on a whole new level. It’s not your Cattelli branded sauces, they even have in house made Tomato Sauce just like Nona makes.

The next area to visit is the deli, the European Style Charcuterie is second to none, the 100s of varieties of cheese, fresh olives, you could spend house just hanging out here. One of the first things you do entering the deli is grab a number from the automatic machine, look over all the varieties and order accordingly. Choose all you meats first, then your cheeses and finish off with your olives. The also have a small selection of specialty fresh pork items and Piedmont beef , produced in Alberta. The variety of Italian hams both produced in Italy and Canada are amazing. I don’t think there is a better stocked deli in Western Canada, the only ones I have seen close to this one are the Italian Markets in Toronto.

Once you leave the deli, you walk down the frozen food isle, the selection is endless with pasta,gelato , specialty items including Pelmini , Empanadas and fillo pastry.

If you need spices, they have full section including Hungarian paprika’s, Saffron, meat rubs and varieties of salts

If you need cookware, this place has it all, Pizza Peels, gadgets, serving bowls the have a little bit of everything 

The Produce department is on of the best in the city, the focus on local produce from peppers to tomatoes. BC grown stone fruit, locally sourced mushrooms, they have it all.

Once your shopping basket is fully stocked, you will be greeted by a friendly staff member who packs your groceries