Deborah Keegan
Pantry's First Anniversary Party
By Deborah Keegan
Last Saturday's sunny afternoon inspired me to embark on a cross-town streetcar ride to help celebrate the First Anniversary of Pantry with owner’s Greg and Liz Bolton. Located just west of Toronto’s busy College St. Italian community in the Dufferin Grove neighbourhood sits the brightly inviting Pantry .
The warm bustle of this lovely fine food take out and gourmet grocery emporium welcomes you upon entering with a beckoning display of yummy delectable take home delights and the steamy hiss and aroma emanating from the sleek espresso station. A tempting counter filled with old-fashioned coffee tins shares space with oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, fresh baked in-house daily muffins and scones. The shops exposed brick and creamy white walls encase a space comfortably furnished with pieces from owners Greg and Liz Bolton’s home makes a welcoming statement. All the while a lushly red sofa entices you to linger under the glow of softly sparkling chandeliers once you’ve made your choice from the array of delicacies available.
Drawing you deeper into this gourmands dreamscape is a great wooden communal table flanked on one side by a wall of dark wood cabinet shelves filled with artisanal olive oils, compotes from Forbes Wild Foods, jams, cookies, crackers, tapenades and vinegars, tea, preserves by La Natura Fine Foods, fizzy limonades by Rieme and Balzac's coffee. Products that inspire the palate to inevitably lead your gaze straight into the heart and soul of Pantry; the generous open kitchen, where all the magic is made!
Pantry is owned and operated by the husband and wife team of Greg and Liz Bolton, two very busy people, who are also parents of two little boys, aged 2 and 4. They certainly know what their neighbourhood needs. With a year under their belt Pantry’s “slow food fast” fills the neighbourhood’s tummies of equally busy professionals with local, when possible, farm fresh, sustainably raised produce and meats with no additives; organic: when the cost is not prohibitive; good for you, take home food prepared with love and respect.
Greg Bolton worked in restaurants in a previous life and later maintained his passion for food and wine over the years by writing for City Bites and working with WineOnline.ca. Wife Liz spent the past 6 years as event manager at Balzacs in Toronto’s Distillery District. The kitchen is helmed by Chef Eric Walker, another busy parent when he's not working and who also lives in the neighbourhood. Walker's previous credits include eight years with Jamie Kennedy Kitchens where, among other duties, he was Chef de Cuisine.
Forbes Wild Foods and Cookstown Greens, only two of Pantry’s wonderful suppliers, were on hand this day to celebrate the shops first anniversary with products to sample for a leisurely nibble at the great wood communal table. Forbes Wild Foods produces a large selection of Canadian wild food products many of which are harvested by hand using sustainable methods. Among the products the amiable Forbes Wild Foods rep, Joseph, brought with him were some of my favourites; Lingonberry Compote, Canada Plum Compote, an intensely sensational Wild Grape Jelly and Balsam Jelly which has a particular affinity for fish. All have a clean, clear intense flavour of the fruit and various ingredients used within each product that I guarantee you won’t experience in most other compotes and jellies. Milkweed Pods preserved in cider vinegar and spices (I tasted a hint of anise) provide a unique component to smoked salmon and are sensational as a condiment for cured meats.
The iconic Cookstown Greens was represented by Farm Manager Deb Mackay. Mackay offered a sampling of Organic Baby Salad Greens comprised of 35 different ingredients that change throughout the season to take advantage of fast growing springs, hot and dry summers, cool and frosty autumns, and low-light winter greenhouse conditions. All of Cookstown Greens tender sweet things are grown in deep organic mineral soil and harvested young to avoid bitterness and toughness. Included in the greens Deb brought with her were marigolds, blue and pink Bachelor Button petals, and lovely Violas. What a treat!
Unfortunately I wasn’t there when two more icons of the Toronto food scene Monforte Dairy and La Natura Fine Foods came by with products also available at Pantry.
With the trending 100 mile locavore and organic practices currently popular, the Bolton’s and Chef Eric Walker agree that it’s just about impossible to strictly fulfill these mandates. Many local farmers and food producers follow organic practices scrupulously, often having done so for generations, but they just don't happen to be certified. It is this scrupulous adherence to sustainable, ethical production and the final taste that are far more important to Pantry than a piece of paper. The Bolton’s and Walker like coffee, chocolate, olives, lemons, oranges, limes, mangoes, and sea salt; all products that are definitely not local to Ontario and may not be organic either, but you will find these on Pantry’s shelves and on their menu. The only stipulation for these products to be used at Pantry: they have to be really awesome!
The combination of Greg and Liz Bolton’s creative flare, dedication and love for what they do and the respect for everyone working at Pantry is a recipe for success. Pantry is a family according to Liz Bolton where every employee, from the staff who work the counter to the dishwasher, is equally important. It’s “kind of like a school project” says Bolton, where each component is integral to the outcome. With that kind of attitude, the products available and the food they produce, Pantry has made and continues to make a definitive mark on Toronto’s food scene.
Here is just a sample of Pantry's seasonally changing menu: Roasted Heirloom Beet Salad; Wild Leek Arancini; Spicy Rapini Sauté (a customer requested favourite), Farm raised Cast Iron Pan Fried Chicken, soaked in buttermilk with roasted garlic & breaded with Panko/Parmigianino Regiano; Schnitzel using Cumbraes pork shoulder served with Pantry’s house made apple sauce; Slowed cooked BBQ Pulled Cumbraes Pork shredded & blended with house made BBQ sauce; Ontario aged cheddar Mac & Cheese topped with Panko crumbs; Curried Cumbraes Lamb & Wild Rice; Wild Onion Sheppard’s Pie with shitake mushrooms topped with Yukon Gold potato mash.
Now if that doesn’t have you salivating for a taste of Pantry - your taste buds need rejuvenation…so go…hurry!
Pantry
974 College Street
Toronto, ON M6H 1A5, Canada
Web: pantry.to
Tel:(416) 364-2495
Email: info@pantry.to
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