Riper and Runnier

Spent some time on Saturday at the amazing Cheese Boutique. Stuck off the beaten path near the Kingsway, in an old sausage making plant, it's a bit hard to find the first time out. Good thing they have vans with big yellow signs at key turnoffs pointing the way.

I've not seen anything else quite like it in Canada. Not only do they import the best from around the world, but their own aging cellars for cheese and meats mean they only sell the products when they've hit their peaks. Olive oils, perfect produce, veal chops that could fell a tree... have to see it to believe it. A little bit of Harrod's food mall right here in our backyard.

Today's purchase: a hunk of Quebec's Bouq Emissaire (see picture above...); a package of fruit/nut crackers and a litre of guava juice (inspired by Julie's Lunch' wakalita see Sheenavision passim. The pairing of this cheese with the fruit crackers was a trick learned at the Fat Cat Wine Bar on Roncesvalles (who do a gorgeous cheese plate, mostly from the Cheese Boutique...).

Was going to open a red with it. Probably because I saw
Stratus Red on the menu at the Swan this weekend and have had it on the brain. Most gratefully, an online intervention occurred and the suggestion of a medium bodied Chardonnay was given. Bingo! Perfect moment to open last week's unoaked chard from Deborah Paskus's Closson Chase.

Can't think of a better snack to represent national unity. Though now Sheena has a new obsession, and finds herself getting restless. Is there such a thing as a Cheese-Route in Quebec? I do have a few vacation days left to burn...