Pasquale Bros. to move from King St. to...middle of nowhere

[Heather]

Sadly, Pasquale Bros. are closing their shop on King St. E. at the end of September, and moving to 16 Goodrich Rd. (near Kipling and Queensway), presumably to larger, more modern digs.

The news hasn't been posted on their website, but there's a big "Closing Sale" on their window. Not much is on sale right now (some olive oils nearing their expiry date, some farro pasta), but prehaps more stuff will be on sale as the closing date approaches.

If you're downtown and want to stock up on rice (baldo, carnaroli, vialone nano, bomba, etc. - hey, Rube's at the St. Lawrence Market doesn't carry all of these), cheeses, olives, vinegars, Italian/Spanish goodies and Cajun-type seasonings (Zatarain's, Prudhomme's), go have a boo. Their website lists the products they carry.

Link: http://www.pasqualebros.com/

[westsider]

Sad indeed. Now downtowners have one less choice to grocers who actually work to source/import their "fine food" goods and have to deal more with the lazy front-ends for local distributors :-(

Thanks for the heads-up.

[Middydd]

Thanks for the update.

Have you noticed what brand of San Marzano tomatoes they carry?

I haven't gotten there yet to pick up the smoked paprika. Soon, I hope.

[Heather]

Pasquale Bros. carries the Strianese brand; an 800g can is $3.29. Ingredients: San Marzano peeled tomatoes, San Marzano tomato puree, basil leaf, citric acid, salt.

Don't buy the so-called San Marzano tomatoes that Williams-Sonoma sells. It says "San Marzano" on the label - maybe that's supposed to be the brand, because I can't find the brand name anywhere. And a very misleading name, too, because the tomatoes are not even real Italian tomatoes; they're grown in the U.S., as stated on the label in fine-print. Ingredients: tomatoes, tomato juice, salt, calcium chloride, citric acid. The price is a laughable $5.00, for fake San Marzano tomatoes, for the same size as the Strianese can. Does Williams-Sonoma think we're stupid?!

[Middydd]

Thanks for the brand name, I haven't tried that one. How much are they at Pasquales?

The $5 ones, are they the brand in the white and red can? I'm pretty sure they're grown in New Jersey. They're actually an excellent tomato, but I've seen them for $1.99 in American grocery stores.

Do you happen to know where to get Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes in Toronto? They're the best for chile but I've only seen them in the States.

Thanks for all the info.

[shan]

I get mine at Ambrosia (Thornhill) for about $2.99/tin. I believe most large health food stores carry Muir Glen as they are organic. In Toronto, you might try Big Carrot.

I've never used it for chili. I must give it a try.

[Middydd]

Thornhill is even better for me than Toronto. And $2.99 sounds like about what I've seen them for in American stores so quite a good price. Thanks!!

[shan]

$2.99 might have been a sale price. I bought these tins back in April. Let us know how much they are now.

Cheers!

[Middydd]

Ooops, just noticed you already told me the price when I reread your message. Thanks again.

[sujata]

This is terrible news! I'll have to truck out to thecheese boutique to get my bomba rice, and I think it's more expensive there. Does anyone know of any downtown bomba suppliers?

[Dilly]

Will Pasquale Bros. still be a store open to the public? Where it is moving to seems to be a strictly warehouse area. Does anyone have more info?

[Heather]

What the staff told me was rather vague - they will have some items available for retail sale to the public, but not as much as before, and they don't know exactly what they will stock. "It'll be different," they said.

It sounded to me like they no longer want to bother with the little people like us who buy our olive oil one bottle at a time.

After the move (September 29th), their phone number will remain the same. Maybe you'd like to call them at that time to see what the heck they're doing. Me, I just can't be trekking all the way out there.