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Category: Cheese Shops [Edit]
45 Ripley AveToronto, ON M6S 3P2
Neighbourhood: Swansea
(416) 762-6292
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 9 am - 7 pm
Sat-Sun 8 am - 6 pm
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
8 reviews for Cheese Boutique
All Reviews
Cheese Boutique
12/4/2009
Some girls drool positively with glee at the sight of perfume counters or beauty shops a la Sephora. Take my sister for example. Me, I go ga-ga inside food emporiums or specialty food shops. You could leave me inside one and find me days later haunting the aisles, eyes glazing over at the multiple possibilities in store.
So when my yelp buddy Christine took me here for a food expedition I was agog at having reached the holy grail of gourmet stores in Toronto. Yessss...! I felt like I was Alice in Wonderland wandering the multiple rooms stocked to the rafters with gourmet edibles. If I was having an extravagant dinner party and wanted to pull out the stops a trip here would be in order for the CB is Toronto's version of Dean & Deluca. It truly is a culinary heaven owing to their expansive array of goods and their knowledgeable staff. Truffles are available here for a pretty penny. Exotic olives and jams they got 'em. Need some fixings for a charcuterie board? Try their case of pates, sausages and other cured meats. Order up some exquisite prosciutto just so you can say hello to 'Enzo', their star imported hand cranked slicer. And let's not forget the cheese, for the selection is unparalleled throughout Toronto. Local, imported, aged, sheep, goat the list runs the gamut. Finally no trip here is complete without a visit to their cheese 'cave'-a special humidor created for the affinage, the aging of cheese. The cheese cave is the equivalent of a bank vault: one step inside will leave you marvelling at the valuable wheels of cheese and their heady aromas. Some are aged specifically for the top restaurants in town, all lookee no touchee!
Definitely worth trip out to the western part of town, especially if you are looking for some special or extra nice! Pricey yes so reserve this for fancy schmancy occasions or if you feeling like pampering yourself food-wise.
Cheese Boutique
6/6/2010
Wow, talk about sensory overload in this place! You feel like you've died and gone to food heaven. The cheese selection is out of this world! Meats are beautiful (I never thought I would call meat "beautiful", but it is here), as is their confectionery and baked goods. They also have frequent events for their customers, which is a nice touch. Cheese samples everywhere and the staff have a real passion for their jobs and a knowledge of the products.
The cold room for cheese is great - what a heady smell in there. I would love to one day go into their basement cheese repository.
Recommended! Expensive, but what an experience.
Cheese Boutique
9/13/2009
When I die and go to food heaven I imagine that it would look just like the Cheese Boutique. I have been a long time customer of this food mecca, from the days up on Bloor Street and now hidden down on Ripley Avenue. In terms of being a one stop for all your epicurean needs the Cheese Boutique is five star. They carry fresh produce, have a small butcher case, prepared foods, a monster selection of olive oils, pastas, food condiments and also have a dessert case. The only thing missing at the CB is a wine & beer license!!!! I would love to sit down with a house cheese plate and a glass of the grape. It would be pure manna.
One of the really cool features of the store is the cheese humidor in the centre of the building. It is a temperature controlled room where they age cheeses and charcuterie. It was in there I found a very cool cheese called Lemon Fetish. You just so have to love a food with the word fetish in it! It's a small round of semi-soft cow's milk cheese with ground up lemon zest rubbed into it forming the rind. It hails from Prince Edward County which is the up and coming cheese region in the province. The CB also carries a large selection of Quebec artisanal cheeses and those guys behind the counter know there cheese stuff! The store also has an amazing selection of breads which being the carbo junkie I am works for me.
This is a store with tons of nooks and crannies so be ready to spend some time wandering around. The CB hosts an series of food tastings featuring some of T.O.'s best chefs. It is definitely worth checking it out. Just make sure to hang on to your bank card....this ain't a bargain spot and it doesn't take long to add up the price tag. What you get though is worth every single penny.
There is parking available which is also very handy. You can have quick access right off the Queensway.
Cheese Boutique
6/28/2009
This is my own personal Disneyland. I can spend hours walking down the aisles looking at all the imported sauces, oils, preserves, cookies, chocolates, etc. Their selection of cheeses and meat is unparalleled. So far the only place I know that sells burrata (highly recommended - serve it torn open to expose the creamy interior, drizzled with olive oil + salt + pepper, with a loaf of crusty bread) as well as Roaring Forties blue cheese from Australia. They also carry a wide range of cured and fresh meat - Berkshire pork anyone?!
They are also generous with their samples and advice. The head cheese mongers are extremely knowledgeable and always ready to help. Had it not been for the friendly cheesemongers, I would never have discovered Comte and Gorgonzola Torte.
A visit to Cheese Boutique is not complete without a visit to the vault. I won't say anything else about it - you'll have to go and experience it for yourself.
I do have to warn you that you'll spend a pretty penny here. But the difference with the Cheese Boutique and other low-rent wannabe imposters (ahem, Fresh&Wild) is that you do get what you pay for - superior quality and service.
I hesitate reviewing this shop, if only for the fact I'd like it to be my own little wonderland. If you love food as I do, this is the place for you!!!
Cheese Boutique
9/23/2009
This is heaven for a foodie. The cheese freezer blew me away and I had the most amazing blue cheese of my life. $14/gram for the cheese but it is worth it.
Words cannot describe how wonderful this place is.
Cheese Boutique
8/31/2008
It was a risky move to relocate the Cheese Boutique from its old digs on Bloor West, but the current building (though well off the beaten track) is much better, allowing them to show off even more of their interesting imported foods. Fancy cheese and meat is their, er, bread and butter, but they also stock a lot of delicious sauces, pastas, exotic produce, and even have a small wine cellar.
Don't miss the coffee/tea section, which is on a narrow second-floor balcony overlooking the main deli area. Like the rest of the store, it's densely stocked, but neat and well organized enough so that it's not a hassle to find things.
They're also great with mini-events and tastings; I've often come here and been able to nibble on a free sample or sip some wine while a friend would go about his or her shopping. It's a family operation, and the owner-patriarch likes to shmooze.
Listed in: My Neighborhood
Cheese Boutique
9/14/2009
Good selection , but I only go there for the "hard to find stuff" b/c everything is over priced ....
Cheese Boutique
3/21/2009
I have travelled around the world and love specialty food places. This is by far the most interesting store, most comprehensive in its stock and very fun to shop at. Warning - if you come just browsing, or wanting to pick up a few items, you will leave spending hundreds of dollars. The cheese selection is the largest I have seen in Toronto. The service is great - they give you lots of attention and let you try everything. I supplied our Wine & Cheese party with the cheese here and they were fantastic. They also created little picks with signs for the cheese as it is displayed so your guests know what they are tasting. The additional preserves, chocolates, bakery are AMAZING. You have to prepare yourself as the experience is overwhelming!
