Just over two weeks before the big day. As an owner of a newly minted retail store heading into the Christmas holidays, I have done zero personal preparation beyond stealing a few hours yesterday to put up a tree and figure out why my Christmas lights keep blowing my fuses (my husband thinks it's because I leave the plug joints and broken bulb sockets lying in puddles, but I don't think that's it). Given how busy we are, the likelihood of me finding time to shop for my family is slim, so I'm trying to decide what my teen boys would appreciate more in their stocking...french butter or sardines???
Obviously the answer is always butter...of which we have lots!
December Hours (Now Open Tuesdays)
Tuesday-Friday: 10:30 - 6:00
Saturday: 10:00-5:00
Sunday: 10:00-3:00
Sunday Dec. 22: 10:00-5:00
Monday Dec. 23: 10:00-5:00
Tuesday Dec. 24: 9:00-2:00
December 25/26: Closed
December 27-31: 12:00-5:00
January 1-15th: Closed (because we need a break!)
Pre-Orders - The common thread through this newsletter is pre-order, pre-order, pre-order. I know I keep saying this, but if you have been in the shop lately, you know that we are often super busy. And we want to make everyone happy, and we don't want you to get frustrated waiting in line. So if you plan on ordering a specific items that take a bit more time, things like shredded fondue, a kilo of sliced raclette or 50 grams of each type of salami, we strongly encourage you to take pity on us and yourself and place your order online. You can tell us the date and we will have it prepared that morning, so you can saunter up to the deli, give us your name and be on your way. If you plan on ordering gift baskets, please do so earlier rather than later, especially if you are ordering multiple! We keep being asked what our order deadline is, the order deadline is sooner rather than later. We personally curate all of the baskets and that takes time!
We will be closing our online pre-orders from December 15th - December 26th for cheese & charcuterie platters. If you require an order after that date please call the store or visit to ensure that we have the capacity to fill your order. We have limited spots for these items. We highly recommend that you get your orders for Christmas and/or New Years in as soon as possible.
Shipping & Deliveries - Well, I think we all know shipping is a bit of a nightmare at the moment. We are NOT shipping off-island for the remainder of the season. We are using couriers to deliver locally and on the island. We had previously been using purolator, however with the Canada Post strike this is no longer an option as we cannot guarantee timely deliveries.
Cheese & Charcuterie...the best part of the newsletter
These are exciting times at the store, lots of cheese & charcuterie in stock and more arriving at the end of this week. This will be our last delivery for the rest of the year, and we hope to have enough to keep the masses happy! We also have a growing selection of great gourmet food and gift items that really do make the best stocking stuffers. Imported candies, cookies, a selection of French rillettes in jars (duck, seafood etc), salts, olive oils, a wide selection of Opinel and Laguiole knives, linens, copper pots & Spanish pottery. Not to mention the best selection of tinned seafood for your seacutery platters, this side of the Malahat!
Cheese
So much cheese! We missed out on some of our stinkier favourites because of the Montreal port strike, but we do still have a large selection, just not the super strong ones I was hoping for.
The Mont D'Or is slated to arrive this week. A lot of it is already spoken for, so you know the drill, book it early and you won't be sad. If the Mont D'Or is a bit much, may we suggest the Bois Blond, which is based on the Mont D'Or, but is more readily available and has less of a sticker shock. You can still impress your friends with a box of melted cheese without breaking the bank.
Burrata will be back mid-next week (Dec 19th), again, limited quantities, but I managed to get one last order in before Christmas. If you haven't tried this particular burrata, we've been told eating it is basically like being in Italy. So if you were hoping to be elsewhere for Christmas and you're stuck here, buy some cheese.
Raclette & Fondue
We have 4 types of "official" raclette cheese. Our regulars, Raclette de Savoie and Raclette de Haut Livradois. But we also have two Quebec raclette cheeses this year as well. We don't have ton of it, because we placed these orders way back in early September before we knew how things would roll out for us at the store. So get it while it's in! We have lots of other great melters as well, the Truffle Fontina, the beautiful Capri Ella goat cheese, and Morbier is always delicious melted and poured onto some baguette or boiled potatoes!
Order a Raclette Platter which includes sliced raclette cheese, cornichon, sliced saucisson & salami, and a baguette.
Our house-made fondue mixes are up for pre-order. We have our Classic shredded mixes which might have any of the following: Gruyère, Appenzeller, Emmenthaler, Comté and maybe some extra stinker for good measure. We also do our own Shepherd's fondue mix which is made with a custom mix of goat and sheep cheeses...no cow!
Paté, Rillettes & Sausages
We will be restocked with an assortment of patés, as well as Oyama's rillettes. Just in time for Christmas dinner, more duck confit and Toulouse sausages will be hitting the freezer and we now have locally grown, cassoulet beans in stock, for those energetic and patient souls who want to build their own Cassoulet. Just a note on those cassoulet beans...those are hand picked and cleaned by my amazing partner-in-crime, Ankia. So if you buy some, maybe remark on how beautiful they are, how clean and well presented they are. Shelling and cleaning dried beans is a labour of love, one that I did NOT volunteer for.
Some new additions arriving this week (hopefully), blood sausage and smoked beef tongue.
Ok, that is all I have to say for the rest of 2024! Other than...wow, we did it! We opened a store! And all you people who have come in have been on another level of amazing! Seriously, you are what makes our day always be pretty great even though you also run us off our feet. We love the feedback, the comments and your joy at having a European style deli in the Comox Valley again. We never tire of your compliments.
Oh, and for all of those Danish cheese lovers out there, I'm trying. I don't know why Danish cheese is so hard to source through my regular distributors. I do have some Tilsiter in stock, but that is the closest I can get at the moment.
Ok, if we won't see you in the shop before the holidays and the New Year, have a great festive season! From both Ankia & I, thank you so much for your support and kind words.
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