‘The heart beat of True North Square’ Gourmet grocer opens doors downtown, features 'nothing but the best' By: Martin Cash Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 9, 2020

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This article was published 09/09/2020 (2080 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fresh cut flowers, Angel pita from Jerusalem, Lavazza espresso from Italy, pastries, bread and bagels baked on site as well as all the tomatoes, bananas, milk, cheese and eggs that you need. Mottola Grocery, which opens Monday, is the downtown, high-end grocery store that was always envisioned to be part of True North Square.

Yes, it was to have opened earlier in the year, but Bobby Mottola, the store’s proprietor and long-time Winnipeg restaurateur, said the pandemic just gave everyone a little more time to be thoughtful about the offerings at the 6,000-square-foot urban specialty grocery store.

Jammed with old-world Italian charm and modern design – the store’s logo feature’s the stamp from Mottola’s grandfather’s Italian passport and the in-house bakery is behind sky-high windows so patrons can see the baking in action – Mottola and True North Square developers researched food gallerias from around the world to come up with the concept.

From the ping pong dining table to the cute little Piaggio truck in the foyer to high top tables across from the gleaming espresso machine looking out onto the fountains in the True North Square plaza, the invitation is to linger.

“It is even better than we had originally anticipated,” Mottola said. “When we first started talking it was a smaller idea. We have a full time baking team working overnight. We have products coming in from all over the world as well as lots of local products from the farmers field to our door step.”

Of the roughly 1,600 products, there are hundreds that are new to Manitoba and many that are new to Canada.

As the operator of restaurants on the second floor in the Hargrave Street Market as well as Pizzeria Gusto and Merchant Kitchen, Mottola can leverage the needs (and recipes) of those kitchens into the fresh produce offerings at Mottola Grocery to minimize waste and reduce costs.

As well as the core grocery items, the store will feature a revolving offering of all sorts of prepared meals that include favourites from his other restaurants like Lasagna Bianco al Forno.

For Jim Ludlow, the president of True North Real Estate Development, the grocery store is like the finishing touch to massive project.

“This is the heart beat of True North Square,” he said.

With office and residential towers both almost completely leased and three more towers still to come on the west side of Carlton Street (a Sutton Place hotel and condo tower and the new head office of Wawanesa Insurance) the presence of a grocery store with all the special touches that this one has was a key part of the vision from the start.

“We are trying to create a newer, more innovative urban environment in downtown Winnipeg,’ Ludlow said. “It’s always fascinating to me, because we are standing in what was once a surface parking lot.”

Apart from a buffet station that has been temporarily re-purposed and re-merchandised, the pandemic delayed the store’s opening but not the energy and intensity of the offering.

“The pandemic has created stress in the near term but I would tell you, we have a long view,” Ludlow said.

The meat counter features a focused offering of “nothing but the best,” like milk-fed veal from Quebec, New Zealand lamb and executive chef Jesse Friesen’s favourite, A5 Japanese Wagyu beef (that can cost up to $200 per pound).

The store is filled with artisan packaged goods from Winnipeg including both Chaeban and Fete ice cream, Dave’s Juice, Verde juice and Fruit de la vie and gift ware including Lot Ceramics and 1969 personal care products from Sweden, there will even be a curated selection of retail priced wines.

Scattered throughout the store are 60-to-70 different Mottola Grocery house brands of condiments and dressings.

The store will function at least partially like a commissary for Mottola’s restaurants and will employ more than 40 chefs and bakers.

“Our culinary team is really, really good,” Mottola said. “They have proven themselves over 12 years. We have done a lot of interesting things. Everyone is really excited. They will quickly write out a recipe, show you how to use it and take you around and show you the ingredient you’ll need. There will be lots of back and forth.”

Although the store is a new venture for Mottola and a significant commitment, he and Ludlow are calmly confident that it will work.

“We have always believed in our partnership and relationship with folks like Bobby,” Ludlow said. “Our success, if we have been successful, is the result of that belief.”

Mottola credits Ludlow and the team at True North for always encouraging and pushing forward.

“We are so conscientious about customer service and what it is like to be on the other side of the table when you order,” Mottola said. “All the little details that our group has put together with the building, the fountain, the layering of outside with the inside it is really unique to our story.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca