Fall Open House 2019

Can’t believe summer holidays are behind us and we are racing towards the start of fall! The best part of this change in season is that we can once again turn on the oven without fear of turning the kitchen into a sauna.

Please join us for our Fall Open House on Saturday, September 28, between 10am & 2pm. We are excited to be joined by Mike from Salumeria Il Tagliere sampling his handcrafted meat products and Mark from Stem Wine Group with a selection of Italian wines. We will also have a selection of our specialty domestic and imported products out for tasting in our warehouse.

See you then!

Summer 2019 Newsletter

Click here to view the Summer 2019 newsletter

Spring Open House 2019

Please join us on Saturday, May 4th from 11am to 3pm for sampling imported food specialties and wine tasting.

Our retail store will be open for shopping.

Come and enjoy our hospitality!

December Saturdays are here again!

Join us Saturdays in December (1st, 8th, 15th & 22nd) between 10am and 3pm.

In addition to retail shopping, we will be opening our warehouse for sampling many of our unique products.

Fall Open House

Join us for our fall open house on Saturday, 29th between 11am and 3pm. As usual we will be opening up our warehouse for product sampling.

We are excited to be joined by Rob from Cellar Door restaurant and Caitlin from 30-50 Imports and Bogie's Best Imports.

Winter 2017 Newsletter

Only two chocolates left on the advent calendar! Christmas is almost here! I think this will be the last year for Santa Claus in our house. The girls are finding it all far-fetched. They're still reeling from learning the truth about the tooth fairy so we're trying to keep the magic alive for a little while longer. Personally, I will be glad to retire that darned Elf on the Shelf. 

My apologies for falling behind with our newsletters. This first year at the helm has been incredibly busy as we try to juggle work, family and travel. Thank you for your patience. As we come to the close of our centennial year, I'd like to finish the story of Pasquale Brothers.   

After completing her BA in geography at the University of Toronto in 1972, my mother, Anna Marie Kalcevich (née Madott) decided to join her father, Henry at the store. My father, John Kalcevich, came on board a year later. My grandfather moved to part-time hours, leaving work everyday at 2pm to visit with his grandchildren. My mom soon became the third generation of the Pasquale family to run the business. 

As Canadians began to travel more, my parents  attended international trade shows to keep up with global trends. As the business expanded, they moved to 217 King Street East in 1981, the red brick building that so many of you remember. It's the current home to the George Brown College Chef's House. My siblings and I spent every Saturday working in that building, along with many of our friends and neighbours. Here are a few pictures of the old store. Left is a tiny Richard Kalcevich standing by shelves with oil and tomatoes. Middle is a family picture taken at the five year anniversary at 217 King. Right is outside the red brick store front with the hand-painted signs in the windows.  

A few years ago, my mother was ready for more time to spend with her grandchildren and leisure activities. My wonderful husband, Tony Burt, deserves special recognition for supporting my desire to take over the family business. It takes a brave man to sign on to work with both his wife and mother-in-law. I'm pleased to report we are all still on speaking terms and my mom is able to enjoy some much deserved time away from work. Here she is taking her grand-girls out to a Christmas play.

It is an honour to be fourth generation of the family to run Pasquale Brothers. Thank you for your support. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Fall Open House - Saturday October 28th

Please join us on Saturday, October 28th between 10am and 3pm as we continue to celebrate our 100th year of business.

Fernando Garcia, chef and owner of LaVinia Restaurant, will be serving paella and sampling his exclusive Spanish wine imports.

His wines will be available for purchase.

In addition to retail shopping, we will be opening our warehouse for sampling many of our unique products.

June Newsletter

A great perk of having your own business is choosing the organizations that we can support. This summer we are sponsoring two community soccer teams. Here are our daughters after opening night. Our apologies to the coaches and parents who were confused about the two Pasquale Brothers teams in the same division. One of the hazards of having twins…

We were excited to be part of Cuisine and Cuvee again this year as over 1,100 guests helped to raise $250,000 in support of Providence Healthcare. We sampled: buttery St. Andre, a triple cream from France, tangy Roquefort, a crumbly blue cheese also from France, piquant Manchego, aged 12 months from Spain and velvety Blyth’s Eweda from Ontario’s own Blyth Farm Cheese.

Guests liked being able to pair the cheese with a variety of fruit accompaniments that we had set out: quince paste from Spain, mulberry jam from Sicily, and orange and plum mostardas from Lombardy, Italy.

Upcoming Event: World Tapas Day

We will be back at George Brown College for World Tapas Day Culinary Market on Thursday, June 15th from 6:30-8:30pm. https://www.universe.com/events/world-tapas-day-culinary-market-tickets-RYWQK8

Can Bech’s Just for Cheese

We have just received in a new shipment of a favourite product, Can Bech’s Just for Cheese line. Can Bech is a family run company from Catalonia, Spain. They have a created a line of fruit spreads that they are a cross between a jam and sauce. Their five flavours, Golden Apple, Raspberry, Black Fig, Peach/Apricot and Black Grape, all pair beautifully with cheese.

Strawberries were in season while I was in Spain in late April meeting with the folks from Can Bech. I love that unmistakable smell of ripe strawberries and the switch from cool weather stews to bright spring salads – a harbinger of the warm months ahead. Here are some ideas for a spring salad that incorporates so many of my favourite tastes and textures.

Spring Salad with Strawberries, Marcona Almonds and Aged Chevre

Whisk up a simple vinaigrette with extra virgin olive oil, preferably a light and fruity one, like a Ligurian oil, champagne vinegar and wildflower honey.

Make your salad with ripe, sliced strawberries, baby spinach leaves and buttery marcona almonds.

Toss the salad with dressing and then use a vegetable slicer to add ribbons of an aged goat cheese, like Chevre Noir. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

May Newsletter

Greetings from Spain!

It has been a busy week here at the Salon De Gourmets food show in Madrid. I have had the wonderful opportunity to reconnect with many of our Spanish suppliers and meet an interesting group of international buyers. I was delighted to learn that Rosalie Hassan from Bottega Rotolo was part of the group. While it was my first time meeting Rosalie, I know her shop in Adelaide, Australia as it is just a few minutes from where my husband Tony grew up. Rosalie and I run similar businesses on opposite sides of the world and are both importers of the wonderful O-MED oils and vinegars from Spain. A small world indeed!

This month I would like to send birthday wishes to my grandmother, the Pasquale Matriarch, Georgina Madott as her 91st birthday is fast approaching on May 17th. Last week my Aunt Bertha took this photo of my grandmother texting on her iPhone using a stylus.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA!

There was an article in the Toronto Star this past week about the diverse population of the former St. John's Ward neighbourhood in Toronto. A brief write up about my great-grandparents, Edward and Donna Pasquale, is included. You can read it here:

www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/once-upon-a-city-archives/2017/04/20/ward-museum-celebrates-immigrants-from-st-johns-ward.html

In preparation for my trip, I made myself a fast and easy Spain-inspired snack with asparagus and Serrano Ham. Was this snack ever appropriate as there were "Jamon" hoofs to be found in every aisle at the fair. In this photo you can see Jamon being carved in the traditional way.

Asparagus with Serrano Ham

Ingredients:

bunch of asparagus

12 slices of Serrano Ham

extra virgin olive oil

salt flakes

Warm barbeque to medium heat. Steam the asparagus for about 2 minutes until they turn bright green.

Wrap the ham slices around the steamed asparagus and gently place them on the barbeque. They only need a few minutes, even put them on top rack so you don't need to worry about them burning.

Stack the wrapped asparagus on your serving plate, drizzle with a small amount of extra virgin olive oil. Opt for a spicier oil, like a Picual. Sprinkle with a few sea salt flakes. Enjoy!

UPCOMING EVENTS

PASQUALE BROS. OPEN HOUSE

Saturday, May 13th 10am-3pm

Please join us as we continue to celebrate 100 years with retail shopping and food sampling in our warehouse. Paul Van Dorp from Blyth Farm will be with us to sample his hand-crafted and award winning cheese.

THE WARD: Our Living History

Saturday, May 20th 1-3pm, City Hall

The Toronto Ward Museum and Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam are organizing an event honouring Toronto's immigration stories. Check the Ward Museum website for more information: www.wardmuseum.ca

CUISINE & CUVÉE

Friday, May 26th 6:30pm-12am, Rebel

We will be a food station donor at this fundraiser in support of Providence Healthcare. For more information: www.providence.on.ca/foundation/events/cuisine-cuvee

Open House - Saturday May 13th

Open House - Saturday 13th May from 10am -3pm