Max’s Market
2299 Bloor Street West
416-766-6362
The bright red Muskoka chairs flanking the entrance to Max’s Market, a well-loved gourmet food store in Bloor West Village, pair well with the lazy, luxurious feeling I get when shopping there. With fresh artisanal breads and pastries, an enviable cheese and deli counter, and one the largest selections of prepared foods in the city, they have everything needed to put on an impressive spread without lifting a finger.
Max’s opened back in 1998 in the middle of a prime stretch of Bloor Street that was, and still continues to be, predominantly Eastern European. This is evident to this day in the vast array of shops and delis selling kielbasa, perogies, cabbage rolls, and many a delicious fried latke. While Max’s is itself Ukrainian-owned, they have taken a very different tack than their neighbours with regard to their offerings. General Manager Viktoriya Tivirikina, who has been with Max’s for five years, tells me, “People want to try something different. They know how to make their own homemade food and they want to experience new things.” To this end, Max’s furnishes dishes from an eclectic variety of cuisines, illustrated by some of their most popular prepared foods, which include guacamole, butter chicken, quiche de Provence, and pesto linguine.
The prepared food section really is a site to behold, extending along one wall for the full length of the shop. All prepared foods and in-house baked goods (desserts, pastries, breads) are made on the premises in their small, but extremely efficient kitchen at the back of the store as well as the bakery in the basement. Max’s experienced head chef Sri develops new menu items every single week, many of which are influenced by his East Indian heritage. Those looking for authentic, expertly prepared Indian food need not leave the neighbourhood to find it, and normally they would since Bloor West suffers a dearth of South Asian restaurants.
In addition to foods made in store, Max’s has a wealth of carefully selected and mostly small batch artisanal products like jams, condiments, crackers, and chocolate. Manager Tivirikina’s favourite canapé made from goods off the shelves is Raincoast Crisps, by Vancouver’s Lesley Stowe Fine Foods, topped with Saint Agur blue cheese from France and caramelized onion confit, a product of Brickstone Fine Food in the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal. It’s a heady combination. All other crackers pale in comparison to these crisps that are so generously dotted with nuts, dried berries, and spices. The cheese is rich but not too salty and the caramelized onion confit is a sweet, sweet complement.
My “go to” item at Max’s has always been the applewood smoked cheddar, which is basically the bacon of cheeses (must be the perfect loophole for vegetarians). It’s thick, creamy, and incredibly savoury. Lay thin slices on top of a toasted slab of Fred’s Bread sourdough (located at the front of the shop) and everything else in life immediately seems unimportant.
Max's remains a bit of a hidden gem, but they have been discussed on message boards with more than a few criticisms of their service. Waiting to be served at a deli is one of the life's more vulnerable moments and the potential for feeling ignored is high. While researching this piece, my talented photographer friend and I ventured to the other side of the counter and couldn't believe how many barriers were between the customer and the server. The countertop itself is nearly five feet high with stacks of goods on top of it. We could barely see out and I can see how patrons could easily be overlooked. So, step up and don't be shy. Their friendly staff is ready to help.
Max’s runs tastings of in-house items on most days, but on Saturdays local artisans frequently set up shop in store to meet customers and give out free samples. Tivirikina tells me that customers come from as far as Woodbridge and Brampton to browse, nibble, and taste. The narrow shop can get cozy, but just don’t expect to get through there quickly - luxuriate in letting Max do the cooking; at least for today.
The staff at Max's: Viktoriya (General Manager), Bandna, Miyeson, and Laura
Photos courtesy of Ayngelina Brogan.
Kaori Furue is a Toronto-based blogger who loves grilled cheese sandwiches made with applewood smoked cheddar. Her adventures big and small (mostly small, and mostly about food) can be found at: I can’t believe I’m back in Toronto.
