K & K Tropical Fruit
298A Spadina Avenue
416-979-3435

When daylight hours get shorter and the temperature stays below zero, I find myself longing for the warmth of the summer sun that graced us only a mere season ago. Our city might continue its trudge through the dirty snow, but a quick trip to K & K Tropical Fruit can add a splash of colour to cure those winter blahs. Situated just on the northwest corner of the chaotic Dundas and Spadina intersection, this jewel is a much loved haunt of locals and non-locals alike. In fact, no advertisement is needed as their high quality fruits speak for themselves.

The first noticeable thing about K&K is the welcoming sight of its neatly arranged produce. A quick glance at the bountiful tables reveals its second charm: the variety of fruits available! Beside the market staples of apples, oranges and bananas are the many items with origins from South-East Asia or South America. K&K imports exotic fare year-round from Thailand and Vietnam, including piles of those thorn-covered and notoriously pungent durians, plastic mesh wrapped pomelos (the giant cousin of grapefruits), and the bulb-like dragon fruit. These strange looking treats take shelter inside the store during the cold winter months next to shelves overflowing with exquisite cases of mangosteens (aka the king of fruits), bundled up branches of lychees, trays of hairy rambutans, jackfruit and guava. Sometimes featured specials will highlight the orb-like persimmon, a tower of jumbo Fuji apples, luscious and firm white peaches or an excellent selection of ready-to-eat sugar-centric papayas.

Continue reading A Mid-Winter’s Trip to the Tropics (With Much Change to Spare) »

Last year, a friend of mine living in Chinatown told me her grocery bills were reduced by almost half, largely thanks to her year-round access to dirt-cheap fruit and vegetables. So when I moved to a Chinatown apartment in July, I was excited that the bounty of Spadina & Dundas was minutes away from my front door. After several shopping experiences in the area, I’ve learned a few key things. There are crowds almost all the time. The cashiers are always lightening-fast. It’s hard to track down an unbruised tomato. It’s REALLY cheap. (Case in point: For just a few cents short of $10, I scored 4 lemons, 2-200 gram bags of shallots, a guava, 3 spartan apples, a pint of grape tomatoes, a bunch each of cilantro and scallions, 3 avocados, a zucchini, 3 bananas, two handfuls of sugar snap peas and a persimmon. Whew!)

Continue reading Produce-Hunting In Chinatown »

Organics On Bloor
468 Bloor Street West
416-538-1333

As a nutritionist, I am always trying to find great places to shop and to tell my clients about. My criteria isn’t too strict really, I just demand simple things like local suppliers, organic options, reasonable prices and also it’s nice if it is run by someone with a conscience. Organics On Bloor is not only a great place to find local, organic produce and other items but it’s a place with a great deal of integrity. It also started with a great love story.

Owner Monica Walker originally hails from the UK and spent many years working in marketing for a large corporation. Five years ago, she left her corporate life behind and came to Canada. This is where the love story part comes in - she says she moved to Canada after meeting the love of her life on a trip around the world. Arriving here, she and her new husband Floyd were dissatisfied with the level of produce available at grocery stores. According to Monica, “When I arrived here in Canada, I could not taste the food. Tomatoes tasted of nothing, peppers hmm, need I go on? When I found out the levels of pesticides used, my mind was made up.”

Continue reading I Found Some Love At Organics On Bloor »