The hottest new trend for restaurants? Food shops

The hottest new trend for restaurants? Food shops
The Globe and Mail by WENCY LEUNG


As the owners of Ottawa’s Murray Street Kitchen, chef Steve Mitton and operator Paddy Whelan know how and where to get the best quality products. They’ve scouted dairies to find the best cheeses to serve at their restaurant, known for its emphasis on local ingredients and charcuterie. They know which farmers to go to for the best meat and produce. And they’ve found purveyors who can supply them with rare and specialty ingredients.

So when it came time to expand their business, the two decided they didn’t want to launch yet another restaurant in the city’s already competitive scene. They opened a food shop instead.

Their new Murray’s Market, which opened kitty-corner to Murray StreetKitchen last month, sells cheeses, meats, produce and house-made foodstuffs, providing customers with many of the sameraw ingredients they use at their restaurant.

“Overthe last three years, we got so many questions regarding our farmers and where we source [things] out …” Mr. Mitton says. “The market just came into our head right away.”

Theirs is a model that many business owners are now adopting, merging restaurants with retail to tapinto new revenue streams. Restaurateurs are finding that retail is a natural extension of the work they already do to source and produce fooditems. And curious diners, who want to know the provenance of what’s ontheir plates, are driving that demand.

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