What a lovely day I just had.  Spent the morning with Amanda doing some Spring 2012 buying (yup… Spring 2012) for Designers Remix, with Doris and Nial (who we love), hearing about their recent trip to Ibiza.  Did it sound amazing?  Yes.  Did the pictures we saw confirm this?  Yes.  It’s always such a bonus when you enjoy the company of the people that you are buying from.  It actually makes all the difference in the world.

Anyhow, after buying, Amanda and I stopped to get sandwiches on Fairmount, and ran into another friend of ours, Guillaume, from Ca Va de Soi.  If you don’t already know CVDS, well, you should… we have been carrying their sweaters at Lola & Emily since we opened, and it is also always such a pleasure to go buying there, much like it is when we see Doris and Nial.  It is a family business, with Antoine and Odile heading it up, but their kids, Kinza, Guillaume and Gabrielle involved in various aspects of the business, so it’s always fun to catch up with them. 

So, the point of all this is our discovery of this tiny little shop called Drogheria Fine, just a few doors down from Fairmount and Clark. 

As it happens, Guillaume is also a bit of a regular around the Fairmount area (CVDS’ offices are just around the corner) area, so he happily posed for one of my world famous crappy iPhone pics… he might regret that after he sees the photo, but, well, too late!

Drogheria Fine makes and bottles it’s own tomato sauce and olive oil.  The tiny shop smells AMAZING, and I scored the last bottle of Gnocchi in tomato sauce (much to Amanda’s chagrin), but we both also bought the basic tomato sauce ($10 a bottle).  I love everything about this little place

The shelves stocked with both full and empty bottles, the open kitchen, the simplicity of the shop… and did I mention the smell?  Of course Guillaume knew the owner, Franco, and so we had a chat and it turns out he used to have the restaurants Il Piatto della Nonna, which was a regular restaurant stop for both me and my friends as well as a few Lola & Emily staff nights (I know for a fact that my sister Steph and Sal will both say out loud when they read this “Il Piatto della Nonna” in a loud, terrible Italian accent, with the accompanying hand gesture, because that is what we did EVERY TIME the restaurant was mentioned… I guess it’s funnier if you hear it… or maybe you just had to be there… or maybe it’s not funny at all…).  Unfortunately, the restaurants are closed now, but thankfully you can sample to simple but delicious flavour of ”Nonna’s sauce” by visiting Drogheria.  I’m super excited to have the Gnocchi tonight, and also looking forward to going back and stocking up on Olive Oil (which is $15).  Amanda and I decided anything from this shop would make such a great hostess gift, and really, there’s nothing that I like more than discovering a new and interesting shop, resto, cafe or business in Montreal.  It makes me really appreciate and love this city. 

So, all in all, today was the perfect combination of work and leisure:

Hanging with my lovely partner Amanda, who I don’t get to see as often as I used to because now she has to balance motherhood and work, and she spends her work time mostly in Westmount, while I am on St. Laurent. 

Buying at the beginning of a new season is always fun because, well, it’s a new season, and catching up with friends who happen to also be business colleagues (or business colleagues who happen to be friends?) is an added bonus. 

Discovering a new place in my own city, AND having tonight’s dinner all figured out already…

It doesn’t get much better than that, right?

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Brands, Dave, Mom and other people we love, Delicious by Marnie