If it’s been a little while since you visited The Stores Grocer on Montague Road in West End, we think its high time you made another trip. The entire warehouse-style venue has been remodelled into a light and airy European-style food hall under the culinary curatorship of head chef Jacopo Corbetta whose rich culinary history includes a stint at Michelin-starred Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio as well as Bondi institution Icebergs, where Jacopo was head chef. The new-look grocer is a one-stop-shop for at-home entertaining and offers the finest cuts of cured and aged meat, mouth-watering charcuterie, a walk-in fromagerie room filled to the brim with 150 different cheeses, an abundance of salads and different varietals of ethically sourced olives and the freshest produce to fill your basket. There are also plenty of gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options with soups, sauces, condiments, curries, cakes and more to take your fancy. If you’re keen to outsource to the experts, Jacopo has worked his culinary magic on the kitchen’s menu to offer a selection of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook meals including The Stores Made range, which features a range of delectable artisan pastas and decadent cakes made by The Stores Grocer’s resident pâtissier. Lunches and breakfast can be enjoyed take-away or inside the cool indoor setting or breezy courtyard with a Fonzie Abbott coffee.
In line with The Stores Grocer’s commitment to sustainability, the venue is also home to Queensland’s first refillable wine dispensary, which is every bit as glorious as it sounds. The dispensary currently features four easy-to-drink everyday wines including a dry mid-weight verdelho (white), a crisp cabernet sauvignon rosé and a medium-red blend with sultry aromatics, spice, cinnamon and floral fruits and full-bodied red. The small-batch grape juice is blended locally by Master of Wine Peter Scudamore-Smith and is $20 for one litre however first-time sippers must also purchase the venue’s specially designed one-litre glass bottle for $12 but then it’s yours to fill and refill to your heart’s content. The Stores also boast a range of local beers, spirits and liqueurs made within a 300 km radius of Brisbane, so you can sip a bit more locally.
