For this installment of our holiday shopping series, we met Monday afternoon with Walter Stewart’s Market’s retiring and new store managers—Ann Cheney and Mike Gomez, respectively.
Here’s a transcription of our interview.
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Ann Cheney: “Once again, we’re offering Petrossian Caviar, and this year we’re really excited to offer Beluga Caviar, which is a sevruga beluga bent blend. And it’s by special order only, and we encourage everyone to get their orders in ASAP. We do need 72 hours to get you your caviar.” Available in 30- ($249), 50- ($407) and 100-gram ($1,002). Photo credit: Michael Dinan
New Canaanite: How are things going this holiday season? What are you seeing?
Mike Gomez: Busy. We are busy. I think we do a great job, our executive chef and team upstairs, answering that age old question” ‘What’s for dinner?’ Whether it’s our fresh offerings to actually cook or our prepared foods, which is above and beyond what I’ve seen in my experience.
Ann Cheney: We have great items for everyday pickups to relieve that burden, as Mike was saying, to provide entrees and sides, soups. We have wonderful quiche. But then we also really step things up during the holidays with our catering menu. Our executive chef has worked hard to put a great menu together this year, and we’re featuring some of the favorites from years past and then some new items, as well.
Neuhaus Chocolate from Belgium. Ann Cheney: “Neuhaus offers great packaging every season, beautifully packaged. And Neuhaus is the creator of the original Praline. So if there’s a box of chocolates, it originated with Neuhaus chocolates.” Sixteen-piece assortment $49.99, 8-piece $27.99. Photo credit: Michael Dinan
So many people associate Stewart’s with food, but you offer a lot more than that. Tell our readers a little bit about what they can find here beyond food.
Ann Cheney: We have a wonderful selection from Caspari for tabletop and decorating. We have crackers, which are really fun for Christmas dinner and holiday dinners. We offer an amazing array of wrapping paper patterns for kids and adults. Those items are always very popular. And then we have really fun tabletop and home decor items, Christmas trees and little furry animals. Gingerbread men.
Ann Cheney: “These Del Mar candles are 100% percent beeswax. We have them in tapers ivory and white for the table. And we also have these really fun candy canes. These are seasonal favorites.” Priced at $36. Photo credit: Michael Dinan
We have beautiful candles from Del Mar. These are beeswax candles. This one that I’m holding is the candy cane. That’s always very popular. We have that back again this year. Pennoni and Pandora from Italy. We have great seasonal specialties from Tiptree, brandy butter, and Christmas jam. Beautiful tinned holiday teas from Harney & Sons. We have pre-made gingerbread houses, handmade candy canes, decorated sugar cookies, chocolates, which reflect the seasonality—Santas, Christmas trees, ornaments. We also have an amazing selection of hooked pillows, an old-fashioned style of needlework. And they’re very festive. They have patterns for Christmas, we have a Mr. Pillow and a Mrs. Pillow indicating Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Those are fun. Christmas trees, black Labs. We have hooked pillows with golden retrievers. Dog pillows are always very popular.
Anne Cheney: “Providing a wow factor for every table are the Caspari Christmas crackers. They come in boxes of six or eight. They come in a range of different patterns: Santa Claus, Christmas trees, Santa hats, a lot of fun for kids and families. And they range in price from $23.50 to $36.50.” Photo credit: Michael Dinan
Mike Gomez: What I’ve noticed the difference here is that Ann has really procured so much more in the way of how to present that food, whether it be from the upscale tablecloth, the different patterns for seasons, all the things that she just mentioned to high-quality serving trays, items that you don’t see in every other supermarket. That’s where we really shine, I think in the specialty aspect of it. And again, that’s a nod to Ann’s work over the past 20 years, really bringing in what our clientele is used to. So we’ve become more of a destination, not just for food, but also for these specialty items. A lot of the brands that we have are specialty brands. My goal is to follow in the footsteps of Ann and continue to offer this community that high level that our clientele has come to expect.