City Canteen is an artisan food market of small batch makers, where the products on the shelves are also used to create a menu for the fully licensed space.

At the back of the space there’s a full kitchen setup that mimics a home environment where classes are held and local creators come to make pasta and cure meats, all while offering samples to the public.

Private dinners are also held in that back space. Just before that a communal tasting and dining table seats twelve.

A bright front cafe bar area has individual tables and a low bar facing the front window.

Sugarfina makes boozy adult candies like scrumptious champagne bears, single malt scotch cordials, bourbon bears and rosé roses. Small boxes are available for around $10, larger ones for around $25 - $30, and you can build your own set for $36.95.

Babancu truffles ($3.50 for an individual chocolate, $28 for a box) aren’t available in any stores except this one, and the creator holds classes here.

Brazilian-style brigadeiros ($2.75) are made locally by Chocollata and come in flavours like cappuccino and drool-worthy dulce de leche.

Head to Tail Craft Meats head salumist Nicholas Hayward uses the space to create and cure meats, one of the guys you just might catch using the kitchen at the back and handing out free bites on the right day.

Melt-in-your mouth sausages for $9/100 grams come in picante, crespone, French onion, and more ever-changing varieties.

Innumerable great Canadian products line the walls, ranging from popcorn from Saskatchewan to honey from rescued Ontario bees.

Cafe pastries are by Petit Thuet, including an apple raisin bun ($3.50), butter croissants ($2.50) and a sugar beignet ($3) that’s like eating a sweet cloud.

A variety of fresh salads are always on offer, like a mixed tomato for $3 per 100 grams. All salads are dressed using different vinegars off the shelf.

You can grab anything to go, of course, but eat in and they’ll amp up the presentation. Their signature bread pudding is $6 to take out wrapped in paper, but $8 to eat in plated with creme anglaise and a cherry reduction from the shelf.

The sauces up the moisture component on this already spongy dessert made with Petit Thuet croissants, a creme brulee filling and dark chocolate.

A perpetual rotation of hefty gourmet sandwiches ring in at $9 for kinds like curry chicken, smoked salmon or smoked meat.

They also do cheese and charcuterie plates using the rescue honeycomb and local cheeses from small Ontario and Quebec farms like Monforte. Goes great with equally local Blood Brothers or Henderson beer.

Shop, drink, taste, and learn all under one roof here.