Last night, the new Oakville Grocery at the Scottsdale Quarter opened to a packed house of chefs, industry professionals and local food lovers for a VIP Grand Opening celebration. At 6 p.m., guests began to trickle in while the grocery's in-house chefs and local vendors set up tables with samples of everything from Essence's fabulous mini-macarons to andouille sausage and cheese curds.
Within an hour, Oakville's 7000 square foot shop was packed -- so packed, in fact, that guests trying to brush their way past the crowd accidentally knocked over a champagne bottle from the store's wall-mounted wine rack.
| Oakville's champagne rack made a big splash! |
The bottle burst with a loud crash and the crowd froze for a moment, only to begin chattering and cramming food in their mouths a moment later. Guess the Napa Valley grocery's new Scottsdale outpost can consider itself christened.
Among the VIPs we spotted Chef Aaron May, whose Mabel's on Main cocktail lounge is highly anticipated (still no word on the opening yet). Tammie Coe and former Digestif pastry chef Tracy Dempsey were also in the house.
| Dempsey's Bacon Pecan Brittle sounds strange, but as she says, "it's just like putting maple syrup on your pancakes and bacon." |
Speaking of desserts, there's no lack of sugary treats at Oakville. In addition to Dempsey's caramels, they carry Essence Bakery macarons, Julia Baker chocolates and their own housemade pastries and pre-bagged candies. Most of the vendors were on-hand last night sampling their goodies.
Equally impressive is Oakville's cheese counter, which stretches through half the store, and their meat selection, which ranges from nicely marbled steaks to kebabs and sausages made in-house.
