Pre-pandemic, whenever I traveled abroad, no matter what city I’d find myself in, after hitting the bookstores, I would always be on the lookout for specialty food stores and premium food halls. In Paris, it would be Fouchon and La Grande Epicerie at Bon Marché, London has Fortnum & Mason and the Harrods Food Hall, and I love the food basement floors of Mitsukoshi and Takashimaya in Japan.

Here in Metro Manila, for decades, Santi’s and Bacchus Epicerie would serve that function, specializing in food items that hail from Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. But it’s great to note that diversity and choice is now becoming a byword here; as young, daring food entrepreneurs have created online stores that offer the best and select from France, Japan, and points beyond.

Among this crop of new specialty food importer/retailers, Dough & Grocer is my favorite. D&G set up shop in July 2020, and just last week, opened their first physical store on Sct. Gandia (across Prologue, my go-to resto when in QC, and which is owned by the same group). They’re open for walk-in’s 9-5, and for deliveries even throughout the ECQ. And of course, you can head to their Facebook and Instagram platforms. Two new physical stores at Estancia Mall and Westgate Center Alabang are in the works.

Dough & Grocer see themselves as a specialty food outlet that carries premium, restaurant quality products, pantry staples, fresh and frozen goods, and other ingredients for home cooking and dining needs. There are air-flown fresh and chilled items, plus special unique gifts for all occasions.

Personally, I’ve always loved their true butter selection - the rustic & the tarragon-infused, their truffles, the fresh oysters, the white giant asparagus, their smoked salmon, the special seasonal white strawberries, and their scones and clotted cream! Among the Japanese items that are now being introduced, my eye is on the Yuzu juices and mixed drinks.

What it comes down to is the curating - the splendid selection that D&G makes available to the discriminating homeowner and budding chef. Alyanna Uy, and French-trained Japanese chef and consultant, Hiroyuki Meno, can take a bow here, as they’re largely responsible for this. For Meno, having worked in Michelin-starred restaurants, it was his familiarity with the brands and products that he has worked with.

To visit the Dough & Grocer world is like entering a mini-Fauchon, or Harrods Food Hall Lite - and for me, to be able to do that just by scrolling their social media assets, and having the goods delivered, is a slice of Food Heaven. That there are now physical stores is an added bonus and I’ll be heading there as soon as this ECQ is done.