{"id":394756,"date":"2026-01-07T21:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/394756\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T21:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:48:13","slug":"what-cheese-boutique-owner-afrim-pristine-always-buys-at-no-frills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/394756\/","title":{"rendered":"What Cheese Boutique owner Afrim Pristine always buys at No Frills"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Illustration by Kat Frick Miller<\/p>\n

When Afrim Pristine\u2019s grandparents opened Cheese Boutique in Toronto\u2019s Bloor West Village in 1970, they laid the foundation for what would become a city staple. The family business \u2013 these days led by its third generation \u2013 has expanded, adding its Bottega shop a few years ago. <\/p>\n

Pristine, who is now the owner, is surrounded at work by more than 500 types of cheese, including around 150 from across Canada. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur cheese counter represents Toronto \u2013 there are cheeses from over the world,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

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His own diet reflects his family\u2019s roots: a father with Albanian heritage who grew up in Turkey, and a mother from Naples. Growing up he ate a lot of southern Italian food \u2013 tastes and flavours he is passing on to his own son, Leonardo, who just turned 2. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s addicted to pasta,\u201d Pristine says. <\/p>\n

At home, Pristine and his wife cook in the Italian tradition, relying on high-quality olive oil; cheeses such as gouda, buffalo mozzarella and from the shop; and in-season vegetables and fresh bread from Sanremo, his local bakery. Recent meals have included hearty pasta with a side of bread, paella with chicken and a homemade shepherd\u2019s pie, part of an effort to broaden their son\u2019s palate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe enjoy making meals like that because they\u2019re complete: You have carbohydrates, protein and vegetables in there,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

In September, they all went to Turkey in part to expose Leonardo to more tastes and so Pristine could learn more about his family\u2019s cooking traditions. <\/p>\n

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There, he shopped at Istanbul\u2019s Grand Bazaar for fresh nuts, plus spices such as isot pepper and zaatar, purchased olive oil from one of the oldest factories in the world, introduced his son to a traditional Turkish breakfast and learned to make a dish of fried halloumi with warm spices and date molasses (pekmez). <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an emotional, special moment for me to introduce my wife and son to a lot of the food I knew growing up,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

How I save money on groceries: I frequent my local No Frills because they do a great job at keeping prices low for my staples and healthier snacks. <\/p>\n

How I splurge on groceries: I frequent Eataly at Sherway Gardens, where I get my wine and liquors from Italy, fresh pasta (I\u2019m addicted to their lasagna) and ready-made pasta sauces. The prices can be steep, but their products are really good. <\/p>\n

The hardest shopping habit to keep up: Avoiding takeout. My job involves a lot of events. I rarely have time to eat at work, which makes healthy eating and trying to avoid late-night binge eating tough.<\/p>\n

How I\u2019ve changed my eating habits recently: My wife and son typically have dinner earlier than me, and she now saves my portion and I try to stick to eating that \u2013 a healthy homemade meal.<\/p>\n

The items always in my cart:Chili miso \u2013 Okazu \u2013 $13.99: This is a chili, miso, sesame crunch made in Toronto. I didn\u2019t grow up eating Asian-inspired food, but I love it mixed with cream cheese on bread, or with roasted carrots or broccoli to give the vegetable a kick.Frozen summer sweet peas \u2013 Green Giant \u2013 $3.99 for 750 grams: I make this pea recipe that my mom used to make with butter, shallots, chicken stock and a lot of Parmigiano Reggiano. The peas cook in that mixture and become creamy. I can turn it into a pasta dish \u2013 called pasta e piselli in Italian \u2013 or eat it on the side with a protein. My son loves them. White balsamic vinegar \u2013 Leonardi \u2013 $34: This brand of vinegar is our go-to for salad dressing, and has a much lighter taste compared with black balsamic. Cranberry cashew crisps \u2013 Kii Naturals \u2013 $7.39: These are great with cheese. I usually eat them with a blue cheese like gorgonzola, Saint Agur or Blue Elizabeth. The crackers are all natural, and the company is based in Toronto. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Illustration by Kat Frick Miller When Afrim Pristine\u2019s grandparents opened Cheese Boutique in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,45,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-394756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}