Alexina Epicerie Fine - Grande-Riviere

I tried your Venus' arms cake yesterday for my birthday and it was truly excellent.

Simply a gift for the people of Gaspé. One of the reasons why we love our life here. Consistent quality and originality. Thank you Marie and your team!

Driving from Percé around the south shore of the Gaspésie, and passing through Grande Rivière, we saw the Alexina sign offering espresso, stopped in and were almost instantly wowed. After ordering two lattés to go we paused to admire the prepared food offerings (pot pies, lasagna, lots more) pastries and specialty gourmet products (an amazing selection everything from oatmeal to fancy olive oils, balsamic vinegar products and maple syrup including lots of organic and “biologique” products), ordered smoked salmon bagels with chèvre and salad and stayed to enjoy them. Both salmon bagels, and salad were among the best we have ever had anywhere just fabulously good! A new deck (under construction when we visited in June) will be finished in July and will provide attractive outside seating.

It doesn't look like much from the outside, but if you are looking for an exotic raw milk cheese from France, local lobster raviolis or Ethiopian olive oil, this is the place to go! Their selection of olive oils was really exceptional and I walked out with 5 different speciality first press oils (including a lobster flavoured one! . I also picked up more run-of-the-mill spices (garam masala, anise along with some stuffed vine leaves and three types of cheeses (2 from France that I had never seen before, and one from QC that I had heard of but never been able to buy On top of offering a great selection of exotic foods you won't find at a grocery store, Alexina has a little café that serves dessert style goodies, similar to what you would find at a Starbucks but locally made. You can sit inside or on the terrace with a latté or espresso and a 3 chocolate torte or whatever the confections of the day may be. Alexina is definitely a great stop for foodies!

Good products and good food, but service can sometimes be a little slow.