If you live in Simcoe County, there's a chance chef Jim Garraway has cooked you a really nice meal.
For thirty years, Garraway worked his culinary magic in numerous restaurants preparing meticulously presented dishes, including at his own bistro in Barrie.
He loves to cook but three decades of gruelling restaurant hours were enough.
"I got to the point where I didn't want to do the fine dining thing anymore. Lifestyle reasons," he said. "It's pretty much all nights, all weekends. I decided I wanted to have a life."
Two years ago, Garraway returned to his roots by purchasing a century-old variety store in the neighbourhood where he grew up.
At Parkside's Corner Market, Garraway is still cooking. The meals are just not as pretty to look at.
"The store is fresh, home-made foods to go. Instead of fine dining, fancy plating, it's tasty, comfort food," he said.
Buying the old store and preparing take-away meals was his fiancee's idea.
"She said there's a lot of people out there that don't have time to cook themselves and don't want to be going out for dinner."
The biggest sellers are his shepherd's pie and beef lasagna but options run the gamut from ribs, to quiche and all foods comforting in between.
"Our focus is to make sure people come in and say 'Wow that tastes awesome' because with the presentation, there's not really a ton you can do with a take out container," Garraway explains. "We make it look as good as we can."
He says it's the flavour and his reputation as a chef that brings customers in and keeps them coming back.
Owning and operating the market is another turn in Garraway's career during which he prepared dishes for rock stars, movie stars and Prime Minister Chretien.
Garraway was Al Pacino's personal chef for a weekend and yes he does cook and tell.
"Al Pacino is no alcohol, so nothing cooked with alcohol. I made him lamb, prawns. He's very, very quiet."
Making what he calls 'move star chef money' was great and the most cash he'd ever earned in one day.
But when Garraway decided to settle back into Barrie, the first order of business was to give the market a facelift.
"It was an old variety store that hadn't changed in the fifty years I've been coming here," he said. "We took it apart and did a huge transformation. There was a hundred years of dust. A hundred years of dirt."
Amidst the mess, Garraway discovered some historic gems including one-hundred-year-old wood beams under particle board and original hardwood floors hiding under five layers of flooring.
The atmosphere in the store now is as comforting as Garraway's sheppard's pie with a huge side of nostalgia.
"A lot of people think we look like an old general store from Nova Scotia and that's kind of what we wanted."
He claims to have the best grocery prices in town and if you need just a single carrot from his produce selection, Garraway will sell it to you.
Just like it was done in years gone by.
"We're an old general store. We've got everything," he said. "You name it, we've got it and if I don't have it when you come in I'll probably have it next time you come if you've asked for it."
Parkside's Corner Market is located at 38 Parkside Drive.
