DJ Market and Italian Centre

Lululemon and her fiancé Books took me along on a Saturday shopping trip, as she’s been wanting me to check out DJ’s Market. When they picked me up, Lululemon had an iced Starbucks coffee for me to enjoy, which psyched me even more for this trip. Let’s listen to “August” by Taylor Swift for this post.

Lululemon is a vegetarian, so getting the freshest vegetables and fruits is important. She swears that not only does DJ Market have the largest selection of local and BC produce, but it is also cheap.

I was in awe when I walked in. There are two fridges full of fancy mushrooms, Hutterite chicken and eggs, sausages, and stands of fresh BC fruit. On the day we visited, I grabbed the sweetest bags of carrots ($3.99), English peas ($7.99), Hutterite chicken thighs ($8) and a flat of eggs ($9). Lululemon picked up mini cucumbers and beans for pickling, dill, a box of blueberries and bags of fruit.

Lululemon and I continued our journey to the Italian Centre. I followed her around the store and copied whatever she did. We waited in line for the cheese and olives. I stood by the aisle to wait for my turn, out of the way of other customers, while Lululemon went to the pasta aisle. I saw a man look directly at me and strode over to me. I immediately freaked out, thinking he was coming my way to yell at me. I ran over to the counter, closer to other customers. He pivoted, approached me, and disarmed me with one sentence: “Do you like olives?” I responded in the affirmative and tried his olive sample. Oh my gosh – this place truly is a paradise. Where else do you have people offering such delicious treats?

When it was our turn at the deli, we sampled various kinds of cheese, and I bought Appenzeller Swiss Medium ($13.31), Ubriaco Rosso Piave ($12.45) and Full Monty Olives ($8.95). I’m a faithful and diehard Peasant Cheese fan, but the employees at the Italian Centre know their stuff, have the hugest selection, and the prices are unbeatable.

I also bought a frozen meat lasagna ($50), packages of my new favourite dried pasta, Risa ($2.19) and an Arracini ($8.50) to go. The arancini was crunchy and soft and mealy on the inside. The tomato sauce was bright and thick, with a vibrant zing.

The next day, my in-laws and L raved about the cheeses and olives I bought back. The eggs and fresh chicken are the best I’ve bought in Calgary. I loved the produce so much that I dragged L to DJ’s Market two weeks later. The employees came around and greeted me, while the female owner recognized me and welcomed me back. When I told her she had the best produce and prices in town, she took a deep breath and thanked me, saying it meant a lot because she had just had some rude customers yell at her that the prices were too high and as a result, they were never coming back. She said they work so hard to keep the prices down, but she can’t prevent the rising cost of produce. I responded that no place sells produce fresher or cheaper than DJ Market, so good riddance to them.

Thanks, Lululemon, for opening my eyes to see the light. I’m now the Italian Centre and DJ Market’s number 1 fan! Looking forward to the next food adventure with you.