Vyne Gourmet Shop opens

#Middlebury #Vyne

Dean Yimoyines Junior, left, and his dad, Dean Senior, hold packages of to-go dishes (lasagna and meat balls, respectively) from a refrigerated case at their brand new Vyne Gourmet & To Go shop. The shop below Vyne Restaurant opened December 11. (Marjorie Needham photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Looking for some gourmet items but dreading the drive out of town to obtain them? In a rush to come up with a great dinner? The new Vyne Gourmet Shop and To-Go can solve both these problems.

The shop, recently opened by the Yimoyines family, owners of Vyne Restaurant, is on the ground floor below the restaurant at 1365 Whittemore Road, in the space formerly occupied by a gift shop.

Father and son, Dean Senior and Dean Junior, showed us around the shop recently. Dean Senior listed some the items offered in the shop: gourmet cheeses that aren’t available nearby, items for a charcuterie board, imported pastas recommended by the restaurant chefs, specialty oils and balsamic vinegars and prepackaged prepared foods ready to heat and eat.

Perhaps the most exciting feature of the shop is that the owners want customers to tell them about items they would like to see stocked there. “That’s how we’ve always done well,” Dean Senior said, “by asking people what they are looking for.”

The day we visited, prepackaged foods in the refrigerated case included several types of lasagna, meatballs with sauce, meatloaf, eggplant Parmesan, chicken Parmesan, crab meat stuffed fillets of sole, chicken wings, marina sauce, and garlic butter. Specialty sandwiches usually can be found in the case, and quiches soon will be offered. All the dishes are prepared by the chefs upstairs at Vyne Restaurant.

If you are short on time and need to put a meal on the table quickly, you can pick up everything you need, including the wine or sparkling water, in one stop. You can even add some Bridgewater chocolates as a special treat.

On a counter to the right of the refrigerator case sat French baguettes, loaves of olive bread and ciabatta. Display cases on the opposite wall held croissants (apricot/almond and raspberry the day we visited) and individual servings of carrot cake, bread pudding and brownies.

Vermont Creamery cultured butter, pates (black pepper and truffle mousse) and cheeses, including goat milk, Manchego, raw milk cheddar, Danish cheddar and camembert were there, too. Meats included prosciutto and different types of salami. They had run out of antipasto, but it’s usually available.

Among the gourmet items on the shelves were a number of Stonewall Kitchens products, along with a variety of items imported from Italy. Choose your favorites from pickled asparagus, pickled carrots and blue cheese olives, along with dips, jellies and jams. Gentile pasta, recommended by the chefs, is on the shelves as are several types of gluten-free pasta made from corn along with Bove’s pasta sauces to go with them.

Freezer case offerings included wild boar sausage, venison sausage and smoked duck sausage. Also in the freezer were bags of frozen wild porcini mushrooms.

The shop also offers cappuccino, espresso and coffee. It is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Call Vyne Restaurant at 203-518-4000 and ask for the shop. Online ordering will be offered soon.

Note: The gift shop that formerly occupied this space has moved down the street to join Middlebury Furniture at 1101 Southford Road.