Mercato Fresh, a boutique-style food market that opened in Chatham in February, has been such a success the concept will soon be imported to Windsor-Essex.
Jonathan Reaume, owner of Windsor’s Toscana restaurant, and Marc Romualdi, owner of M.R. Meat Markets, joined forces to launch Mercato Fresh. They pioneered the concept envisioning convenience for busy families with hot and cold prepared foods, fresh produce, meat and fish, a bakery, a café and fresh sushi offered, all offered under one roof.
Rosati was chosen to design-build the 14,000-square-foot market in a portion of the former Target store on Grand Avenue West. Providing the feel of a farmer’s market was a design goal, said Reaume, and after that “our job is to deliver on locally sourced goods, great service and value.”
Given the success of the first store, Reaume and Romualdi have decided to move forward with the Mercato Fresh concept in the Windsor-Essex County market.
“We are very pleased with the way the store turned out. From sketches on loose paper to the beautiful end result, Rosati was able to take our ideas and design what will become our model for each store going forward. Every last detail was thought of. Whatever we hadn’t thought of, we changed on the fly. They were able to work with us every step of the way to make certain we got exactly what we wanted.” Jonathan Reaume, Co-owner, Mercato Fresh
