Cumbrae’s has been synonymous with high-quality meat in Toronto since the mid-1990s, growing from a single shop on Church Street into a full-scale fine-food operation. Its latest expansion, though, isn’t happening in the city — it’s happening an hour outside it, in Dundas, Ontario.
Founder Stephen Alexander purchased the original Dundas location back in 1999, and while renovation plans had long been on the table, everything changed when the neighbouring property — the old Majestic Theatre — came up for sale. Unable to pass up the nearly 6,000-square-foot heritage building, Alexander snapped it up and transformed it into what amounts to a Cumbrae’s flagship: a combined production kitchen, quick-service kitchen, and full sit-down restaurant, offering more than any of the brand’s Toronto locations.
The new space houses an expanded cheese selection, a wider range of prepared foods, breads from Spaccio and Dear Grain, and a bottle shop stocked with hard-to-find French and Italian wines. The licensed eat-in restaurant menu includes a prime rib French dip on ciabatta, a mushroom trio pasta with black truffle and burrata, smash burgers, and a dry-aged New York strip steak.
Rather than abandon the original butcher shop space, Alexander repurposed it into La Valle, a new artisanal gelato shop named for Dundas Valley, set to open by the end of July. Combined with neighbours like Detour, Dear Grain, Picone’s Fine Foods, and Pinbones Fish Market, Alexander says the goal is turning Dundas into a genuine food destination for the greater Hamilton, Ancaster, and Burlington area.
Planning a day trip out of the city? Cumbrae’s new Dundas flagship is reason enough to make the drive — and bring an appetite.