Anybody been to Artisanal Wilmette?

Hi- I just ran across this place on the local beet, and I had never heard of this before. Has anybody been here? I am in this neighborhood fairly regularly, and I am going to have to check this place out. I am sure it is expensive though. It is at 414 Linden in Wilmette, which has to be near the L station. Apparently they carry a lot of local stuff. Here is the link to the place.

http://www.artisanalwilmette.com/produc ... wed-beers/

Yes, they have a section of the store called happy room, which carries local alcohol.

Thanks, Nancy

Hi- Nobody has been here? I looked on Yelp, and the reviews are not exactly glowing, but there are only three reviews there, and they are all basically saying that the place is too expensive. Next time I am in the neighborhood, I might stop in there. It is just a few blocks West of the Bahai Temple, and I go down Sheridan Road on my way to Winnetka at least twice a month. Thanks, Nancy

I stopped by about 6 weeks ago. Yes, the food is expensive but are "gourmet" type items. I got the sense it is not doing great business, because the fresh items (produce, meats) looked sort of sad and wilted. I bought some La Quercia pancetta and some bread. I don't know where they get the bread, but it was excellent.

I should drop by tomorrow - I have to re-charge my CTA pass, and the Wilmette station has one of the machines that take my dedicated work-issued charge cards. This store is in the space long occupied by Dema's Foods, a small grocery store with a coveted Wilmette liquor sales permit, and it's great to see that its successor is an upscale version of the same idea. Mrs. D's Diner is right there, too. I may have to get a fried egg & bacon sammich. . .

That part of Wilmette is an untapped gold mine, BTW. Really high income area, right on the Evanston/Wilmette border, and easily accessible by both public transit and via Sheridan road. Tons of parking, and lots of vacancies. If this place finds an audience, it could spark a revival of this underused community resource.

We stopped by when it first opened and were quite disappointed. We love Real Kitchen on Montrose and Clark and were told that Artisinal would be a distributor of their excellent readymade dishes. There were a couple of offerings but not enough of a selection to bother. Nothing else appealed. The upside was that we paid our first visit to Alchemy which is a couple of doors west. Wonderful scones and great coffee! We don't even stop by Artisinal now on our regular visits to Alchemy.

I think you may need to give the shop another chance. I live in the neighborhood and love Artisanal. The shop always has fresh gourmet food, hot soups, house made sushi, not to forget the wine room and all the awesome local products. This place is a gem in a very sleepy town. Definitely worth another look.