Agro Gourmet Review in the Dining Out Guide
When you think about imported and gourmet products, either for an exquisite dinner with friends or only like a detail to your palate, this store of the Romantic Zone is a must visit option
Agro Gourmet offers a totally different shopping experience and a broad selection of imported and gourmet items, along with eye-appealing fresh produce and specially prepared items for the discriminating host/cook at prices roughly equivalent to Rizo’s imports. Co-owner Mavi Graf and her partner Marc Lindskog were customers of Agro Gourmet before buying the business in 2003. Both love food, a passion that prompted the original purchase and their subsequent expansion of merchandise offered in the facility, which provides many of Vallarta’s finest restaurants and largest hotels with the ingredients for their respective gourmet menus.
AG undoubtedly carries the largest selection of spices (fresh and dried), many of which are Mavi’s unique custom combinations. The store’s baby greens, a mixture of eleven different lettuces, are a special treat when craving a crisp, fresh homemade salad. Typical of Agro’s focus on quality, eight of the store’s sixteen employees, are charged with sorting through the greens to assure that each leaf is just as it should be! If it’s cooking oil you’re after, Agro offers several choices of olive, as well as almond, coconut, hazelnut, grape seed and walnut, among others.
You will find most every ingredient needed to make a special dinner including chutney, artichoke hearts, canned baby clams, bottled grape leaves, paté, horseradish, fresh crabmeat, hazelnut and almond butter, canned squid, marzipan, anchovy paste, garlic/rosemary croutons, prosciuto, puff pastry shells, wild rice, prepared polenta, mascarpone cheese, Nori (and many other Asian products), phyllo dough, sesame tahini, several flavors of fresh pesto, rack of lamb, duck, veal, beef tenderloin, mussels, a huge selection of dried mushrooms, fresh berries and even banana and fennel leaves for a dramatic presentation of your piéce de resistance. If undecided about your menu, a brief consultation with Mavi, who can also cater your special event, usually provides clarity.
Should cooking not be what you had in mind this vacation, Agro Gourmet offers a variety of yummy freshly prepared food including soups, lasagna, ravioli, pizza, tuna and potato salad, as well as home-made gelato, granola, dried fruits, trail mix, deli sandwiches and baked goods, such as cookies, brownies, pies, scones, bagels and a variety of breads (whole wheat, sour dough, rye, pumpernickel and pita). For easy entertaining I love their dips red pepper, hummus and olive tapenade imported cheeses and spreads, gourmet crackers (including matzos, wasa and rice cakes), tabouleh, and couscous. In addition, Agro Gourmet offers soy-based products, chai and specialty as well as medicinal teas, including yerba mate, baked (vs. fried) tostados, free-range eggs and a decent selection of Atkins diet/ Splenda-sweetened items. Product labels are in English and at least three of the staff speak Gringo.
