Feature: The Croatian Corner
Anyone who follows me on social media knows that this Italian girl loves her food. But I also love to let everyone else know about all of the Sault’s amazing places to eat and shop at.
In fact, whenever I travel, my friends poke fun at me because of instead of the trendy clothing shops, I seek out the food shops and the more imported, unique products they carry, the happier I am!
It is not unusual for me to pack a good size cooler and ice packs on road trips because “you never know what you might find” in other cities!
So, you can imagine my excitement when I walked into the Croatian Corner — located at 188 Bruce St. at the corner of Bruce and Wellington — and saw all of the magnificent products they carry. I am not exaggerating when I say, it felt like Christmas!
Now truth be told, a lot of the products are new to me, not being so up on my Croatian food but I will pretty much try anything once.
At any rate, the Croatian Corner opened its current store-front location in February of 2017 but they already had gathered a steady following selling their famous perogies and cabbage rolls, coincidentally at a “corner” location at the Mill Market for two years before that. In fact, they still can be found at Mill Market on Saturdays selling hot and frozen perogies and cabbage rolls during market hours.
However, to get the full effect of this successful operation, you really need to stop in and see the wide variety of authentic Croatian and Eastern European products available for purchase.
Croatian Corner owner Chris Tomas, who most refer to as Kiki, is a self-taught cook, learning to cook Croatian food from his mom. These are family recipes so you know they are going to be tried and true, which is why they have built a loyal clientele.
The perogies and cabbage rolls are definitely the biggest sellers but I was really impressed with all of the other products they carry. The deli area has a variety of sausages such as mild and hot csabai, chorizo, kielbasa, kulin, garlic csabai, other deli meats, interesting flavoured goat cheeses, sandwich spreads and add-ons, pickled items, and a wide variety of good quality imported Italian frozen foods like cheese tortellini, cappelletti, meat ravioli, gnocchi, at very reasonable prices, lasagna, chicken pot pies, ready made broth and of course, their in-house made perogies, cabbage rolls, kranjska sausages and cevapi sausages — to name a few!
Kiki does a lot of the cooking himself but there are also some other hard working ladies who help out a couple of days a week with the mainstays.
Lunch service is brisk and Kiki told Sault Business Matters that people often call in their order so it’s ready for pickup when they arrive.
People may be surprised to see the large selection of hot foods available daily for lunch. These items include perogies, cabbage rolls which can be combined, cevapi which are a seasoned beef and veal skinless sausage that are grilled and put on a warmed Lepinja bun and served with onions and a Croatian cream sauce, huge Croatian-style, half-pound burgers called Pljeskavicka and Kiki’s famous pork or chicken cutlets on a bun. All of these come with fries or soup.
For dinner, cabbage rolls, perogies, pork cutlets, and the Kranjska sausage are all available in various combinations, call 705-256-7878 for options.
For those in a hurry, the deli carries a grab and go area with specialty sandwiches, and salads.
Do you have a sweet tooth? Kiki has you covered with locally made desserts to be found in the fridge such as coconut cream, lemon merengue pie, carrot cake, brownies — and I can personally vouch for the cherry cheesecake which I took home the day I spoke with Kiki.
I was really like a kid in a candy store and bought so many things to try and I can honestly vouch for the chorizo, and the Croatian/Serbian burgers which I won’t ever try to pronounce!
While I visited, a “regular“ saw me looking curiously at some frozen sausages trying to figure out what they were and he advised me that they were very good so to no one’s surprise, I also brought some of those home with me upon this kind elderly man’s advice. He was so sweet that I don’t think he would steer me wrong. Witnessing the exchange between Kiki and this man, I got a good sense of why people keep returning, the service is friendly and the food is great. There were a lot of laughs and that is something Kiki says is common with many of his regulars. By the way, I think it was the kranjska sausage that he encouraged me to get but I am really just guessing at this point!
The store also carries a wide selection of Eastern European pastas, soup mixes, spices, jams, cookies, teas, and soup bases. I’ve heard that you must visit on Tuesdays or Fridays to try their famous donuts. One of the other big sellers to note from the freezer section is the Burek which can be described as similar to a phyllo like pastry that is filled with either cheese, meat, spinach, potato and cheese and Kiki says the meat ones are the most popular but they are all delicious.
In addition, catering is also available through the Croatian Corner and has proven to be very popular. If you are hosting an event, let Kiki and his staff take care of all your food needs. Catering is available for up to 150 people and as Kiki is apt to say, if you book it, he and his staff will cook it! They can provide food for any event you can think of, business luncheons, small weddings, showers, birthday parties, anniversaries and for pricing, all you have to do is give Kiki a call at 705-256-7878. Dessert party trays are also available in small, medium, and large sizes.
Kiki also loves to give back to the community and donated a percentage of sales to the recent Pedals for Possibility as well as supporting Duathlon 283 (DU283) in support of Algoma Family Services.
If you haven’t visited the store in person, do yourself a favour and do so since you are only seeing a small yet delicious tip of the iceberg at their “corner.”
Croatian Corner, located at 188 Bruce St., is open Tuesday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Each week a different daily lunch special is available from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Follow them on Facebook to see what the specials are and for other updates and holiday specials.
Special note: The Croatian Corner is also open at Mill Market on Saturdays during Market hours, serving its most popular items.
