Vivaldi CQS

When I moved to Edinburgh I did a search for Italian markets/​grocers. When I lived in Surrey there were a couple great ones in Woking — not fancy foodie meccas — but local ‘cornershops’ that happened to be italian. Well, once in Edinburgh, I found the fancy shops — and they were good, but not places I could buy bulk items for little prices. I never give up and sure enough, I finally found VIvaldi. Tucked away among small industrial buildings, and with ‘business’ hours; you need to plan ahead to make sure you get there when they’re open. Saturday morning does it for us — bonus — they have a few parking spots in the forecourt.
Now, this is not a fancy shop, this is a wholesale distributor. This is where the small italian cafes and restaurants come to do their shopping. It’s a warehouse, with a basic display area out front. They have more than on show — and can order things, so it pays to have a chat if you can’t find what you want; but the display area does allow for a little browsing.
I come for just a few things — chinotto, tin tomatoes and olive oil. The Chinotto is a bitter orange cola that is unique to Italy. Now, sure grocery stores do tin tomatoes — but we get the large can of ‘Primo’ plum tomatoes. One large can is about the price of the small grocery store variety and the quality is leagues better. Dark, ripe tomatoes surrounded by a rich passata. Not pale orange tomatoes in a water broth. And the olive oil — I go through A LOT! So I love the 5 litre tins. I get the brown and green Colavita (made in Italy). The brown is a blend of regular plus extravirgin that I use for cooking and the green is pure extra virgin that I use for salads/​dressings.
They have lots of other goodies too — cheeses, meats, pasta, pastries, wines. All Italian. So if you want to get your Italian basics in a no frills warehouse — this is the place!