I was recently bemoaning the fact to foodblogger that there are not many places in the Dallas area to find good pizza ingredients. Well, things are looking up. Recently, I discovered Jimmy's Food Store, at 4901 Bryant St. (at Fitzhugh), in Dallas (214-823-6180). I had heard of them before as a potential source of Italian foodstuffs (as a result of an intensive Google search), but a fire destroyed the store and it has taken about a year for Jimmy's to come back. And it has come back bigger and better than before.
I visited Jimmy's yesterday to see what it has in the way of quality pizza ingredients. Basically, the store's stock in trade is deli meats, cheeses, an extensive selection of wines (strictly Italian), a general assortment of imported Italian foodstuffs, and a few domestic foods, including canned tomatoes (more on this below).
In the deli meats case I saw Margarita stick pepperoni as well as another brand in a stick form whose name I did not note. The store also features some Boar's Head deli meats, freshly made Italian sausage, and various imported salume. For cheeses, I saw a deli slicing mozzarella cheese, which also comes pre-shredded in a bag (I was told that it is a step below Polly-O), Bubulus Bubalis buffalo mozzarella cheese (domestic from CA), the Mozzarella Fresca brand of fresh mozzarella cheese (only in the log form), and a Saint Louis-style Provel cheese. The latter is one I will want to try sometime just to see what the Saint Louis style pizza is all about. I also spotted the Stella slicing provolone cheese in the deli case, as well as imported provolone, Reggiano-Parmigiano, grana padano and several other hard-grating cheeses (including Romano).
For me, a major find was Stanislaus tomatoes and a few San Marzano tomatoes. The Stanislaus tomatoes are the #10 size and include the Full Red (in whole, diced, puree and sauce form), 7/11s, and Tomato Magic. As best I could tell, the Stanislaus #10s are all $4.99. The San Marzano's are DOP Cento ($3.99 for a 28-ounce can), and non-DOP LaValle, in the 28-ounce can ($1.99) and a much larger can size that looks to be about a #10 can size ($4.99). There are also the LaValle cherry tomatoes in small (very small) and large cans.
In addition to the above, there is a broad and diversified selection of olive oils and balsamic vinegars, anchovies, a broad assortment of Italian pastas, and a few dried herbs. They also make sandwiches using their deli goods, for consumption at a few tables or for takeout. I did not see any 00 flours, although I think I did see some packaged semolina flour.
While I was in the deli line, I had a chance to chat with another shopper. As a long-time customer of Jimmy's, he was of course delighted to see Jimmy's back in business. He also confirmed for me that there are very few Italian foods places in Dallas, so there is not much point in trying to scour the Dallas landscape to find a better place. The store is not especially large or fancy, and it doesn't have the breadth of Italian products that similar stores in other major cities have, but there was a crowd in the place, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. The crowd size made service a bit slow but the workers were efficient and pleasant. It will be a must stop for me whenever I am shopping in Dallas.
Peter
