The Grocer and the Chef — Attraction in Beaconsfield

Summary: I used to like this place because the staff are lovely but after speaking to the owner who was incredibly rude I no longer have any interest in supporting her.

Full story: We've been coming here for about 6 months since we moved somewhat close. I like to support small businesses as much as I can and the staff have always been very nice and helpful, so despite it being a little out of the way, we came here as much as we could. The selection is reasonable, more expensive but we didn't mind paying more to support them. We did have an issue before Christmas where every punnet of strawberries we bought had mouldy, soft strawberries in them.

Today we came in and sat in the car for a while because I was trying to sort an issue over the phone and kept being placed on hold, I didn't want to enter the store on my phone but after 10 minutes it became clear the issue was going to take a while. During the time of sitting there we watched the non-employee leukaemia fundraiser guy at the entrance light up a cigarette about a metre away from the no smoking sign (2 metres from the entrance) and puff for a minute or two and quickly put it back out. Before getting out he had lit up again and my husband asked him to move away from the entrance, he got snarky saying he already was so we pointed out that we had just watched him smoke there. I went in the store (still on hold) and asked the very nice gentleman behind the counter to call the manager because I assumed they would care that someone was smoking in front of their non smoking sign, 2 metres from the entrance. Apparently this assumption was incorrect.

The owner came down quickly and I apologised that I was on my phone while talking to her and explained I had been on hold for a long time and was unable to hang up (she did not respond), then I relayed what was happening out the front of her store. She said in a very rude, condescending tone "you do realise he doesn't work here, right?' I responded that I was aware of that but as he's smoking right out the front where customers have to walk through I assumed she would care. She said "If you have a problem with it you should call Leukaemia Australia and asked what I wanted her to do about it, I said I assumed she'd talk to him. She said "You just said you already did." I responded that as soon as we leave he isn't going to care what I've said and I thought she would care that he's impacting her customers. She then repeated multiple times that he wasn't employed there. She got increasingly rude which is impressive because she started off very unpleasant.

I said I don't know why she's being so rude and that I don't know what her problem is. She said she has two problems, that me being on the phone is incredibly rude while I'm talking to her and I should hang up (as I said earlier, I had already apologised for this and explained why I had to remain with the phone near (not over) my ear) and that he isn't her employee and has nothing to do with her. At this point my husband returned and I told him we're leaving because this lady is very rude and I don't want to shop there anymore. My husband asked, "why? You didn't do anything wrong" to which she laughed. We walked around the counter and said goodbye to the nice young man on the checkout and left.

I wrote out this entire incident as accurate as I could so anyone reading could decide whether or not they are comfortable supporting this woman. I'm personally not, but obviously we all have a different perspective on who is in the right in different circumstances and we ought to have the story to decide for ourselves. It would have been reasonable if she said something closer too "unfortunately he isn't employed here so there's nothing we can do about it but you could contact Leukaemia Australia and talk to them, or the police as he's breaking the law." Also, I called her rude 2 times and neither time did she deny it so I do think it was...

Boutique grocery store with artisan products and amazing deli serving delicious hot meals

Location: in the Hilton shopping centre complex with lots of parking options

Food Delicious. We have been coming here for a while to buy hot meals. The meals are chef prepared. Their meat arancini is the best arancini I’ve had in Perth. Ive tried arancini from other delis and even from restaurants around Perth but nothing beats the arancini here. Pizzas are delicious and crusty. Roast beef is super tender and soft. the pop up lunch is also great value. For $12-$15 you get a big tub of takeaway lunch. We bought the paella, delicious and generous serving size to share or for leftovers. The products they offer are boutique, artisan style. You can find a good selection of cheese and dips and drinks from brands you normally don’t find at Woolies/coles.

Service Always good, there is usually only 1 checkout/counter person but I’ve had quick service (unless it gets busy which is rare). There’s a dining area inside and some seating outside if you want to have lunch there.

Price On the expensive side. However, I think this reflects the quality of the food and products which are generally not stock standard brands that you can get at other mainstream grocery stores.

Overall I love this store for its hot meals, and boutique style brands. arancini is the best in Perth, pizza is crusty and fresh. It’s expensive but worth it for the quality. That’s why, despite the price, I’ve given...

Bought flowers around 4pm on Monday 20 March 2023 for my wife for our wedding anniversary. They cost $33. My wife put them in a vase but said they looked almost dead. She decided to take them back to the Grocer and the Chef this morning to complain about their condition. She spoke to the female manager who appeared not to believe that they had sold the flowers. My wife said she could go get me as I’d bought the flowers. The manager said that would help. We went back to the shop shortly after that and once again spoke with the manager. I showed her the transaction on my bank statement but that wasn’t good enough for her. She said she may check the CCTV to confirm the transaction. She took my mobile phone details and said she’d ring me for my bank details for the refund. When she rang some hours later she said I’d need to come in personally to complete the refund process as I’d need to enter my PIN. I again went to the shop around 3.30pm today and completed the credit. What a performance! Won’t be buying flowers there again! Very poor customer service and felt like we were made out to be criminals. Flower quality on display was...