Lifetime Kitchen was opened by a couple with 10 year of experience in the cutlery and cookware industry. You can find them on the second floor of the Wellington Mall. My friend and I are both proficient home cooks with a deep love of the Food Network so we were super excited to discover this new to us culinary candy store. Lifetime Kitchen scours the world for the newest and best products to help you become a celebrity chef in your own kitchen.
Lifetime Kitchen's extensive store inventory includes all kinds of appliances, Japanese knives, gourmet spices, mixes, and condiments, bakeware, pots, bowls, and all kinds of kitchen tools and gadgets. I have a Vitamix which I thought was top of the line but they had the even better brand new digital Ascent series here. They offer a lifetime of sharpening of any knives you purchase through them and they will price match on any product. Right now they have a really cool collaboration between Smeg and Dolce and Gabbana on a line of small kitchen appliances. I also love the retro design of the Smeg refrigerators. Products in this store are top of the line so expect to pay accordingly.
My favorite part of the store was the Art of Flavor oils and balsamic vinegar. They have a wide selection of flavored oils and vinegars that will take your food to next flavor level. The oils have the essence of the flavor while the vinegars taste vividly of what they are made from. Our favorite was the crisp anjou pear and the summer peach vinegars which were sweet and fruity. They will even mix the oils with their spices to make a flavorful marinade. The part I didn't like so much was the hard sell. While explaining the different oils and vinegars to us and letting us sample them with tiny pieces of bread, they handed my friend a recipe card that used them in preparing a chicken breast. Since the card was handed to us we thought it was free. Unfortunately we awkwardly found out that wasn't the case when my friend went to grab a couple more recipes on her way out after she made her oil and vinegar purchase. They were only 10 cents each but I didn't like how it was handed over like it was included. Also the price was really tiny on the rack holding the cards.
The sales people here are really pushy with selling their products. As soon as we entered the store we each had a salesperson trailing behind us the entire time. Then while trying the vinegar and oil the girl helping us kept trying to upsell. While browsing the store anytime I picked up something to look at it I was met with someone immediately saying that is the best and asking if I wanted it. I appreciate good customer service if I need something but this was smothering. I was actually so turned off I decided not to buy the pear vinegar too even though I was initially going to purchase some. I still would consider coming back for the reasonably priced oil, vinegar, and seasonings for a gift for my friends who love to cook but I am definitely more aware of their sales tactics. Their appliances are way out of my budget. read more