For 24 years, Elisabeth Wieczorek has owned and managed Continental Delicatessen, a Polish European market and deli in the heart of the ByWard Market. The Continental Delicatessen was the first Polish market to open in the downtown core, with its first store on Rideau St. before its debut in the ByWard Square Building and then finally setting at 57 York St.

Wieczorek works in the store most days, but her daughter and a small number of staff help run the store as well. It has been a staple deli in the downtown Ottawa community and was the 1st Polish European grocery store and deli in the area back in 1956. Wieczorek acquired the Delicatessen in June 2001 after the original owners, who were family friends, needed someone they could trust to take over the lease.

“I remember when I started, many ladies, they were pregnant and now those kids are in their 20’s in university and they’re still coming,” said Wieczorek.

The Delicatessen sells a variety of Polish and European goods that are imported via catalogue warehouses in Toronto and Montreal. Wieczorek decides which international products she would like to order, then the warehouses do bulk international orders and distribute the products to smaller, local markets through Ontario and Québec.

The meat they sell are all gluten-free, mustard seed free, and nut free. It is sourced from Québec, making it more local, and is then smoked and cured by the original owners of the store.

The smoking used to be done in house, in the basement kitchen of the building, however new laws in the 2000’s no longer permitted the family to do their smoking in-house. The kitchen still gets plenty of use by Wieczorek, despite the inactive smoker still residing in the basement.

Handmade perogies and soup sit beautifully displayed in a back window of the shop. Wieczorek spends her time in the kitchen using old family and traditional recipes to bring ready-made Polish cuisine right into the homes of Ottawans.

When regular customer Olga Balan was describing what she purchased most from the delicatessen, she mostly talked about packaged products rather than Wieczorek homecooked meals.

It then became evident that the ready-made goods were in fact targeted towards local foodies who are not familiar with traditional Polish cooking.

“You know, we cook a lot… This is part of us being us,” said Olga Balan, a regular customer originally from Europe. “But I know some Canadian friends who used to come here for lunches, and they always gave great ratings to the products they bought here”.

Having local access to products from overseas is incredibly important to the Polish-European community in Ottawa. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Wieczorek even took to the roads and began a delivery service for those across the river who couldn’t cross over.

“I used to meet them next to the Museum of Civilization, exchange the cash. Oh, my goodness. Now, when I’m thinking of it, it was so insane,” said Wieczorek.

Balan comes into the shop almost weekly to restock her kitchen of her favorite European goods.

“It’s like home outside home,” said Balan.

The freshly made sandwiches are offered in 5 different styles that will be different each week. Different Polish spreads and condiments get used to offer variety to those who enjoy a quick on-the-go curbside Polish style deli sandwich.