The Grand Onion Awards & in the Press

2005 Small Business of the Year

Plattsburgh - North Country Chamber of Commerce

Trevor & Zaidee, on behalf of The Grand Onion, recieved this award at the annual Chamber Awards Banquet & Dinner Dance on January 20th, 2006.  The Chamber is proud to honor businesses that have shown a strong commitment to the economic vitality of the region. Each year, the Chamber awards one winner each for Business of the Year, Small Business of the Year, Business Person of the Year, Economic Development Partner of the Year and Volunteer of the Year. The Grand Onion has thrived in downtown Plattsburgh and brought a whole new dimension to the culinary options available in northeastern New York. For that, and for its commitment to the region, The Grand Onion was selected as Small Business of the Year.

From the Insiders' Guide: Off the Beaten Path®-New York

by William G. and Kay Scheller (2005)

(pages 56-57)

"Downtown Plattsburgh was never known as a must-stop specialty food destination--never, that is, until Zaidee and Trevor Laughlin opened The Grand Onion a few years ago.  The little shop, tucked into a side street and jammed to the rafters with gourmet comestibles, is now known to just about every educated palate in the North Country, leaving us to wonder whether the gentrification of the lakeshore city gave us the Grand Onion, or the other way around. Don't plan a picnic without stopping here first: You'll find fresh artisan breads, imported and domestic deli meats, including pungent Italian salamis, cheeses from around the world (and around the Lake Champlain region), and homemade salads. If you're lucky, the Laughlins might have a couple of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies to end your picnic on a sweet note. Or, if lunch is long past and it's time for a carryout dinner, head straight to the back of the store, where Trevor serves up his entree of the week: There may be smoked salmon cakes, chicken piccata, or duck confit with leeks.

The Grand Onion however, isn't just a picnic provisioner. There are plenty of goodies here to bring home too, ranging from walnut oil to tamarind paste, Venezuelan chocolate to Derbyshire biscuits, and loose British teas to Austrian elderflower syrup. And, if your timing is good, you'll be popping in on one of those occasional Saturdays when the Laughlins slice open an aged wheel of English cheddar or Parmigiano Reggiano for all to try.

The Grand Onion, 21 Bridge Street, Plattsburgh, (518) 56-ONION, www.grandonion.com, is open Monday through Friday 10:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M., Saturday 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; call for seasonal Sunday hours. Ask about getting on the store's e-mail list--weekly newsletters will keep you posted on new products, many of which can be mail ordered."

From "Champlain: New England's Great Lake" by William Sheller, Yankee Magazine, June, 2004

(In writing about his visit to Plattsburgh, ... ) "Best of all, we found The Grand Onion, a specialty foods shop light years agead of lunch-bucket days.  While Trevor Laughlin whipped up chicken piccata as the entrée of the week, his wife and co-proprietor Zaidee took us on a tour of shelves crammed with cloudberyr jam and marzipan, aged balsamic vinegar and artichoke pâté.  We laid in a picnic supply of Wensley dale cheese, just-baked focaccia and Italina mineral water."

From "Going back to Plattsburgh" by Susan Pinker, Montreal Gazette, August 16th, 2003

"... I followed the recommendation of a local and visited The Grand Onion, a gourmet food shop, where that day's sandwishes were Tuscan ham and gorgonzola, and a spinach wrap with freshly grilled vegetables.  Owner Trevor Laughlin stocks 60 types of imported cheeses as well as freshly baked bread, olives, spreads, several kinds of prosciutto and salami, and a genuine Adirondack pack basket to put it all in.

"We see a significant number of Canadian folks come up from the marina or who've seen our cooking show on TV," he says, as his sidekick, teacher Tim Hanrahan, hands us a little bowl of his black bean and sausage soup to taste."