Gourmet goods

New store has exotic meats, caviar, truffles, pâté and more

MIKE STOTTS/VIEWMandy Prosky, owner of Chez Gourmet, 10890 S. Eastern Ave., Henderson, offers her customers a variety of gourmet food specialities. Advertisement

When Anthem-area resident Mandy Prosky couldn't find the brand of pâté she was looking for in any of the local stores, she decided to open her own shop of specialty foods.

Prosky opened Chez Gourmet, 10890 S. Eastern Ave., three months ago. The store carries a variety of gourmet foods, ranging from exotic meats to chocolate truffles.

"I chose products mostly by what I like, my tastes," she said.

The products at Chez Gourmet include oils, vinegars, caviar, chips, cookies, candies, honey, hors d'oeuvres, specialty meats, mushrooms and truffles, pâté and foie gras, smoked salmon, butters, condiments, sea salts and teas.

"You can go into a local supermarket and buy olive oil, but it still doesn't compare to the olive oil I have," Prosky said, referring to the Spanish olive oil Parqueoliva, which she carries.

Prosky's exotic meats include items such as rattlesnake, antelope patties, veal racks, quail, buffalo patties, ostrich patties, kangaroo patties, Kobe beef patties, duck and rabbit sausages, whole rabbits, frog legs and venison.

Prosky said she also carries some of the best smoked salmon that can be bought in the city, Norwegian Dawn.

"Although it's not Zabar's, it's getting close," she said. Zabar's salmon is a brand sold in New York.

Prosky said she had been a stay-at-home mother for the past six years, and was ready to get out and start her own gourmet food business.

"This is my first venture on my own," she said.

In Albuquerque, N.M., Prosky owned a business with her mother that was not in the food industry. She said she chose the Anthem area to open a business because of the surrounding communities.

"The Anthem, Seven Hills, Green Valley areas I believe are wealthy and busy areas for what I'm trying to sell," she said.

Henderson resident Glenn Kalaf walked into Chez Gourmet shortly after it opened a few months ago. Kalaf has become a regular customer, and primarily purchases the Joseph Schmidt truffles, a chocolate line from San Francisco, and prosciutto, smoked salmon and Kobe beef patties.

"Every time I go in there, she has some new items to show. I always come out with something," Kalaf said.

Kalaf said Chez Gourmet carries items that cannot be found in the supermarket or stores like Whole Foods Market.

"It's a really gourmet shop. She carries a line of prosciutto I haven't been able to find anywhere," he said.

The prices are reasonable, Kalaf said, and he recommends Chez Gourmet to "anyone who enjoys the finer things in life."

Prosky said her products are suitable for many occasions.

"If (someone) were doing a small dinner party or gathering of sorts, they can find what they need. Or, just for a romantic dinner," she said.

Chez Gourmet delivers free of charge to Seven Hills, Anthem and Green Valley, with a delivery charge in areas that are farther than a 12-mile radius.

Items also are available for purchase online at www.chezgourmetlv.com.