Double Bay Just Got a Very Delicious New Grocer — Meet Super Mercato

Double Bay has a new food obsession and this one could be dangerous.

Super Mercato has just opened inside Cosmo on Knox Street and it is somewhere between the grocer you wish was around the corner and the place you accidentally go for lunch three times a week.

There is beautiful fresh produce, an excellent looking deli, panini, salads, smoothies, prepared meals and a pantry full of things someone has actually thought about before putting them on the shelf.

That last bit is really the point.

Every product at Super Mercato has been vetted. Not because they are trying to turn grocery shopping into a wellness lecture, but because the team wants to make finding the better option easier.

And yes, there is still butter. And chocolate. Thank goodness.

The shelf edit is the clever bit

Super Mercato is built around a very simple idea. Shopping well should not require you to stand in an aisle reading every label like there is going to be a quiz later.

Products are chosen for a reason and the store tells you what that reason is.

Shelf markers point out things like High Protein, High Fibre, Better Fats, Low Sugar, Simple Ingredients, Local Maker, Small Batch and Organic.

So you can actually see what you are buying without needing a nutrition degree or a spare half hour.

Simonetta says the team is looking for the better version of everyday food. Sometimes that means a cleaner ingredient list. Sometimes it means a better fat, a local maker or simply something that tastes better.

Their rule is refreshingly straightforward. If they cannot explain in one sentence why a product belongs on the shelf, it does not belong there.

Then there is the deli

This is where things get especially tempting.

The fresh deli is serving panini, salads, yoghurt, juices and smoothies made daily, which means Super Mercato works just as well for a quick lunch as it does for the weekly shop.

The panini start from 588 calories and the smoothies look exactly like the kind of thing that will be photographed before anyone actually drinks them.

There is also a bit of tech built into the shopping experience.

Digital displays let you tap your phone against a product to see calorie counts, nutritional information and more about the brand behind it.

This new Double Bay opening actually started 70 years ago

Super Mercato may be brand new, but the family food story behind it is not.

It goes back to the mid 1950s when Antonio “Tony” Simonetta, known as Nonno Tony to the family, opened Moorebank Fruit Market in Sydney’s south west.

That is where the family’s connection to fresh produce, growers and good service really began.

Michael Simonetta later spent more than four decades helping grow Perfection Fresh, bringing products such as Broccolini®, Calypso® mangoes and Qukes® baby cucumbers into Australian homes.

Now that fresh produce background has been brought together with the wellness world of Anthony Simonetta, James Simonetta and Simon Hamilton, who are also behind XtraClubs.

And suddenly Super Mercato makes a lot of sense.

And no, this is not about banning the fun stuff

Sugar, butter, chocolate and flour are all welcome here.

Super Mercato is not trying to sell restriction. The focus is on better ingredients, fewer shortcuts and food that still tastes good.

Which is probably why the whole Mediterranean angle works.

Buy the tomatoes. Get the olive oil. Order the panini. Keep the chocolate.

Good to know

Home delivery is available across the full range.

Membership starts from $14 a month and includes member pricing, queue skip priority, enhanced delivery and preferred delivery windows.

Or just go in hungry and see what happens.