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Trying to choose a selection of our favourite lunch picks from the last year proved too much like choosing a selection of our favourite children. So instead we present a complete year of lunch picks, ranked by price, from a humble porchetta sandwich (a reasonable $6.75) to a somewhat less humble five-course feast (treat yourself for $100).
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All stories relating to cafes
The rise of the indie coffee mini-empire
Dark Horse's new Queen and Euclid location keeps it real (Image: Jon Sufrin)
For Toronto coffee lovers, 2011 started in much the same way that 2010 finished: with further proof that the indie coffee craze shows no signs of slowing down. A third incarnation of Dark Horse opened at Queen and Euclid on January 2nd, joining Lit and Crema B Espresso as burgeoning mini-empires, with three locations each (a third Crema location is in the works). All of this, of course, raises the question: with indie cafés thriving due to their personal touch and attention to quality, will expansion mean selling out?
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Introducing: Sense Appeal, a cafe with a “director of coffee extraction”
This is the first cafe for the Nobleton-based roaster (Image: Jon Sufrin)
With an undeniable indie cafe explosion taking place, it’s only a matter of time before Toronto’s coffee scene enters the realm of molecular gastronomy. With Sense Appeal Coffee Roasters, which opened near the corner of Spadina and Adelaide last month, we’re getting closer. Head barista Sameer Mohamed, for example, only half-jokingly refers to himself as “the director of coffee extraction.” He argues that coffee is more complex than wine, but far less explored. “There are 1,000 volatile compounds in coffee that contribute to aroma and taste,” he says. “We have the capacity to manipulate 33 of those. With wine, there’s 200 compounds, and you can manipulate 15.” We’ll take his word for it.
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Introducing: The Abbott, yet another coffee shop in Parkdale
“Coffee shop opens in west end”—it’s a story we’ve been able to write not once, not twice, not three times, not four times, but five times in November. And now, number six: The Abbott.
The latest addition to Parkdale’s caffeine scene is truly a locals’ coffee shop (and shouldn’t be confused with this Abbott or this Abbott). The owners and the manager live within walking distance, and they opened the café to give their neighbours a place to hang out in the ’hood besides the seedy bars that line King Street west of Dufferin. The space, a former dry cleaner, is tucked around a corner on Spencer Avenue. “I saw the space, and I thought it would be silly not to open something,” says co-owner Fadi Hakim.
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Krispy Kreme is open for business at Bathurst and Harbord
Kids from Central Tech coagulate around the new Krispy Kreme (Image: Fraser Abe)
Long, long ago, there was a magical presence in Toronto, gracing food courts and office buildings like gleaming, artery-clogging jewels. We’re talking, of course, about Krispy Kreme, the American doughnut chain that shuttered its downtown locations in 2004 when stocks tumbled. Well, sweet seekers who have had to make do with Cinnabon, stale KK treats from the gas station or long drives to Mavis Road can rejoice: the chain has opened a tiny shop at Bathurst and Harbord, right across from Central Technical School.
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Toronto’s 13 new cafés: board games, Bohème and a resurrected waffle house
(Image: one2c900d)
These days, the arrival of a new indie café on Queen West or in Leslieville is about as novel as a Gap opening in a mall, which is why we’re pleased to inform readers that the newest coffee houses in town aren’t located in hipster hubs. Since our last café census in March, we count a total of 13 new spots for Hogtown’s java lovers.
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Introducing: Snakes and Lattes, the Annex’s clever new board games café
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Not since the opening of Sam James have we seen so many re-tweets and wall postings about a new café. But it’s not the coffee that’s generating excitement for Snakes and Lattes, it’s the concept: customers can choose from more than 1,000 board games and play all day for just $5.
“Coolest espresso machine on the planet” is coming to Toronto
Excitement brewing: the Slayer espresso maker (Image: slayer-espresso.de)
Slayer is coming to Toronto.
No, we’re not talking about the speed metal gods who brought us “Angel of Death,” but a much-hyped and curiously named espresso machine. This is not one of those hammered-copper eagle-headed art pieces from Italy. The $18,000 machine is raising eyebrows because it offers the barista a palette of pressure options to work with, opening the door to all kinds of experimentation with espresso’s tastes and textures.
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Introducing: Hub, Wallace-Emerson’s new indie coffee shop
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Toronto’s wealth of new indie cafés has been a boon to community life, but mostly for neighbourhoods south of Bloor. That’s not the case with Hub, which opened last weekend on a residential stretch of Shaw Street near Dupont. The spot has already gained a following from the residents of Dovercourt-Wallace-Emerson-Junction who are thankful they no longer have to hop on their bikes to find a quick lunch, a latte or a cool escape from un-air-conditioned townhouses. At midday on a Wednesday, the place is bustling with moms with strollers and dads giving their daughters piggyback rides.
Toronto reminds Calgary’s indie coffee shops that nothing comes for free
The sweet, sweet sound of money (Image: Slideshow Bob)
Re:Sound, a Toronto-based not-for-profit music-licensing company, is conjuring up icky feelings in Calgary—the same feelings its residents associate with parking police, vegetarians and central Canada. Recently, several of Calgary’s indie coffee shops have received bills from Re:Sound asking for royalties for playing music at their establishments. Michael Landry, the bearded owner of Ground Effect Café (apparently the scruffy barista look knows no borders), thought the notice was a joke; his shop has seven seats and plays mostly Icelandic folk music. Turns out a 2006 Canadian copyright law declared that recorded music is free only when played for personal, educational and religious use. Landry managed to wiggle his way out of paying the fee because he plays music in the kitchen and not in the sitting area. Businesses outside Stephen Harper’s zone of favouritism may not be so fortunate.
• Pay up if you play music, stores told [CBC]
• Playing music is costly for business [Fast Forward Weekly]
Toronto’s 14 new cafés: independent coffee shops continue citywide takeover
(Image: chelseagirl)
By our count, a whopping 22 new indie cafés opened in Toronto in 2009, but it looks like 2010 will be giving the java scene an even bigger jolt. In the four months since our last roundup, 11 new coffee houses have sprung up, and three more are on the way. Below, a list of the latest indie coffee vendors, from Little Italy to Gerrard Street East.
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Two vices are better than one: Toronto’s cafés break out the booze
A match made in Paris (and, increasingly, in Toronto) (Photo by Rob and Dani)
If we’re to believe Leah McLaren, the MacBook army has totally colonized Toronto’s coffee shops. Now, thanks to a new trend, they don’t have to leave when the sun goes down. More and more indie cafés are combining their coffee house concepts with bar concepts. By alternating between espresso and alcohol, spots like Blondie’s, Charlie’s Gallery and SpiceSafar are able to offer an all-day experience, while their teetotalling counterparts face a sobriety-induced early closure. “People enjoy a good coffee and a nice pastry in the morning, but they’re less likely to want the same thing in the evening,” says Scott Vivian, who recently took over Hank’s and added a nocturnal component, complete with Ontario wines and beer. “Rather than closing at 5, it just makes sense to do something else with the space at night.”
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Is free Wi-Fi killing Toronto’s indie cafés?
Laptop, tea and cake at a café (not pictured: jerk) (Photo by Nicki Dugan)
When not referring to Black Hoof co-owner Grant van Gameren as “Greg,” the Globe and Mail has been sticking it to “freelance hipsters.” On Friday, columnist Leah McLaren lamented the loss of café culture due to “MacBook-toting jerks” who take up tables and siphon away the free Internet at coffee shops. The phenomenon has been unfolding for years, but Wi-Fi has only recently been considered a make-or-break element of a coffee shop, much to the dismay of café owners who see their hangout turn into a study hall. “As more people plugged in, the energy of the café began to sink,” says Melanie Janisse of Zoots. “People would turn up, buy a $2 tea, hunker down and sit there for five or six hours not buying anything or talking to anyone. It really started to bug me.” That said, what are the odds this is being read on a laptop in Dark Horse on Spadina right now?
• Where did café culture go? [Globe and Mail]
Just Opened: El Almacen brings authentic yerba mate to Queen Street West
A slice of Argentina on Queen West (Photo by Catherine Hayday)
Along the still-evolving stretch of West Queen West between Dovercourt and Ossington, Silvio and Estela Rodriguez have quietly opened El Almacen—“the general store”—a café specializing in the South American infusion yerba mate. Made from an evergreen holly of the same name, the drink has a distinctly earthy, barn-ish flavour. Natural food lovers are likely familiar with prepackaged options, but this is Torontonians’ first chance to have yerba in context: served in a cured gourd, drunk through a bombilla (a filter-tipped metal straw), and passed between friends over a lazy few hours of good conversation.
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Twelve new indie cafés: Toronto’s thirst for coffee poured by hipsters proves unquenchable (for now)
(Photo by Alan Turkus)
As Starbucks attempts to boost profits with its instant coffee and Tim Hortons’ profits tumble, Toronto’s indie café craze just won’t abate. We seem to write this article every few months—and with good reason. In the past 15 weeks alone, at least nine decent new cafés have popped up, with several more scheduled to open before Christmas. We visited the new spots and learned that the only thing they have in common is that they appeal to divergent tastes. From Leslieville to the Junction, here are the 12 latest spots to keep the city buzzing.
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