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Referred to as Little Poland by long-time residents and Roncey by the younger crowd, the Roncesvalles strip is one of the few neighbourhoods in the city that has earned its “hip” label without been invaded by raucous nightlifers. Progress keeps marching forward here, despite an ongoing road rehabilitation project that has claimed a few business causalities. We recommend spending a spring Saturday visiting these 25 spots.
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(Image: ed zeppelin, from the Toronto Life Flickr pool)
Every time a Toronto café becomes popular or thinks about expanding, its indie status is called into question. People are quick to use the words “chain,” “sellout” and, most offensive of all, “Starbucks.” There was an article in the Globe this week announcing the creation of the Toronto Coffee Conspiracy, a group of third-wave café owners—such coffeemongers as Matt Taylor of Mercury Espresso, Sam James of his namesake spot, Matt Lee of Manic and Ed and Deanna of Dark Horse—who have banded together to promote their businesses and spread the word of proper java making. And it didn’t take long for the haters to log on and sound off.
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On the fly: a typical airport dinner at Pearson (Photo by Ed Kohler)
• Harried travellers are often at the mercy of the overpriced, under-flavoured food on offer in most airports. Well, Michael Blackie has their backs—sort of. The globe-trotting Ottawa chef reveals some of the better eating options at terminals throughout the world. Montreal’s Trudeau Airport gets points for sandwiches; Vancouver scores high for Globe@YVR’s locavore-friendly menu (a 100-mile restaurant at the airport? That’s like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife). JetBlue’s new terminal at JFK and Heathrow’s Terminal 5 are notable for their luxury cuisine offerings. Sorry, Toronto—all you get is Wolfgang Puck, mentioned in the same breath as Tim Hortons. [Globe and Mail]
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Double your fun: Sam James brews a two-pot siphon coffee
The caffeine crowd has kept the on-line forums busy over the past few weeks in anticipation of award-winning barista Sam James’s new place on Harbord Street. And now, after three months and a few bypassed opening dates, the Sam James Coffee Bar is finally open. “I didn’t want to open until everything was perfect,” says James. “It’s a shame when you go to an espresso bar and you’re let down by the coffee.”
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Irregular joe: Chris Tellez pours his way to first place at the Regional Barista Championships (Photo by Cristene)
The atmosphere may have been frothy at the Seventh Annual Regional Barista Championships at the Gladstone Hotel last Sunday, but the competition was no cake walk. Fourteen coffee aficionados had 15 minutes to impress six judges (two technical and four sensory) with 12 cups each (four espresso, four cappuccino and four signature). Marks were docked for such Emily Post–like infractions as improper spoon positioning and more than half a finger nail’s worth of waste. We caught up with the top five winners and asked them about the second coming of coffee, what makes a good cup, latte art backlash and why Starbucks isn’t all that bad.
Like beer, which has been catapulted to celebrity status with the craft brewing movement, coffee has been gaining ground. The Toronto bean renaissance continues with a slew of new cafés, including an new eponymous joint from this year’s second-place champ Sam James, coming August 8.
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