Friendly Entrepreneurs

Inspired by this post on Blog TO, Christian used his Nova Scotian charm to get us an invite to a coffee cupping session at te aro in Leslieville last week. I've never been to a wine tasting myself, but this is very similar to what I'd imagine the ritual to be. A lesson on coffee history, flavours, roasting, and grinding - complete with 'Coffee Tasters Flavour Wheel' for descriptive inspiration, some bean profiles to give us hints about our samples, and a list of cupping basics.

I forgot my camera that evening, so I apologize for the poor-quality cell-phone images. I just hope that I can convey the value of this worthwhile little business, and how hard the owners are trying to reach out into the community to share their passion for coffee. Thanks very much to owners Jessie and Andy Wilkin for the experience, and for helping add to my knowledge of and interest in this place called Toronto.

te aro in its renovated garage space on Queen st.

Fuzzy view of the tasting table. I particularly loved this gorgeous salvaged wood countertop.

We had the opportunity to taste three yummy coffees, and decided to take home some beans and a grinder too. Our favourite was the Etheopian Sidamo (description: blueberry, rhubarb, lemon, lime, jammy, fruit punch, floral).

And for my mother we snapped this shot of the Swiss Made Coffee Center with her personal hero Roger Federer. More on the Federer connection here.

Murmur Street View

What better way to develop a sense of place in your city than strolling through it and listening to stories about the things around you?

I've been doing a little research on Murmur, and decided to listen to some stories while on a virtual stroll using Google Street View. The following are a few highlights from Toronto and one extra from Leith, Scotland. It's worth dialing the number's on the little green ear signs around town, or surfing the streets with the stories playing at home. See the Murmur website to find out which cities are part of the project.

Vesuvio: This sounds like a good Italian restaurant to try out in the Junction neighbourhood. Definitely on my list now. Doug Hain has a great story about eating here while he was in school in the 50's. Imagine pizza being a "foreign food".

Dooneys: This one is such a sad story. I was listening to some great memories about the community that surrounded this cafe at 511 Bloor, especially Dan Yashinsky's attempt to place a curse on anyone who would replace it with a chain store (there was a big fight to keep Starbucks out). According to Google Street View though, it's now the T Cafe so I looked it up, and sadly Dooneys was sold in 2008. Here's the story. How many times did I walk past here without a second glance, when it meant so much to the regulars?

Baldwin Steps: This is around my new neighbourhood, at the bottom of Casa Loma and Spadina House. I had no idea that this is the former edge of Lake Ontario (Lake Iroquois). Also, I was curious about the lovely lighting in this area (best taken in on a stroll after dark). Have a listen to what Brad Golden has to say about it and check out the Spadina Line project webpage.

Madison Ave: While surfing around the Baldwin Steps area, I came across this kid alone in a park sitting up on a high tree stump. Very strange, and I can't think of how he possibly got up there. Any ideas?

The Queen Alleys: Unfortunately this is as close as I could get to the alleys on Google Street View. This one is definitely worth a real life walk-through I think. Here's the story, and here are a set of pictures from inside.

Rumbletums: This is a little place in Leith, Scotland. We never made it this far out of the centre of Edinburgh when we visited, but this story brought back a nice memory of "brown sauce". Here's Linda McDonald with a cute little story in a bonny accent.

Pathway to Winston Churchill Park

Near our new home in Toronto there is an excellent pathway that leads up to the park on St. Clair. There are two tiny wetland zones and the colours at this time are perfect.

Here is the location, and here are some larger versions of the photos below.