Without fear of flavour
Mati’s Coffee will be opening at the old address of Weston Bun Bakery at 1947 Weston Road. Yesterday as I was passing, workers were installing a new window and a clear view of the interior was visible.
The worker at the front wasn’t too happy at my presence but the interior looks quite spacious with a grey tiled floor, brick accent wall, some comfortable furniture visible at the front and standard tables and chairs towards the rear.
Still no web presence. Let’s hope for a quick opening.
Weston’s finest burger joint, Zeal Burger, was given a high honour by Yelp: it’s one of the 100 best places to eat in all of Canada–a superb #29!
Weston’s newest coffee shop opened this week, and though your correspondent was off skiing, Maureen, a loyal reader, sent this review:
God Bless Canada coffee shop is open, and the coffee is fresh, fresh, fresh: ground fresh for each cup and delicious.
Rosina and her husband offer fine coffee in 3 custom blends, and also ice cream cones from Kawartha Dairy ice cream, fruit smoothies, and free popcorn after school for children. The summer theme continues with hot dogs (meat but no beef) on offer, so this is the perfect addition to the neighbourhood.
This business and its owners have transformed the corner!
Maureen also spotted the season’s first robin. Huzzah!
BlogTO has a nice write-up of Supercoffee, the café in Mount Dennis that has fast become a neighbourhood hub.
Supercoffee is the kind of cafe where everybody knows each other by name. Located right in the heart of the Mount Dennis neighbourhood, it’s a sunny reprieve from the busy industrial corner of Eglinton and Weston.
This sign was seen yesterday in the window of the former Weston Bun Bakery at 1947 Weston Road.
There’s no web presence as yet for Mati’s coffee. Perhaps our readers have more information.
As we approach the year end, here are some things that seem to be holding us back locally. This is the second a five part series, which began yesterday.
As always, your comments are welcome.
Believe it or not but Canadians only buy 5% of their non-grocery goods online. The rest is done in brick and mortar stores. Unfortunately, businesses in Weston and Mount Dennis are under-patronized as it often seems easier to jump in the car.
Retail in WMD is a bit like the old weather adage. Everyone complains about our shopping but nobody does anything about it. People use all kinds of excuses for not shopping locally but the bottom line is that if people want vibrant local shopping, they have to encourage local stores that go some way to meeting their needs. Weston and Mount Dennis will not be confused with Bloor West Village anytime soon but there are glimmers of hope that need to be encouraged. There is a symbiotic relationship between patronage, meeting the needs of customers and a vibrant shopping area.
If people don’t like the appearance of the streets or feel threatened, (More on that tomorrow : Part 3 – The Public Domain) they need to talk to the relevant parties such as 311 or Councillor Nunziata’s office. Statistically, we should understand that we put ourselves in the greatest danger when we drive our cars or cross the road.
Landlords: our empty stores need to be occupied. The tax rebate for empty stores will be ending by June 2018. This is a good thing that will provide an incentive to quickly re-let a storefront. Empty stores detract from the ambience of a shopping area and landlords with empty stores should allow non-profit groups to use the empty stores until paying tenants are found. Weston BIA and Mount Dennis BIA should get the ball rolling on this. If landlords are still happy to allow stores to sit empty, the city should go one further and tax vacant stores at a higher rate.
When Greenland Farm supermarket closes, many Weston residents will lose their only walkable source of produce. Is there another store waiting in the wings? The owner / developer of the GF site can promise that a major supermarket chain will be moving into the podium of the new development when it finally materializes on the site. It will be a meaningless and empty promise as the podium space will be leased to whoever is willing to pay. Councillor Nunziata should do all she can to encourage a seller of produce along the lines of the Royal York Fruit Market in the Royal York Plaza.
Banks are disappearing. We need walkable storefront bank branches.
Readers, what businesses would you like to see in your local shopping area? What stops you from shopping in WMD? Which stores have you patronized?
The family and I finally had a chance to get to Ginger Pho, on Weston Road across from the Super Store, which opened about three weeks ago. (We’ve been travelling a lot, and boy are we glad to be back!)
In short—it’s great! You should go. We stuffed ourselves for $42, before the tip, including pop and appetizers. And it was good. We had leftovers and left-behinds, too.
The highlight, for me, was my wife’s vegetarian vermicelli with fried tofu and a spring roll on top. I loved it. The tofu was perfect (neither wet nor greasy, and marinated in something good), and the spring roll was great. The veggies were fresh and crispy, and the whole thing was a balance of healthy and sinful—and a steal at about $8. There are other vegetarian options, too, including a veggie pho, made without a meat broth.
We started with cold rolls ($5) which in the future, I’d skip in favour of the superb fried rolls. The kids’ chicken phos ($6 or so) came with some, for which they handily defeated me in chop-stick battle. What little I could prise from them was really great—not at all like your typical mass-produced rolls cooked from frozen; these had shredded chicken and a crunchy, blistered skin. Superb.
I had beef pho ($9), the server’s recommendation. The slightly-sweet, cardamom and cinnamonny broth was the same as the kids’, but I got bean sprouts, which would have been wasted on the little ones. The beef slices were nice, and the basil was pretty: flowering and purple. A little lime and a single chili added some colour. I got the large, which was a mistake. Even I couldn’t finish it.
The restaurant is lovely, and modestly busy. The service is great (though they did bring my wife’s meal a minutes before the rest of ours), and the menu is extensive and interesting, with lots of room for regulars to explore. There is draft lager and a few more adventurous options, including a cider and a Belgian.