Cafes
Cafe Con Leche
Café Con Leche is located by the underwhelming intersection of Dupont and Perth. "Underwhelming" by first impression, mind you. Because if you ask owners Carlos and Sandra — and indeed, some of the area's locals — they'll tell you that this neighbourhood is terribly underrated.
"It feels just like home," Carlos says as we sit inside the new café on a dreary weekday afternoon. "People here are so friendly, so nice. Sandra and I are actually thinking of moving to the area because we like it so much."
The couple is no stranger to the Toronto café scene, acting as part owner of CocoaLatte over on St. Clair. But whereas CocoaLatte offers breakfast and lunch fare, Cafe Con Leche is decidedly more of a traditional espresso bar.
"Part of making good coffee is about monitoring," Sandra says. "You want to make sure there's no moisture in the grinder, your water is at the right temperature, and you can't always do that when you're trying to make a sandwich, too."
It's that dedication to quality espresso that motivated the duo to look for a spot for a more coffee-focused café.
"We started looking in the summer," says Carlos. "And we actually walked around the neighbourhood, talking to people in their front yards and asking what they think of us opening an espresso bar here."
Needless to say, the community was more than enthused. So Carlos and Sandra took over this space — formerly a laundromat — and got to work on renovations. They used salvaged kitchen cabinets and roofing sheets to construct the bar, redid the floors (but left them raw), painted, accessorized, and added finishing touches. Among those finishing touches are three clocks over the cafe entrance — one set to Toronto time, one set to Western European time (a nod to Portugal and Sandra's background), and one set to California time, where Carlos grew up.
"We want this to feel comfortable and friendly; a real place for the community," Carlos says.
Café con leche (the drink, that is) is the bar's specialty ($2.25/$2.50/$2.75), though conventional lattes ($3.50/$4.50), Americanos ($2.00/$3.00), and espressos ($2.00/ $3.00) are also on the drink menu, all made with Rufino coffee. Carlos prepares me a cup of the café con leche, which is made with drip coffee and steamed milk as opposed to the espresso-based latte. I take it unsweetened, allowing the natural sweetness of the milk to prevail. The drink is smooth and quite mild (with a heaping amount of foam on top), striking me as a good option for the infrequent coffee drinker.
Eats at Cafe Con Leche are left to Sweets from the Earth, Circles and Squares, and a couple of other bakeries, with free WiFi available (naturally) in the cafe and operational hours that include every day of the week. Carlos and Sandra say they are hoping to host some special events in the future, and of course, looking forward to further connecting with the community.
Cafe Con Leche is open Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Discussion
20 Comments
Sort By Oldest First / Newest First
Subscribe
By the way why does Blog TO start every story about the JT by saying it's crappy? Its getting a bit tiresome.
Also I'd like to mention I'm not wishing this cafe hadn't moved in here, quite the opposite in fact - I welcome them. My home that I purchased 7 years ago has actually doubled in value and it is specifically because this area has become one of the hottest areas in the city by being overly accessible by transit, as well as by highway, close to Roncevalles, the Junction and High Park, and soon right on the air rail line (though this may not be a blessing). There is no where else in the city like this.
That being said though (and in response to you Scottd) we're not moving fast enough to handle what is coming. Development has literally started closing in from every possible direction and unfortunately we're pretty much stuck with our current infrastructure as our rookie councilor is dealing with her own troubles and our Mayor very likely has no clue we even exist aside from being that place where he painted over a city funded mural that he thought was graffiti insulting his fishing pal Harper (it wasn't.). I'm a follower of the Junction Triangle site and I'm well aware of the studies going on at Annette/Dundas, but I can assure you its not going to come fast enough and it is just one component of many that needs to be tended to quickly and won't.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/08/08/condos-schools-owners-crowded321.html
Developers look around for any affordable land they can buy in "high demand" areas then try to build the biggest development they can with no concern about how they're development will effect the existing neighbourhood. It really is due time we make these developers accountable for the impact of their developments.
It's also interesting to read the perspectives of our future neighbours about the Junction Triangle.
Both are good changes to this steadily emerging 'hood :)
The developments in our area have been on the drawing board for years. You are painting a picture where everything is happening at once and it may seem that way but the process goes back to 1980 when factories started leaving. Intensification is what happens as cities get older and today single family homes are rarely built in the downtown.That is the 2012 reality across the city.Personally I am willing to put up with some construction and density to finally fill in these dead spots in the community and bring more people and energy to the hood.
I wanted to point out that there currently is a rail corridor study that includes JT that has had meetings and a series of walkabouts with Planning Staff, last weekend there was a ward wide development Town Hall hosted by the Councillor (the first time I can recall that ever happening in 18) and the wrap up is here (http://www.anabailao.ca/2012/11/ward-18-planning-town-hall-recap/) and I personally have attended over 75 developer meetings over the last decade--in many cases working with the Planners and the developers to make changes to better suit the existing community. Obviously some developers dont care but some do (Wallace Ave. is a great example of that divide) and to some extent the City only has so much legal ability to shape what gets built.I can also say that I have been at City meetings where the issues you mention have come up. Its not like nobody knows. If you want to express your ideas directly to our Planner at City then call Sarah Phipps and let her know what you think.
- your place may be just the spot to have those neighbourhood discussions such as those raised here!
Mon-Fri 7:30am-6pm
Saturday 9am- 6pm
Sunday 10am-6pm
Wi-Fi available
For further details (647) 748-3322 or follow on twitter @CafeConLecheTO.
FB Cafe Con Leche EspressoBar
Monday -Friday 7 ish to 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm