Cafes
Starving Artist
"This is our special starving artist blend," says Tobias Wang with a gigantic grin. "It's the strongest coffee I've ever had! It's the strongest coffee anyone's ever had!" One of the owners of the new Bloor and Lansdowne café/bar/waffle place, Tobias hands me the package of grind and tells Alyssa and me to smell it. "Doesn't that smell strong!?" It does. I ask if this is what he used to make our iced Americanos, and his smiling face adopts the slightest look of concern. "No, we don't really use that blend. It makes you shake."
Alyssa and I take our (mellower) iced coffees to the back patio. The outdoor space is shaded from the sun and most signs of industry save for a sliver of factory visible through a crack in the awning. This sliver serves as a reminder of where we are: Paton and Lansdowne. Factories comprise the (once) desolate walk north of Lansdowne subway station. When Alyssa lived in the area (and when I was crashing on her couch for months on end) we made the walk daily and it was so boring. Tobias seems all too familiar with this walk. "It was terrible," he says. "The whole time you're like 'when am I going to be home?'"
Tobias and his business partner, Bryan Jackson, were looking for an office space for just one day when they came across this place. They had worked in the area before, and found the coffee options there lacking. "We would go out to grab a coffee and end up at Bloor and Ossington," says Tobias. Initially the plan was to have a workspace, with an espresso machine in the corner. But the place had such potential that Starving Artist turned into a bigger venture.
Most of that venture translates into waffles of various kinds. They serve desert waffles, brunch waffles, mini waffles, mini burgers on mini waffles and waffle shaped experiments (i.e. waffle shaped rice with green curry chicken). "The waffle is the template," says Tobias. Right on. I go for the waffle benny ($9) and Alyssa chooses the Starving 4 Waffles special: four mini waffles with butter maple syrup ($8).
Our plates arrive to the covered patio with greens and fruit salad - top-notch fruit salad that includes cranberries! The waffles are light and fluffy and go well with the rich Hollandaise and caramelized bacon. Caramelized bacon! Alyssa polishes off her top, syrup-drenched waffle and asks for more maple. Tobias brings some in a little cup and notes that in the future, he thinks he'll always provide customers with their own cup of syrup. "It gives the people more fun," he says. Alyssa has tons of fun with her supply. She soaks all the waffles and can barely finish them.
The outdoor patio is so comfortable that Alyssa and I stick around long after we're done our breakfast. While enjoying our second Americano, plastic bottles and empty milk bags begin to fall onto the canopy at a rate of about one item per minute. They seem to be coming from the apartment above. We can't see anything, but we hear a child's voice and speculate as to what's going on. Tobias and Bryan come outside to join us and we tell them about the falling recycled material. We laugh. They laugh. They've both gotten to know the kid, and tell us how cute and smart he is, like he's a favourite nephew that is always doing hysterical things like throwing recycling on people. It's endearing.
The four of us stay out in the sun talking about art and freelancing and the guys' plans for Starving Artist. They want live music, late Fridays and a liquor license (for which the wheels are already in motion). They want to put art out on their fence by the sidewalk, improve that walk from Lansdowne station for good. It's inspiring. "The whole point of Starving Artist is an artistic hub," says Tobias, "a network, you know what I mean?"
Photos by Alyssa Bistonath
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That said, this place is pretty great. Dropped by today for the first time, opened up blogto on my phone and there was the review!
The coffee was great and I enjoyed my waffles although they took a while to be served.
Thanks to everyone who's been supporting Starving Artist! Hope you will continue to follow us and keep us in business as we head into our 2nd month of operation.
@Paul, sorry for the wait, it happens sometimes when I'm the only person in the kitchen, our usual wait if 5-10 minutes.
I'm glad you enjoyed the coffee, we will continue to show improvement and diversity in our menu as we go...
YAY! Week 5 here we come!
If you haven't been, go. I hope they make it.
The Venue: Hip, quaint and able to accommodate all of our guests (approx 75 throughout the night). With two patios (one front, one back) we were all able to sprawl out reducing some congestion inside the rectangle shaped bar and seating area. We set up a dance floor in the back where we shook it no problem! The back patio was illuminated with spot lights and candles making it really picturesque and cozy. The weather was threatening rain, so the owners put up a white canopy-type-tarp thing across the back fence to protect against the rain (which never happened) and it added that extra touch of elegance. The front patio unfortunately was not LLBO at the time, (the back one was) however our guests didn’t mind leaving drinks at the door before going out for their breathers. Just be aware (as if anyone can really control this completely) that the venue is next to residential houses so we constantly had to tell people on the back patio to keep the noise down later on in the evening. Washrooms are down in the basement,and they were spacious and clean.
Location: How much more convenient could it be being one block north (about 2 min walk) from Lansdowne Subway station?
The Staff: Bartenders Jenny and Jen were fantastic. They really were receptive to our guests, super friendly and never mind gorgeous. Tobias- the bomb our guests just ADORED him (just meet him and you’ll figure out why quick), Brian- he means business so he’s pretty serious most times, but nonetheless approachable, friendly, and honest-tells it like it is.
The Party: We were given free reign on how we wanted to decorate the place, we went minimal but the option was there. They threw a slideshow of pictures on loop of us (that we brought in) on their big screen all night which was super cute. The place comes complete with an AWESOME sound system including the use of a mic. We were able to plug in the IPOD and the sound was excellent. We were also given the option of hosting a DJ so keep that in mind too. We chose to supply our own food; however we were offered to have the party catered with some of Starving Artist's very own waffles.
Some other things to remember that we wish we would of considered before the party is that Starving Artist is a restaurant/cafe closes at 6pm. We had marketed the party to start at 7pm, and this wasn’t a good idea. I felt we were stepping over toes as they were trying to clean up from the day as we were trying to set up for the night, so I felt it was a little unfair to them. It was too rushed getting started so I suggest starting your party a little later. The great news is that they serve until 2am so even if you start later you’ll still get enough time to party.
At the end of the day, our party was awesome, and we both recommend this place for any type of party. We would like to send a shout out to Brian and Tobias-Thank you so much for everything, it was an incredible night and we’ll never forget it! Thanks for the great expereince!
Why Starving Artist? Why that name?
As an artist, who also lives in the neighbourhood, I get the struggles of trying to make ends meet, but I think the name is a little insensitive by not acknowledging the people in the area who may actually be going hungry and not have the finances (or luxury) of eating at cafes or owning one.
It's exciting to hear that the owners would like to build community/a hub for artists, but we need to be conscious of the rest of our community to do so.
I'm sincerely interested to know the owner's thoughts, so please share with us.
it means alot to me being an artist.
if you would have actually gone in and asked, then perhaps you would have discovered the owners are artists themselves.
not everyone who buys a 2$ espresso is living in luxury, nor is someone who owns a cafe rich. in the first 3-5 years, a new independent business is barely going to make ends meet.
Love Paula Tavares-Robinson AKA Stuck in Brampton with no flow...
i love this place and will definately go back often!
MEDICOCRE FOOD!!!!! And the service is non-existant too!
I love love love the name, the concept, the vibe, the food, the tunage and the goldfish.
:)
looking forward to checking one of the jazz nights sometime.
This place is such a dump I can't even take it.
There are so many contradictions lying around this place it makes me sick. The fact that this is a place where "artists" congregate is laughable. The "art" on the walls is deplorable. The dingy dark atmosphere is just sad and not inviting. The staff didn't make it any better. They're fake and pathetic and made me feel really unwelcome. Friendly til you've gotten your food, then you're forgotten and over charged for the most mediocre food I've ever had. I watched the cook scoop store bought potato salad out of a tub (which looked like it was from costco) and then kraft dressing onto my salad. Their "waffles" are obviously just some mix you add water to. And no, not every place needs to "make their own ketchup", but going somewhere that I'm going to shell out $25 (with a regrettable tip), then it had better be food I couldn't make at home for $5. The coffee is certainly nothing to be excited over. As they obviously have no clue on how to use an espresso machine.
I just felt so underwhelmed by this place, I just can't see how anyone would enjoy it, unless hungover and willing to pay more for less. Tobias get out of there and open something that you can be proud of. That owner is going to run your name into the ground. Blansdowne has a lot more places to offer than a crappy breakfast at a crappy establishment.
Our server was funny and friendly, the food was good, there was a great selection of music and the coffee was perfect.
I'll be going back, for sure!
It wasn't the food. It wasn't the wait staff. Nor the super long wait for just a drop of water - never mind a waffle or two! What really did it... The owner barking at us if we were "just sitting or if we were going to have food" and then shouting at us telling us that WE were to pick up and pay for our food inside ourselves and the waitress that took our order (45 minutes earlier and who forgot to mention this rule to us) doesn't know how things work at Starving Artist.
Way to throw your staff under the bus! It must be a great place to work. Just not a great place to sit and enjoy a meal. Luckily, we left and didn't enjoy a meal at all.
:| potato waffles were ok, tasted heavy
>:( Service sucked: Waited an hour for our food, forgot to bring milk for coffee even after asking twice.
We came in early to beat the saturday morning crowd. Even though there were groups of people that came in after us, most got their food first. What was disappointing was that the wait staff didn't even check up on us(the place is small)and it wasn't until we flagged them down that they retook our order. We finally got our food an hour after we had arrived, hurray!
Other than the wait, the food was yummy and hit the spot. I'll probably be back, and I really hope that the wait staff are more attentive next time because even if they serve yummy waffles, I'm certain there are other places that serve yummy waffles and offer good service.
Waited close to an hour today for eggs benny and a waffle sandwich, and ended up having to ask for it to go... That's on top of having to get our own menus because the waitress was unapologetically on the phone. I'm never going back here again – even if it has one of the only patios in the neighbourhood. Horrible service, ridiculously long wait, and very mediocre food.