Cafes
Wunderland
Wunderland feels more like a log cabin than an urban coffee shop. Just plug your ears when the Queen streetcar rattles by and summon up a bit of that earth imagination. Owner Peter Styrsky--that is, Reverend Brother Peter Styrsky of the Church of the Universe--built the furniture and fixtures from 200-year-old wood salvaged from an old barn. Peter's family has lived in the house on Queen near Woodbine for over a decade, barista David Silveira tells me, but Peter just recently took an interest in the indie coffee scene.
"People are discovering us really slowly," David says. "They pass by all the time, then suddenly discover that we're here."
Wunderland (which was named for the Tim Burton movie, tweaked with a "U" to reflect the family's German ancestry) has the propensity to fade into the background. It's several paces from the street, not terribly ostentatious in terms of signage, and opened six month ago without so much as a helium balloon.
"Our focus is on coffee," David says. "So we let people find us that way. There's not a lot around here in terms of good, independent coffee."
Wunderland uses certified organic and fair trade Ethiopian beans from Classic Gourmet Coffee. Of course, my mind was on another substance, given the Church of the Universe's previous battles over pot legislation, but since Peter wasn't in to field questions of that nature, I kept my eyes on the list of lattes.
The list of drinks is pretty standard; latte ($3.50), macchiato ($2.25), espresso ($2.00), and such, plus a dubiously deceiving drink named the "Canadiano" ($2.25).
"It's an Americano," David says. "Like everything else, we wanted it to be local."
There's certainly a local feel to the space, which displays pieces new by Toronto artists every month, as well as article clippings about Ford shenanigans under the glass atop its wooden bar. Drinks can be accompanied by baked goods by Dimpflmeier Bakery, and free WiFi and dairy milk alternatives are also available to customers (at no extra charge).
Though my Canadiano is solidly bold and slightly (and pleasantly) fruity, it's the creaky floors and dark beams that have me swooning. A quiet cabin in the city--minus the, uh, country grass.
Photos by Jesse Milns
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I hope Peter's passion for indie coffee continues for a long time. The biz is not easy. Small business owners, I believe, have their challenges. As the owner of the house in which this cafe is located, in The Beach, Peter has dodged one big challenge let me tell you.
Peter's using Classic Gourmet coffee for now. It's okay and I haven't really had much of Classic's organic roast before now. I like it, although Classic, overall, is a harsher tasting bean than I prefer. Peter will soon be sampling some Reunion coffee, courtesy of Kirby of Noir, courtesy of Adam from Reunion. It's a funny story. I hadn't been to Noir in a while and stopped in the other morning to see Kirby and enjoy my first real espresso in a couple of days. My shift is no good for visiting indie coffee shops. When Kirby wasn't in, I made me way over to Wunderland. While I was sitting in Wunderland, Kirby and his beautiful wife popped in. So everyone had a good time. And when Kirby left the shop, he ran into Adam and told him that Peter wanted to try another organic bean, not as a replacement for the Classic but just to have something else, if I have that right. And so Adam, who showed me and Sean (Voulez Vous) around his Oakville roastery came into the shop and we had some fun, again.
Warning: You will end up making lots of friends quickly at Peter's coffee shop. It's just that kind of place.
Oh yes, Parking is easy. There are new condo/retail buildings to the west of Woodbine, on the south side of Queen. There's parking behind them, easy to get to and reasonably priced. TTC of course, runs past Wunderland.
The Church of The Universe, Sharooz, the Minister, and all the other guys who get baked there off of one guys Medical Marijuana card should be ashamed that the promote the sale of drugs under the guise of church sacrament.
If the supposedly honourable church believed in their cause, they wouldn't be selling weed, it would be given away, especially to the poor and needy. If they believed in their own religion, they wouldn't be using the organized crime model to price their bags of pot.
Will the Reverend come on here into these comment sections and explain to the public what he did with all the personal and private user information and medical data that was collected when Wunderland was formerly known as G13, where marijuana was openly sold? They collected personal IDs and photocopied passports and health cards when they were actively selling dope.
The Church of The Universe, Sharooz, the Minister, and all the other guys who get high there off of one guys Medical Marijuana card should be ashamed that the promote the sale of drugs under the guise of church sacrament.
If the supposedly honourable church believed in their cause, they wouldn't be selling weed, it would be given away, especially to the poor and needy. If they believed in their own religion, they wouldn't be using the organized crime model to price their bags of pot.
What's fair about the former G13, now Wunderland, convicted drug dealers, who now make their game official by welcoming friends to their cult in a more secret manner than before they caught the eye of the po-po?
Before people start claiming that taxpayer dollars shouldn't be used to support harm reduction clinics, it's places like G13/Wunderland that should be directly under the microscope of the authorities.
Get one of these freaks to come on here and claim they aren't still running the dope biz from this house.
GiGi's Pizza caught the eye of the cops, so how long until the backroom sales of pot at Stursky's Wunderland kicks both him and the other brother revernend back to the Don Jail?
Nice job at character assassination and rumour starting… Wunderland is a fantastic up and coming coffee shop that deals in nothing more than espresso shots and Art.
You both seem to have some really loaded opinions to share with regards to the G13 history, the reverend and pot in general. I imagine you were both either directly or indirectly involved with the churh in its day to have such strong and allegedly informed opinions about it. What is unclear is what you stand to gain from smearing an otherwise hard working, friendly, honest family... I have spoken to them many times, in and out of wunderland, they are upstanding, honourable folk who treat people with respect.
It is apparent that you each feel the need to act out when you feel strongly about something. I would ask that you do some thorough research on a subject/issue that has a significant impact on the lives of millions (take your pick), and invest your time and effort into helping those people.
FYI cannabis is illegal because it was bad for business in the early 20th century (*watch "The Union: The Business Behind Getting High" for all the facts). Also, marijuana has not bin linked to a single death, ever (while caffiene causes roughly 7,000 a year in North America).
So please, enough with the dramatics, this repetetive attempt to demomize the owners of Wunderland, comparing weed to crack, pot dealing to organized crime and
Please...
420
ConcernedCitizen
So How was the coffee? That's what I would like to know.... If your so "Concerned" why don't you stop hiding behind your computers and go talk to the owner in person, And stop wasting all of
our time? Thank you
420
ConcernedCitizen
All "three" of you fully agreeing with each other within minutes of each other is a pretty flimsy attempt at trolling. You know where this place is...maybe go chat with the own about your concerns in person instead of skulking about on the internet slandering people?
If anyone is interested in the COFFEE... it's great.. particularly the 2 shot "Canadiano". They also do a great grilled cheese, pesto and veggie sandwich.
I live in the area, it has become our "local", so I sit in there for large parts of the day at least once a week and have gotten to know the staff and owners. My partner had a little art exhibit there a while back.
No-one has ever tried to "sell" us anything other than coffee.
BRB I gotta go -agree with my own comment under a different name real quick... [/sarcasm]
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