Team behind Toronto hidden-gem snack bar just opened a new cafe
The people behind an if-you-know-you-know Vietnamese snack bar in Toronto just opened a new cafe around the corner.
Though it hasn't even been a year since 24-year-old Lily Huang and V, her co-owner and partner, opened Cabbagetown's Viet Bites, the pair has already christened a new endeavour in the city, with yet another, a larger sister location to Viet Bites, still on the way.
Where Viet Bites specializes in chè, a sweet, chilled dessert soup of coconut milk, fresh fruit, jelly and tapioca pearls, with a few banh mi thrown in there for good measure, their latest venture, Ca Phe, takes a stab at Vietnamese iced coffee, baked treats and beyond.
Officially opening at the end of June, Ca Phe is unassumingly tucked away into a corner space at the front of Rapid Photo Studio on Parliament: a match made in heaven for endeavouring creatives in need of a caffeine fix.
The cafe's main claim to fame is phin-brewed coffee, served in a variety of different ways that pay homage to Vietnamese flavours and traditions. There's Hanoi Egg Coffee, an especially rich option thanks to the addition of egg yolks and condensed milk, blended coconut coffee and a coffee that comes topped in a layer of pandan cream.
But coffee isn't the only caffeine-based beverage on the roster at Ca Phe. An equally vibrant lineup of ceremonial-grade matcha drinks, like a piña colada matcha slushy or matcha lattes topped in ube cream, is also among the standouts.
As for solid foods, the cafe offers a concise lineup of picture-perfect croffles (that's a croissant-waffle), loaded up with whipped cream, fresh fruits, pistachios and Biscoff cookies.
It's a gamble to open even one business in Toronto, even at the best of times, but Lily and V stand defiant, decisively making their mark on Cabbagetown and leaving only wafts of pandan and coconut milk in their wake.
Ca Phe is located at 434 Parliament St.
Ca Phe
