I'm just curious! I'd love to know what type of cafés anyone here is working at.
My current café is kinda old-school Italian style coffee-wise but much more laid back and add some hippy-granola vibes for good mesure. Our beans are roasted in-house, and pretty much all the food we sell is made in-house as well, down to the sauces, and anything we don't make ourselves is bought locally.
I've worked in two other cafés prior to this one. The first was a kinda upscale third-wave spot that mostly attracted yuppies, and the equipment far surpassed the training of any of the staff. We had pourovers on the menu and maybe 1 and a half employees actually knew how to brew with a V60.
The second was a hardline traditional Italian-style café, which, if you're familiar with the coffee culture in Canada (where I live) vs Italy, is a silly idea. A lot of people here only know Tim Horton's or Starbucks, especially in a mostly rural province like where I'm situated. You have to meet people where they're at; scoffing at people for wanting sweetener in their latte isn't likely to encourage them to jump into the coffee world in whichever way one deems proper. It'll only encourage them to stick to Timmies or Starbucks instead of checking out local cafés with actually good coffee.
Understanding if you don't want to risk a dox, but we will be traveling into east Canada this year from upstate NY. Any reccos on cafes?
Depends where you're headed! I'll just list a few random spots off the top of my head (without getting too dox-y haha)
In Grand-Pré, NS, there's Just Us Coffee House, which is a coffee co-op with a focus on fair-trade and sustainability.
In Sackville, NS, there's Cranewood Bakery and The Roost Café which I've both been hearing good things about.
If you're in Moncton, NB, definitely check out Epoch Chemistry, especially if you're into lighter roasts. They roast in house and their baristas are very knowledgeable and friendly. I highly recommend their coffee tasting flight!
If your trip brings you to the Acadian peninsula (which I recommend on its own, lovely places and people around there!) La Boulangerie Grains de Folie in Caraquet is a must, as well as Aloha Café in Lamèque.
Nice, thank you! We may be headed to the Montreal area first, so how about there, too? 😉
Haha sorry, Maritimer brain has a different definition of "east coast" 😅 I haven't been to the city in a while so my knowledge of the café scene isn't quite up to date but I have a couple suggestions!
Café Olimpico (the one in the Mile-End) is a pretty iconic spot, it's like the grandaddy of MTL coffee.
Café St-Henri is another classic.
Café Lali is a newer place I went to last time I was in Montréal and I quite enjoyed it. Smaller, one-barista operation, which I always find delightful.
Haha, well we plan to go east east for hiking/backpacking/cycling, too, so the original reccos have been pinned. Our first stops will probably be in the Montreal area, though. These lists are great, we often base where we stop (we camp in a minivan) based on coffee shops or food so you just saved us a ton of research!
Ooo, that sounds like a real fun trip!
If you're doing some cycling, I'm doubling down on the Acadian peninsula recommendation. They have a network of great bike paths that connects the biggest towns and brings you across some gorgeous views.