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Toronto: Best Latte Art - Restaurants - Toronto.com

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Toronto.com Restaurants Toronto: Best Latte Art

Toronto: Best Latte Art

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By Story and photos by Caroline Fernandez
Dec 10, 2009

Hearts, tulips, smiley faces, rosettas and swans: Toronto’s latte art craze has taken over the city’s cool cafes. Wired from sipping lattes door-to-door, I discovered the many elements of a good latte: milk temperature and texture, coffee bean quality, a careful hand and, of course, a barista’s personal touch. A roundup of the best latte art in the city.

Dark Horse Espresso Bar
The Leslieville cafe is packed with caffeine fiends. Dark Horse gets a lot of traffic, but the space has a library-like quiet. I spoke with one of the baristas who whipped up a latte with ease. Dark Horse is considered one of the best in the city when it comes to latte art, as I was told by most of the baristas I met in my travels. The owners have taken home many awards at Canadian and world barista competitions. Dark Horse also prides itself on using sustainable coffee (like 49th Parallel) and have a direct-trade relationship with coffee farms and roasters, charging a little bit more to make sure the money goes directly to farmers. A second location recently opened in Chinatown (Spadina and Queen).

Bulldog Coffee
Bulldog was once the forerunner in Toronto’s independent cafe culture, starting up the latte art scene at their Church Street location in 2003. It’s still considered one of the best, and was buzzing with activity when I visited. Drew Randall mans the machine and is on a first-name basis with many of the customers. He trained at Bulldog, learning latte art over a two-month period, and is proud of the cafe’s reputation. The owner, Stuart Ross, is a former regional barista champion and has been mentored by some of the world’s top baristas, Sammy Piccolo and David Schomer.

Lit Espresso Bar
Lit is a fairly new joint in the west end. Bright and airy, the cafe is chilled out and a little eavesdropping reveals it's a local artist hangout. Ian Di Chiaro is keen on sharing his own how-to on latte art. Having just learned over the past six months, he was a bit modest in regards to his skills: “I’m still a rookie,” he says, though he stresses that a good-looking latte requires the right milk. It should be as fatty as possible for a regular latte design, he says. The espresso should be at the bottom of the cup, and he says spinning it to get out the bubbles makes for a nice black background. The milk should be poured last, in swirls and with a steady hand.

Crema Coffee
The Junction’s Crema is quiet, though most of the seats are taken when I arrive around 5 p.m. on a Tuesday. I spoke with Matt Hall, a barista at the cafe and a guy who’s passionate about his coffee. He didn’t say much in person, but a quick look through his blog shows off his photography skills and close relationship with everything from coffee beans and coffee-making hardware to latte art. “We aim for the taste first and the art on top; it’s kind of a bonus,” Hall says. He usually designs tulips or rosettas, and suggests stretching the milk to the right temperature until it’s a thick foam. Like Dark Horse, Crema uses 49th Parallel coffee to ensure ethical standards are met in dealing directly with coffee farmers.

Hank’s Cafe
Hank’s is the latest venture of Toronto chef superstar Jamie Kennedy. Sam James works there and helped launch Hank’s, having been around Toronto’s cafe circuit awhile now, at Manic and Cherry Bomb. His name strikes fear and respect in the eyes of some baristas. James is the winner of the 2008 Regional Barista Championships. When making a good latte, he suggests the texture be “creamy, velvety, sweet milk.” He says latte presentation is like food presentation. “If you cooked a really good meal, why just throw it on a plate,” he says. James also acts as a coffee consultant and works for the Canadian Barista Academy, promoting, teaching and organizing competitions. James used to do the corporate thing but did a complete switch. “I ended up loving it, and realized this is what I want to do.” (N.B.: Sam James is no longer at Hank's.)

Mercury Espresso
Damien Zielinski has been working at the small, unassuming cafe for two years. He dabbles in rosettas, laurels and hearts. Zielinski is nonchalant about the art side, preferring to master the beverage more than the decor. “It’s not really too cool to focus on it too much 'cause it’s not directly coffee-related, ” he says. The best latte art designs I saw were a toss-up between Dark Horse and Mercury Espresso, simply for the definition and precision of appearance. Some say Mercury has the best latte team in the city. A latte wins major brownie points with me if I don’t have to add sugar. Mercury had me swooning.

Red Rocket Coffee
“Our latte art is backwards,” says barista Heather Allen-Cadieux before she starts. It’s true: the Red Rocket latte looks nothing like the other latte art I’ve seen in the city. The top of the drink is white foam and the design is brown, using the espresso as a pen to draw a design on the foam rather than the other way around. The smiley face design is most common here. Heather suggests using skim milk to develop more microfoam. “Microfoam is the key to a good latte. The less bubbles, the easier it is to do latte art.” A photographer, Allen-Cadieux has been working at cafes for a while and doing latte art for a year and a half. “A lot of the time, I do it just for the look on my customers’ faces,” she says.