In North America a good mall is a status symbol. The better the mall...the bigger the names...the more people will come and spend their seemingly endless supply of disposable income. When I was growing up in Toronto there were 2 main malls...the Eaton Centre downtown and Yorkdale uptown. There were, of course, other smaller malls....many of which have grown into major malls in their own rights over the last decade or so...but for me the 2 big ones are the 2 main ones.
During my short visit to Toronto my mum wanted to stop by the ever expanding Yorkdale to check out a few stores and to wander around "the new section" consisting of stores you have to provide evidence of your bank balance to enter...we were simply window shopping. The day we planned to go we were up early so thought we'd venture over and put my mum's Starbucks gift card to good use before the shops opened.
Only when we got there we found out that the Starbucks was actually IN the bookstore and therefore not open until the store was...onto plan B.
The food court.
Three words that just scream fast food, squealing teenagers and poor choice. Not here. The Yorkdale food court has had a facelift...it is no longer called The Food Court, it is called Dine On 3...posh. There is still the same fast food element selection but there are also a handful of sit down places, and...the gem...on it's own level...an illy coffee shop.
Epressamente was exactly what we were looking for to pass the 45 mins or so we had until the shops opened. The cafe is separate from the food court and has its own seating area, and although it wasn't busy at 8:30 in the morning it was a nice escape from the mall...secluded, sedate.
The coffee is illy so you know it is going to be good. My coffee of choice, of late, has been a flat white but seeing as the Aussie style hasn't made it across to North America yet, I settled for a latte...but I knew it was going to be more coffee than steamed milk.
The breakfast special...a latte, cappuccino, or espresso with a pastry for $4.50 is a bargain considering a coffee alone is $4.00!! I know...$4.00 for a coffee, albeit a fine coffee. The breakfast special was great, a huge selection of pastries to choose from and a really good coffee. I savoured my raspberry scroll and latte equally and my mum enjoyed her regular croissant and cappuccino while we peered through the glass and watched the people below.
An excellent coffee at the mall.
Sounds like a great place! The coffee and pastry look delicious!
ReplyDelete