It’s the furniture that gets people talking at The Black Canary Espresso Bar. You might go in by yourself for a private coffee break, but find that you walk out with a new friend. “We have a large wooden table where all kinds of relationships have been formed,” owner Luthie Lampa says. “It’s the kind of place where you can sit and enjoy your own company or get talking to your neighbour.”
This is exactly the kind of cafe that Luthie dreamed about opening when she was in high school, back when she had her own favourite coffee haunt she’d drop into with friends after classes. “I always liked hanging out at the mom-and-pop type spots where they knew customer’s names,” she says.