Posted by Grace Sanchez MacCall in beverages, coffee, shops on February 15, 2007 at 9:56 am

Immigrants like me have a different sense of geography. When I was growing up in Calgary, my world was not defined by my block or neighbourhood but by the social network of friends and family. I grew up not knowing my neighbours, but I certainly knew where the other Filipino families lived no matter how far away they were.

I didn’t discover the concept of neighbourhood until I moved out on my own. I think this explains my comfort level of being a tourist in my city. I am comfortable walking in someplace and feeling “foreign.”

Take this coffee shop I go to on the east side of the Danforth. My carpool buddy introduced me to Seb’s Cappuccino (1928 Danforth Avenue) last year. It’s halfway between our two homes so regardless of who was driving that day, we can always meet there.

I was curious about the smattering of Italian coffee shops like Seb’s on this side of the Danforth so I asked one of my retired neighbours who just happens to be a great source of oral history. While most of the Italians settled in the growing Little Italy area of College and Grace on the west side, he told me that two things brought the Italians to this side of Yonge. First was the construction of the Bloor subway line. Apparently, Donway station was one of the entrance points used to access the underground construction, so many of the Italian labourers who built this infrastructure moved here to be closer to work. In addition, an entrepreneurial group of Italians moved here to set up green grocers to supply the growing Italian population and the burgeoning restaurant trade that the Greeks and Macedonians started at around the same time.

But let’s get back to my coffee story. I need to explain my attraction to Seb’s. No, it’s not the décor or the warm fuzzy feeling of “I’m home” when I get there. In fact it’s quite the opposite. I rarely ever go into the coffee shop (I send my husband instead) and the first time I walked in, I had that Twilight Zone-ish feeling: I could have sworn silence swept the room as everyone stopped mid-sentence, mid-activity, to stare. While everything was in suspended animation, I took a quick scan of the room: pool table, card tables and large screen TV at the back (soccer was on – in fact, soccer seems to always be on, no matter the season or time of day), stools immediately to the left where people are perched facing the coffee bar on the right, corkboards on the wall where business cards are tacked and For Sale strips of paper are posted. This is not a trendy place. Nothing too fancy. Nothing to write home about. Except they make a fine cup of coffee!

Don’t get me wrong, the atmosphere is not unfriendly and Seb himself is a warm, gracious barista. But, as a traveler, have you ever stumbled into a new place and felt as if you’ve intruded into someone’s intimate place, somewhere you don’t belong? That’s the misplaced tourist thing I was talking about.

Why go there then, you ask? Well, if you want a unique, uncomplicated coffee experience, go to Seb’s. Orders are efficiently taken and filled at the bar or from a small window outside: espresso, latte, or cappuccino. As far as I know there is only one size, and as far as I know, your only choices are to have it with sugar or without, with chocolate or cinnamon. No soy milk in these parts and I hate to think what kind of reaction you’ll get if you actually asked for one. $1 for an espresso. $2 for a cap or a latte. No idea if they serve food since I never linger.

Here on Danforth east, Seb’s is only one of the many coffee bars for the locals. I bet I can walk into another one on the next block and get that same Twilight Zone experience. I get the sense that this is where the men go to relax. On sunnier days, the socializing spills out onto the sidewalk patio. In or out, the same scene: Seb’s regulars sip their coffee, read their papers, argue about sports scores and politics, and just generally hang out. I think the reason I felt so foreign when I entered the space was because the place felt more like a social club (oh, and probably because I was the only woman there at the time).

Okay, so I might be making a much bigger deal about feeling like a foreigner in my own city, in my own neighbourhood. Who knows, maybe you’ll feel right at home at Seb’s. I guess the point is, in a place like Toronto, there are exciting things to be discovered by the urban adventurer. With the rich cultural diversity we have in this city, anyone can discover a space that feels a little outside her or his element.

I don’t get to travel very much these days so feeling like a tourist in my city is an adventure I’m happy to share with others. And this, my friends, is going to be the theme of my future posts.