Toronto Sprouts
720 Bathurst Street
416-535-3111

I recently read a very good article about food science and food trends in the New York Times Magazine by Michael Pollan. One of the main guidelines he espouses for eating in his article “Unhappy Meal” is “Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” This conviction weighed on my mind as I walked to Toronto Sprouts. I wondered to myself what my progenitors might say about eating tiny green things. “They haven’t finished growing yet!” might be one protestation. “You’re eating grass?!” might be another. When I told my roommate what I was writing about, he added his own commentary: “Horse food!”

Consequently, I was feeling ambivalent when I came in to Toronto Sprouts from the oppressive heat. I had not anticipated that the short walk from Bathurst station would be quite so arduous. Thankfully, I was promptly greeted by a wave of cool, fresh air, and then the employee-cum-owner, Marie, followed shortly. Both put me at ease and I settled into the blessed modernity of central air-conditioning, something my great-great-grandmother would’ve been baffled by.

Marie credited the sprouts, in part, for the refreshing air in the spacious restaurant. She talked about how, when the original owners were first setting up shop, they were lucky to have found a spot with a good flow of oxygen and how growing plants naturally adds to that. She told me how this location was originally home to Super Sprouts. Marie herself came over to Canada from Sweden in the mid ‘90s with a degree in psychology from the University of Göteborg (Gothenburg.) She started as a retail manager in 1998 and took over SuperSprouts as an owner in 1999.
After the closing in March 2006, Marie found herself being dogged by local stores and customers who still wanted local, organic sprouts. Hence, the new sprouted from the seeds of the old, and Toronto Sprouts was born. Although we can’t get them off the shelves of Dominion just yet, Marie assured me she was working with distributors and that I could look forward to seeing her products in more and more places around the city.

I also had the chance to glance at the production side of sprouts. In the humid back room was row after row of bright green stalks in planters. The hydroponic sprouts were being grown in large clear barrels that more than doubled the previous output of the store. I sampled each variety of sprouts individually, and was struck by the difference between each.

Toronto Sprouts has seven varieties, starting with Alfalfa sprouts ($2/100g). These are the classic, the “horse food” to which my roommate was referring. They were watery and crunchy, perfect for salads. Next was the Broccoli sprouts ($2.30/100g), which tasted a lot like broccoli (imagine that!) with a dense, dark, and sharp tone. The Ancient Eastern Blend ($2.30/110g), consisting of lentil, kamut, fenugreen, and adzuki beans, was more “brown” tasting than “green,” with a duller, deeper flavour. The regular Bean Mix ($2.30/220g) combined green peas, lentils, and garbanzos for a peanutty taste, less sharp than the other varieties. The Sunflower Sprouts ($2.50/75g) had a distinct chive-like flavour, with the leaves being slightly bitter. The Pea Shoots ($2.50/75g) were even more chive-like, and crisper than the sunflowers. Lastly was the Wheatgrass ($12.50/250g) presented to me in juice form. While most places seem to recommend taking wheatgrass as a “shot,” I thoroughly enjoyed the juice on its own, sipping to taste. It was very sweet, but I was assured there were no additives - freshness was touted as the key.

In addition, an in-store café serves soup, sandwiches, and salad. I was offered a sample sandwich, and was most impressed by the spread, consisting of “sunflower sprouts and spices.” The flavour was somewhere between hummus and baba ghanoush, with a strong undertone resembling red bell peppers.

In retrospect, my largely English ancestors (although I am sure they were men and women of the world) probably wouldn’t recognize yams or bok choy as food either. And what is life without sweet potato fries or Chinese food? It is almost like resigning yourself to salads of Iceberg and Romaine, where alfalfa and sunflowers will add much-needed variety and taste. I say, bring on the tiny green growing things!