Aroma Espresso Bar
500 Bloor Street West
416-536-7750

With the hustle and bustle of the Annex, the neighbourhood was an obvious choice of venue for Aroma Espresso Bar, the Israeli import and only the second location in North America - the other is in New York City’s Soho neighbourhood. I met Anat Davidzon, operating partner, one Friday morning to see how she’s settling in to their new digs. She is excited by the varying demographics of the neighbourhood which is home to everyone from students and club-goers to working professionals.

At 10am, a smattering of people occupy the large space, a former JJ Muggs venue. An older couple takes a late breakfast, two twenty-somethings gossip about the latest Hollywood scandal, a single man holds up the newspaper to cover his face; yes, this is most definitely a coffee shop, er, an espresso bar.

There is, in fact, a long bar with a view that runs along Albany Street, just north of Bloor Street, where students like to set up shop with their laptops and take advantage of wireless internet. The catch (if you want to call it that)? Their menu functions much like European cafés where one can pay a fraction more to sit and stay or a fraction less to take the order to go. For those who stay, the quiet corner in the back of the espresso bar might be where they meet with a friend to play catch-up. The bold red chairs are more comfortable than most places and the spacious set-up makes for less cramped quarters, meaning the folks sitting one table over are unlikely to hear your conversation.

I ask Anat if she foresees a problem with the influx of students in the neighbourhood come September, which might disrupt the quieter folks who have come to Aroma because they remember visiting the first locations in Israel in their youth. The nostalgia is palpable. “We’ve already had some customer feedback so we’re focusing on addressing needs as they come our way. Fortunately, we’ve had positive feedback.” The music is unobtrusive, not blatantly conducive to jazzy riffs on relationships, trends and school. Let’s just say the people at Aroma won’t be selling a CD of their greatest hits any time soon.

The menu includes breakfast and lunch options, with a comprehensive list of sandwiches (half or whole portions), in-house baked pastries and a variety of coffees conveniently depicted on a chart for the visually inclined. The open kitchen provides customers with a view of neat rows of condiment-filled inserts and squeaky-clean working surfaces. “The idea was to keep hygiene in full view. We want to show that we’re serving fresh food; nothing sits in the refrigerator”, adds Anat when she notices me eyeing the open kitchen.

Little touches lend a hint of personality. A small chocolate accompanies each coffee order and doilies support pastries on white saucers. Aroma flew in their best baristas from their flagship location to train the new staff, and the crew has stuck around to ensure the operation runs smoothly. This means espresso ground as it is needed to preserve freshness and flavour, and baristas who carefully measure and press the grounds, producing a wonderful crema - the tan-coloured foam that floats on the surface and indicative of a proper extraction.

There are coffee shops that naturally lend themselves to quiet moments of reflection, others that merely serve the purpose of a morning java boost and others that cater to a steady influx of comers and goers throughout the day. Aroma Espresso Bar has fine-tuned its newest location to a Canadian market and palate to cater to all of the above.