First Look: Caffe Furbo, traditional Italian espresso in the Distillery District
By Evan Andrew Mackay
Espresso aficionados welcome (Images: Evan Andrew Mackay)
After 20 years of Bay Street banking, gregarious renaissance man Kevin Bonnici turned to a more fragrant end of the service industry. In mid-March, he opened a modern Italian café and art space in the Distillery District and called it Caffe Furbo. Although opened only a couple of weeks ago, Bonnici had a steady stream of customers on Saturday, and served them with a balance of passion, nonchalance and efficiency.
The concept: Furbo, (which roughly translates to “cunning” or “streetwise” in Italian), is a “sanctuary for traditional Italian coffee” and other treats. Some customers come in for their daily cup of comfort, Bonnici says, but “I get a lot of real espresso aficionados in here.” He speaks of his Faema E92 espresso machine lovingly, as if it were a vintage Ferrari, but with “brass piping, heavy duty boilers. It’s consistently good, and it allows the flexibility to adjust consistency on the fly.”
The original exposed brick and pine beams of the industrial Victorian space are contrasted with minimalist modern furnishings and a rotating exhibit of contemporary art. The open concept café seats 25 to 30, with capacity to host up to 45 for private functions, leaving plenty of room to step back and view the artworks from a proper distance. Currently on display are some of Bonnici’s own recent paintings, and he intends to exhibit works by other painters and photographers in the future.
The hood: Case Goods Lane in the Distillery District, 55 Mill Street.
The coffee and eats: Caffe Furbo is one of only three vendors in Toronto serving a blend of several Arabica beans imported from Italy’s Caffè Haiti Roma, established in Rome more than 60 years ago. Every presentation of coffee is available — espresso ($1.80), Americano ($1.98), cappuccino ($3.09) — and also a respectable variety of teas. On the counter are savoury filo pastries from the Junction’s Malta Bakery, and the display case is well stocked with a range of biscotti, croissants, scones and tarts.
The owner’s favourite: Mochachocolata ($3.88), “Espresso and chocolate, what could be better?”
Coming soon: Pending liquor license (in three or four weeks), select wines of central and northern Italy, just four or five offerings on the board at any one time, and about the same number of cheeses, with artisanal bread alongside.
Caffe Furbo, Distillery District, 55 Mill Street, Case Goods Lane Bldg. 59, Unit 104, 416-366-7070
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Reader Comments:
Very chic. I will stop by this month.
This place sounds great. I'll bring my boyfriend along for a visit soon, as he is a coffee aficionado and is sure to want to check out Furbo. I like that they're showing art, too . . . and that they will be serving cheese. Fab!
mochachocolata AND art!? I'm there. Thanks, Mackay, for letting me know.
I just saw Kev filling his board with red wines.....