Travel tends to sharpen taste. It introduces new ideas, uncovers unforeseen obsessions, and offers the occasional epiphany – nudging your sense of beauty and your grasp of craftsmanship in new directions. For Ryan LeClair, founder of Makoto Watch Company out of London, Ontario, it was travel – and specifically a trip to Japan – that transformed his infatuation with watch collecting into his initiation of a brand built on craft, restraint, and everyday practicality.
Almost nothing we carry defines us more clearly than the books in our bags: tactile objects filled with ideas and stories – testimonies to time well spent. They tag along with us, mark our days, and shape the rhythm of how we move through the world. In Uptown Waterloo, three long-standing independent bookstores – Carry-On Comics & Books (46 years young), Words Worth Books (42 years), and Old Goat Books (25 years) – offer distinct ways to build this bracket of everyday carry: a nostalgia-driven comic haven built for the thrill of discovery, a curated literary hub grounded in conversation, and a densely-packed used bookstore where the search is part of the reward. Together, these enduring fixtures map a reading life – charting not just what we read, but how we come to find it.
In my line of work – as writer, photographer, editor, regional explorer – EDC isn't a trend. It's infrastructure. Most days I'm in motion: tracing backroads toward a brewhouse, mapping my way to an artist's studio, or sliding into the corner of a coffee shop where I turn field notes into final copy and RAW files into photographs that will pop on paper. My office is wherever I set my bag down. My tools make it possible.
OUR REGION IS VAST AND VARIED – AND INTERWOVEN WITH DIVERSE COMMUNITIES, CULTURES, AND FOODS. DELICIOUS, DELECTABLE, TANTALIZING FOODS. FOODS (AND FOOD INGREDIENTS) THAT, IN MANY CASES, CAN BE FOUND ONLY AT ONE OF OUR LOCAL INTERNATIONAL GROCERS. THESE DISTINCTIVE ENTERPRISES, WHICH ARE STREWN THROUGHOUT OUR REGION, ARE EASY TO SPOT – IF YOU’RE LOOKING. FOR THIS FEATURE, TOQUE WRITER DANI KUEPFER VISITS THREE OF THEM, AND REPORTS ON WHAT SHE FINDS.
A short stroll from the heart of picturesque downtown Paris, the Little Paris Bread Co is tucked into an historic brick building, its striped awning and – weather permitting – its punchy yellow patio sets out front offering a playful nod to European bistros. The warm and comforting vibe of the shop is airy and nostalgic, instantly, I want to say, taking me back to my grandmother’s farmhouse kitchen. Then again, this is definitely not my grandmother’s kitchen.
For this TOQUE assignment, I was tasked with searching out a few of our region’s great fromageries. While we all know that boutique grocers like Vincenzo’s (Waterloo), Market Fresh (Guelph) and Elora Mercantile (yep, Elora) have fantastic selections, there’s always time and place for dedicated cheese shops. Need proof? Look no further:
GETTING TO KNOW: TRICAR’S GORDON SQUARE CONDOMINIUMS
INTERVIEW BY CAI SEPULIS; RENDERINGS PROVIDED BY TRICAR
THE REGION’S CONDO MARKET IS BOOMING – AND NOWHERE IS THIS...
REALLY – WHEN IS IT NOT THE PERFECT TIME FOR A GREAT COFFEE? A COUPLE MONTHS BACK, TOQUE CORRESPONDENT CURTIS GRIMBA TOOK TO OUR REGION’S MAIN STREETS AND BACK ROADS TO VISIT THREE OF HIS FAVOURITE LOCAL COFFEE HAUNTS.
Travel tends to sharpen taste. It introduces new ideas, uncovers unforeseen obsessions, and offers the occasional epiphany – nudging your sense of beauty and your grasp of craftsmanship in new directions. For Ryan LeClair, founder of Makoto Watch Company out of London, Ontario, it was travel – and specifically a trip to Japan – that transformed his infatuation with watch collecting into his initiation of a brand built on craft, restraint, and everyday practicality.
Almost nothing we carry defines us more clearly than the books in our bags: tactile objects filled with ideas and stories – testimonies to time well spent. They tag along with us, mark our days, and shape the rhythm of how we move through the world. In Uptown Waterloo, three long-standing independent bookstores – Carry-On Comics & Books (46 years young), Words Worth Books (42 years), and Old Goat Books (25 years) – offer distinct ways to build this bracket of everyday carry: a nostalgia-driven comic haven built for the thrill of discovery, a curated literary hub grounded in conversation, and a densely-packed used bookstore where the search is part of the reward. Together, these enduring fixtures map a reading life – charting not just what we read, but how we come to find it.
In my line of work – as writer, photographer, editor, regional explorer – EDC isn't a trend. It's infrastructure. Most days I'm in motion: tracing backroads toward a brewhouse, mapping my way to an artist's studio, or sliding into the corner of a coffee shop where I turn field notes into final copy and RAW files into photographs that will pop on paper. My office is wherever I set my bag down. My tools make it possible.
Stratford – and, by extension, Perth County – lends itself to takeaway. A coffee to carry, a sandwich in hand, something sweet tucked alongside – then out into the streets for window shopping, into the theatres for a performance, or down to the riverbank for a nosh.
