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.
While Stratford may be famed for its Shakespearean productions, the city's appeal goes well beyond the stage. Candlelit dinners, artisan shops, festive trails, and riverside picnics make the perfect companions to a theatrical performance.
Stratford has a way of seducing the senses. This small city on the Avon, best known, of course, for the internationally acclaimed celebration of Shakespearean theatre, is no stranger to performance. But the drama here extends well beyond the stage. It’s found in the details that animate Festival City: in the way spaces are curated, food is plated, cocktails composed, and shop windows styled.
Step inside Wills & Prior — a haven for all things home and design in the heart of Stratford — and it’s as if the world exhales. A calm breeziness infuses everything here: the lofty ceilings and pendant lights draped in oversized fabric shades; the reclaimed wood floors and towering windows that flood the two-storey space with natural light; the fresh floral arrangements and subtle signature scent; the staff — stylish, approachable, and genuinely helpful — gliding quietly through the space.
The Stratford food scene has always stood out for us. To be sure, the restaurants of Festival City are among the finest in the region – and beyond. For lunches. Dinners. And probably breakfasts too (although early in the day the TOQUE team is more of a ‘coffee and run’ crew and so, as a result, has little first-hand experience of distinctive morning feeds).
In late May the TOQUE team took on the lavish task of completing the trail in a single day (or two). Did we succeed? Was it tasty? What’s bacon popcorn, anyway? Follow along to find out.
WHEN KIERSTEN HATANAKA DECIDED TO OPEN A WOMEN’S CLOTHING STORE IN STRATFORD, SHE HAD A KEEN VISION IN MIND: TO CREATE A MINDFULLY-CURATED BOUTIQUE THAT SPECIALIZED IN SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS (CLOTHING, APOTHECARY, SKINCARE, HOMEWARE, AND ZINES TOO) SOURCED FROM ETHICAL, WOMEN-LED BRANDS. PRODUCED IN SMALL BATCHES. MADE TO ORDER. AND SIZE-INCLUSIVE TOO.
The leisurely activity of sauntering storefront to storefront, gauging shops' wares through glass from the promenade of a bustling thoroughfare – downtown Stratford's Ontario Street is built for this. In this festival city that caters to upwards of two million out-of-town visitors each year, the proprietors of small businesses along Ontario (and so many other walkable streets in and out of Stratford’s downtown core) have perfected the art of dressing windows. Building out themes.
The leisurely activity of sauntering storefront to storefront, gauging shops' wares through glass from the promenade of a bustling thoroughfare – downtown Stratford's Ontario Street is built for this. In this festival city that caters to upwards of two million out-of-town visitors each year, the proprietors of small businesses along Ontario (and so many other walkable streets in and out of Stratford’s downtown core) have perfected the art of dressing windows.
‘The last time we saw you was when you were in for pizza,’ Abra, our server, tells Cai and me as she guides us to our table – a cozy four-seater tucked under an expansive window right up at the front of the restaurant, overlooking a blustery, wintery Wellington Street. Cai nods with a grin (apparently playing that meal back in her head) and lets Abra know how much we loved that visit.
‘The last time we saw you was when youwere in for pizza,’ Abra, our server, tells Cai and me as she guides us to our table – acozy four-seater tucked under an expansive window right up at the front of the restaurant, overlooking a blustery, wintery Wellington Street. Cai nods with a grin (apparently playing that meal back in her head) and lets Abra know how much we loved that visit.
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.
