‘It’s been an absolutely insane ride,’ remarks Tony Theodosiou over pints of Buggywhip IPA at ABE ERB in The Tannery. ‘But one that’s been as invigorating as it’s been exhausting.’
ICE CREAM’S CERTAINLY A WONDERFUL THING. IT REMINDS US OF CHILDHOOD. AND INNOCENCE. AND ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THIS WORLD. I RECENTLY GOT THE CHANCE TO VISIT AJOA MINTAH, OWNER & CHIEF ICE CREAM MAKER AT KITCHENER’S FOUR ALL ICE CREAM, TO CHAT ABOUT HER BUSINESS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND WHAT PAIRS BEST WITH ICE CREAM.
‘This is my happy place,’ I whisper to no one in particular as Stephen Cleary pops the top off an obscure Belgian lambic-style beer and pours it evenly into the five wine glasses he’s placed on the white-washed wood slab bar in front of our intimate group.
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.
