Happy Small Business Saturday, everyone!!
Ah, what a wonderful day. No matter where they are located, small businesses are a joy. Whether family-run or started by a crew of friends making a dream work, small businesses make our cities and towns interesting by bringing their enthusiasm, creativity, and locally-minded sensibility to their storefronts. Old Town Toronto is obviously no exception and we’re so grateful to be the home for many of the city’s best small businesses.
And what’s more, our happy family keeps growing! So in the spirit of Small Business Saturday, we’d like to introduce you to a few places that only just opened up in OTT this year! Be sure to stop by to support them!
Karma’s Kitchen – 140 The Esplanade, Unit 4, karmaskitchen.ca
A stone’s throw away from St. Lawrence Market and the George Brown College St. James campus, the new location of Karma’s Kitchen is your source for some of the city’s best Tibetan, Nepalese, and Indian cuisine. Family-owned and using recipes that span over a century, Karma’s Kitchen’s food features mouthwatering momos (Tibetan-style dumplings), delicious noodle dishes, sizzling meat dishes, and incredible vegan options.
Space on King – 300 King Street E., spaceonking.com
As things are getting back to normal do you have a social or corporate gathering you’d like to have? Or maybe you’re a photographer looking for a studio to shoot in? Or perhaps you’re a business owner who wants to set up a pop-up storefront? Space on King has you covered. They have studios that range from 400 to 4,500 square feet and features that adapt to your needs. Don’t have furniture of your own? They’ve got you covered. Need dinnerware? Done. Need some extra storage? It’s yours. Just want a good coffee? Espresso machine is just in the other room.
Mister Pharmacist – 116A Sherbourne Street, misterpharmacist.com
Tired of the experience of going to a big chain pharmacy and being rushed through the line despite having questions about your health? Mister Pharmacist, is your boutique pharmacy where you can ask your questions in an unrushed, comfortable environment with a highly trained pharmacist with more than 15 years of experience.
Mister Pharmacist himself is otherwise known as Alexander Mihaila, a University of Montreal grad with a B.Pharm. and an MBA from Concordia who has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry in sales, marketing and market access. Available by appointment, you can fill your prescription, get access to nutritional products, visit the self-service health check kiosk, and even get a rapid test for COVID! Don’t feel like making the hike out? Mister Pharmacist offers delivery too!
Melt N Dip – 53 Adelaide Street E., meltndip.com
Melt N Dip, located on Adelaide E., is a place that indulges in one of our most primal desires—to have our favourite dessert foods absolutely covered with chocolate. We’re not talking just a few drizzles of chocolate sauce, we’re talking totally covered and stuffed with multiple types of Belgian chocolate and arranged in a way that makes it all extremely instagrammable.
From crepes, waffles, and cake to ice cream and fresh fruit, they are all the canvas to which Melt N Dip works with to bring us to a universe of chocolate. Personally, we want to indulge in the Y.O.L.O. Crepe, which is stuffed with an Oreo and cream along with Belgian Milk, Dark and White chocolate.
Bauformat – 322 King Street E., bauformat.ca
As winter approaches we’re all taking a look at the places we live in and wonder what more we could do to make our space beautiful and functional. And when it comes to rooms like the kitchen or the bathroom, it needs to be perfect. It’s a good thing, then, that Bauformat has more than 100 years of experience in making kitchens and bathrooms look perfect. With a “Made in Germany” seal of approval that goes far beyond the production site, the family-owned Bauformat has storefronts all over the globe and specializes in designs that are elegant and modern.
ImPerfect Fresh Eats – 100 Front Street E., imperfectfresheats.com
It’s a sad state of the world when even produce is held to an unrealistic standard of beauty, but the fact is that perfectly good fruits and vegetables that are deemed “imperfect” in appearance are often thrown out. The sibling-owned ImPerfect Fresh Eats rights that wrong by creating some incredible food made under the notion that “imperfect” food is perfect the way it is. With 100% real fruit smoothies, deliciously savoury wraps, and signature bowls like the popular Chipotle Grain Bowl (forbidden black rice and chipotle chicken topped with tomatoes, cucumber, sweet corn, beets, alfalfa sprouts, sweet potato mash, crispy onions, taro chips, and their signature chipotle ranch sauce), you’ll want to stop by to give eating imperfectly a chance!
