The Kettle Black East

I’ve gotten into the habit of cycling to Stratford with Lisa every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. She heads to her workout, and I get an hour of work (or sketching, or reading) done.

This started off as a way of training for our Belgian cycle tour, but the habit stuck, and I treat it as a kind of “off-day training” (I work out on Tuesdays and Thursdays). I also really like cycling with Lisa.

When I started, I would cycle to the Starbucks in the Sobeys plaza, but I’ve found myself, partly from conservation of energy, but mostly for preference, redirecting to The Kettle Black’s eastern output.

This space has a storied history: earlier was Now & Zen, then The Lucky Bean. It was sometimes a locus of fun, but never a regular destination.

The Kettle Black, of source, also has a storied history: its bloodline started in 2008 with Ampersand, which, in 2012, begat Youngfolk & The Kettle Black. YFTKB spawned a new branch on Victoria Row (which became ROW142, ancestor of Receiver Coffee), and then, in new hands, branches on Queen Street (still there), Kent Street (now Ada), and now here in Stratford.

The Kettle Black East has much, much better coffee, friendly multi-tasking staff, good music, and a good vibe. It’s also remarkably well-connected for cyclists, abutting both the under-highway Stratford Trail and a cycle path from the west, and so accessible from both the Southport and Bunbury sides of town.

It’s my new Stratford go-to.