Good news: Tori’s Bakeshop opened a second location! Not as good news: It’s still on the east side of the city, far from where I live.
Despite the location’s proximity to me, Tori’s Bakeshop’s second location in the Canary District, on Front Street is bright, beautiful and full of indulgent goodness. If you haven’t been to the Canary District, this is an area just being developed to the west of the Distillery District and Souk Tabüle, which I reviewed a few months ago, is there too.
Tori’s space follows their classic green and white colour scheme from their quaint location in the beaches, with a big white logo right when you walk in providing a perfect contrast to their bright green walls! The space has floor-to-ceiling windows along two sides, letting the sun shine in and making the space bright and inviting. There are benches and tables lining the windows providing lots of sitting space inside, and the area also has lots of seats and benches outside when the weather is nice.
As soon as we walked in, my brother ran over to the massive display case and practically started drooling as he peered in. After much deliberation, he decided on the Cruffin, which is a croissant-muffin hybrid with vanilla icing on top (and we discovered a few bites in that there was chocolate icing on the inside!). Needless to say, this item on his glass plate didn’t last very long, and it was soon in his stomach (and on his face, and hands, and shirt…. :). I got a Cruffin too, and I have to say, the combination of vanilla and chocolate icing was perfect with the soft dough! I am not much of a sweet-lover but this was really good! If you like croissants, this is the item for you – butter free since everything at Tori’s is vegan!
In terms of savoury food (which I had after the Cruffin, because why not?), I decided to get the Veggie Pate Sandwich, which included mushroom and sunflower seed pate, sauerkraut, mustard, and pickles on their house-baked bread. This was AMAZING, and I would definitely get it again! They do have a variety of sandwiches all made and ready to grab and go in their case. I also had some of my brother’s focaccia, which was topped with herbed nut-free and vegan cream cheese, roasted tomatoes, and arugula. It was’t that he shared, but I was fortunate enough to enjoy his leftovers, which he doesn’t normally produce, but he uses the loophole of me writing restaurant reviews to try MANY things when we go out, so over-ordered! After the cruffin and the focaccia, Andy raced back to the display case to order a gluten-free sprinkle donut which has always been one of his favourites.
Although my sister cannot indulge in the food at Tori’s because of her nut allergy, their small drink fridge includes a variety of Village Juicery cold-pressed juices and Vams Kombucha and she was really happy with that!
Tori’s is a great place to go, especially in the summer, since there are great places outside in the area to enjoy what you choose. Their commitment to healthier baked goods and the fact that they use organic ingredients is so important and something that adds a lot to their awesmazing baked goods!
