Introducing: Through Being Cool, a quaint new vegan bakery in Bloordale
Name: Through Being Cool Vegan Baking Co.
Neighbourhood: Bloordale Village
Contact Info: 1277 Bloor St. W., 416-998-3321, throughbeingcoolvegan.com
Owner and Head Baker: Amanda Somerville
The Place: A bright green storefront with “All vegan since 2010” stenciled on the front window. Inside, doily-topped shelves and dressers display jars of homemade preserves, while a big glass case at the back holds platters of doughnuts and other baked goods. Somerville is waiting for a license to turn the bakery into a proper sit-down café (for now, it’s takeout only).
The Food: Vegan cookies, doughnuts and tarts, plus savoury snacks like pizza buns and soft pretzels (with house mustard for dipping). Somerville also sells lasagnas, cabbage rolls and other oven-ready meals for vegans on-the-go.
The Drinks: Espresso-based drinks made with Anchored coffee beans, imported from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
The Numbers: • 20 doughnut flavours (four available daily) • 15-30 kilos of flour per day • $7 for a bag of vegan dog treats • 6 years since Somerville began selling vegan snacks to Sadie’s Diner on Adelaide West • 4 types of vegan cookie: ginger molasses, sugar, chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin • 1 allusion to American punk band Saves the Day, whose second album is titled Through Being Cool • 0 animal products
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Caroline Aksich, a National Magazine Award recipient, is an ex-Montrealer who writes about Toronto’s ever-evolving food scene, real estate and culture for Toronto Life, Fodor’s, Designlines, Canadian Business, Glory Media and Post City. Her work ranges from features on octopus-hunting in the Adriatic to celebrity profiles.
