What’s on the menu at Kwento x Nile Coffee Bar, the new collaborative space serving up major cakes and modern coffee

Including elaborate cupcakes and soul-reviving espresso tonics

By Lindsey King | Photography by Nicole and Bagol

| September 5, 2024

What's on the menu at Kwento x Nile Coffee Bar, the new collaborative space serving up major cakes and modern coffee

Name: Kwento x Nile Coffee Bar Contact: 1637 Dundas St. W., @make_kwento, @nilecoffeeclub Neighbourhood: Brockton Village Owners: Shannon Nocos, Maria Duong, Sandrine Somé, Taher Elsheikh and Jahmal Padmore Accessibility: Accessible entrance, no bathroom

Cake, coffee and community are all on offer at the colourful new collab space in Brockton Village from the teams behind Kwento and Nile Coffee Club. In this cute pick-me-up spot, you’ll find towering cakes teeming with multicoloured icing and perfectly pulled shots of fruity espresso dispensed in a bright space full of branded merch. While primarily designed for takeaway, Kwento x Nile has a few coveted seats on their front benches, which are perfect for people-watching.

Shannon Nocos, the maximalist cake maker who gained an Instagram cult following during the pandemic, and her business partner Maria Duong are the Kwento half of the collaboration. Nocos started her food career in 2020 with a boutique meal-kit business. But she’d trained as a graphic designer, and it turned out that excessive cakes were more her vibe. “Colour theory really plays into my work,” she says. “I always want to see just how much more icing we can pack onto a cake. The cakes are a reflection of my interior life too—my apartment is full of trinkets and colour.”

Sandrine Somé, Taher Elsheikh and Jahmal Padmore make up the Nile Coffee Club half of the partnership. Nile started as an online coffee wholesaler in 2020, selling beans and other products (like bottles of espresso to use in espresso martinis) to restaurants like Manita and the Haifa Room and pairing up with Toronto businesses on collaborative projects: Nile has since worked with Wealthsimple on a limited-edition custom cold brew can, with Bellwoods Brewery on a stout and with Kotn on a T-shirt collection.

The trio hatched Nile out of a shared desire to draw a connection between Toronto and coffee’s roots. “We felt like there wasn’t enough representation in the coffee space,” says Somé. “People often forget that coffee culture started in Ethiopia—it has very African roots, and we wanted to feel more included in an industry that’s so dependent on importing from the places we’re from.” Opening an espresso bar where they could encounter their customers in person was important to them as the business grew. “There’s a huge lack of third spaces now—things are more expensive, and there’s less and less public space available,” says Somé. “Creating a place where people could feel a sense of community was a very important part of the coffee culture that we wanted to bring to the forefront.”

The teams at Nile and Kwento share this community-first vision, so it made total sense for them to join forces. The idea came in the form of a meet-cute: Nocos and Somé started chatting at a mutual friend’s birthday party. “I proposed the idea of working together when I was looking for another space for Kwento,” says Nocos. “I wanted to do coffee, but I’m not an expert. We’d carried Nile Coffee at our previous space, and I loved the product. Nile’s energy really matches ours, and it’s honestly a great fit.”

The Drinks

The shop offers the standard suite of Italian espresso-based drinks—cortados, americanos, cappuccinos, lattes—and specialty teas like matcha. Nile currently has three main roasts: the Diaspora blend, a nutty, chocolatey, cherry-y Brazilian and Ethiopian blend; the Limòn, a super juicy Brazilian, Ethiopian and Costa Rican blend with blueberry notes; and their recently released decaf, a Colombian and Burundian blend that Nile commissioned for their friends who like to sip coffee late into the night. While the flavour profiles are impressive, Nile’s priority is to source coffee thoughtfully. “A big part of Nile is sourcing beans from the African diaspora. We’re always trying to work with Afro Brazilian and Ethiopian farms and to find Black farmers where we can,” says Elsheikh. “That brings a big library of flavours.” In the summer, they also offer a list of thirst-quenching seasonal options, and everything is always available on ice. Plus, every day they offer a drip-coffee-and-cookie deal for $5.

A cappuccino made with Nile’s first and most popular roast, the Diaspora blend, topped with rich and frothy whole milk. $4.25

Nile doesn’t skimp on the good stuff—their matcha latte is made with super fine ceremonial-grade Japanese matcha that’s extra buttery. $5.00 — Nile doesn’t skimp on the good stuff—their matcha latte is made with super-fine ceremonial-grade Japanese matcha that’s extra buttery. $5

These signature Kwenchers are a summertime must—housemade fruity syrups topped with crisp sparkling water. On the left is the strawberry-lychee flavour and on the right is calamansi lime and lemongrass. Both flavours are a nod from Nile to Nocos’s Filipino roots. $5.50 — These signature Kwenchers are a summertime must—house-made fruit syrups topped with crisp sparkling water. On the left is the strawberry lychee and on the right is the calamansi and lemongrass. Both flavours are nods to Nocos’s Filipino roots. $5.50

Wanting to emphasize taking time to enjoy coffee rather than guzzling it on the go, Nile created Slow Brew: a cold brew that is steeped overnight for a robust flavour, and can easily be used in an espresso martini. $4 for a 16oz to-go cup — To emphasize taking time to enjoy coffee, Nile created Slow Brew: a cold brew that is steeped overnight for a robust flavour and works well in an espresso martini. $4 for a 16-oz. to-go cup

The Cakes

Nocos’s cake flavours are both odes to the classics and homages to her Filipino heritage. Her recipes often come from a deeply sentimental place. “I’m a nostalgic person, so I try to hit all the flavours that bring me joy and that I have memories attached to,” she says. “One of our bestselling flavours is the vanilla cardamom, and I often pair that with yema, which is a condensed milk custard that my uncle taught me how to make when I was growing up.” Get your sugar fix with cupcakes, cake slices, cookies and rotating baked goods daily, or brighten up your next gathering with a small- or medium-size cake to go. Nocos also has a busy custom-cake business that’s especially popular for weddings and birthdays.

Cupcakes come in a range of rotating flavours like vanilla cardamom with salted caramel, ube, citrus olive oil with calamansi curd, chocolate guinness with salted caramel and vanilla with berry compote. Each cupcake is decorated a little differently so guests can choose something unique. $4.50 — Cupcakes come in a range of rotating flavours like ube, vanilla cardamom with salted caramel, citrus olive oil with calamansi curd, chocolate Guinness with salted caramel and vanilla with berry compote. Each cupcake is decorated a little differently so guests can choose something unique. $4.50

This is Nocos’s petite fringe cake, her version of a shag cake, made with an ube sponge cake base, macapuno filling, with magically piped meringue buttercream icing. $72 — This is Nocos’s petite fringe cake, her version of a shag cake made with an ube sponge base, macapuno filling and wildly piped meringue buttercream icing. $72

Many people call this style a Marie Antoinette cake, but Nocos considers it more of an American vintage housewife cake. Nocos version is an oil-based chocolate-Guinness sponge cake with salted caramel filling that’s liberally decorated with meringue buttercream icing and maraschino cherries. $78 — Many people call this style a Marie Antoinette cake, but Nocos considers it more of a vintage American housewife cake. Her version is an oil-based chocolate-Guinness sponge with salted caramel filling that’s liberally decorated with meringue buttercream icing and maraschino cherries. $78

Check out this custom order citrus and olive oil cake with calamansi curd loaded with meringue buttercream icing. It’s inspired by a duck pond, and the couple who commissioned it for their wedding eventually topped it with bride and groom duck toppers. Two-tier custom cakes start at around $260 — Check out this custom-order citrus and olive oil cake with calamansi curd, loaded with meringue buttercream icing. It’s inspired by a duck pond, and the couple who commissioned it for their wedding eventually topped it with bride-and-groom duck toppers. Two-tier custom cakes start at around $260

The Space

The team signed the lease on their roughly 1,500-square-foot space (formerly a pharmacy) in April of 2023, and Nocos and Duong did a lot of the renovations themselves. Nocos laid out the checkered tiles to match her brand colours, and they turned the pharmacy counter into an L. They also commissioned a milk bar and two benches from Paul Georgio, a Toronto carpenter who creates playful furniture.