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Inside Good Egg’s colourful new Kensington Market digs

By KC Hoard| Photography by Ebti Nabag
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Mika Bareket opened the O.G. Good Egg—stocked with niche cookbooks and kitschy kitchenware—in Kensington Market in 2008. It soon became a favourite among the city’s bookish gastronomes, but closed a decade later due to unsuccessful lease negotiations. Then, Bareket ran Good Egg as a web store with no plans to open another physical shop. But during the pandemic she realized she’d missed her brick-and-mortar operation. This summer, she signed a new lease—still in Kensington Market, of course—and opened the doors to Good Egg 2.0 in September. Here’s a look inside.

 


The mural by local artist Ness Lee came with the building but fit perfectly with Bareket’s vibrant vision for the shop, so she left it as is:

Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs

The store is divided into four sections, including books and cookware, baking essentials, a kids’ corner and an area for second-hand items:

Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs
Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs

The shop’s front desk is actually two IKEA islands pushed together:

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Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs

Scattered throughout the store are a series of Bareket’s favourite cooking-related gifts and essentials: indestructible baby cups and dishware; puzzles and games; and green household supplies. Bareket is partial to Montreal-based Filo’s tiny cleaning sacks. “Each pouch contains a tablet that dissolves in tap water to make an entire bottle of all-purpose cleaner,” she says. “I love how little waste it makes”:

Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs

There are plenty of books by local authors, including Cooking Meat by butcher (and Good Egg store neighbour) Peter Sanagan and Eating Out Loud by Eden Grinshpan:

Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs

There are also adorable greeting cards, like these ones by local artists Allison Burda and Cameron Gee:

Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs

And caffeinated pick-me-ups: locally sourced coffee from Sam James Coffee Bar and tea from the New New Age:

Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs

The sausages hanging from the ceiling were made by Bareket and store manager Lara Desjardins from old pantyhose and butcher’s twine:

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Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs

Bareket’s favourite area of the shop is the kids’ section in the back, featuring pastel toys, puzzles and—of course—books for young readers:

Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs
Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs

Here’s the thrift collection, made up of donated goods from Kensington Market neighbours. Some of the proceeds are donated to a local soup kitchen:

Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs

Good Egg sells vinyl records, collected from around the world. “We want to support what Toronto does best: represent every culture with love and respect,” says Bareket:

Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs
Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs

Here’s the front window display:

Inside Good Egg's colourful new Kensington Market digs

156 Augusta Ave., goodegg.ca 

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