From classic lattes to egg coffee, Caphelia Coffee brings Vietnamese flair to the city’s ever-evolving coffee scene
By Maryam Parkar
Caphelia Coffee is a newly opened café that unites Vietnamese coffee culture with the fast-paced, metropolitan buzz of Toronto.
As you step inside, you’re transported to a space that feels like home: customers are welcomed in by warm lighting and comforting, neutral colours. The interior houses a built-in bookshelf, houseplants, pottery and low-level seating.
Vietnamese-born café owner Tri Nguyen seamlessly blends his heritage with what he believes his customers need — a third space where they can continue to enjoy the things they love.
Nguyen wasn’t always into coffee. Growing up in Toronto, he turned to the easiest ways to get his quick coffee fix. His passion for the industry only grew after visiting Vietnam in recent years.
“I kind of fell in love with the coffee culture,” said Nguyen. “On every corner, there’s a coffee shop and if there’s no coffee shop, you’ll see a coffee cart — so coffee is kind of embedded in Vietnam.”
According to Nguyen, Vietnamese coffee culture embodies community, coziness and bold flavours, making coffee a staple in the country’s social scene.
After returning from Vietnam, he felt like he was missing something. He asked himself, “what can I do to bring that here?”
Caphelia’s menu offers café staples alongside Nguyen’s spin on Vietnamese classics such as salted cream iced coffee, egg coffee, white coffee and coconut coffee.
Just like the cafés in Vietnam, Nguyen uses robusta coffee beans in this shop, but also keeps arabica beans around as an option for those seeking a quintessential espresso beverage.
“[Robusta] has almost double the amount of caffeine content as arabica,” Nguyen explains. “It has a very strong, earthy-like dark bitterness to it.”
The drinks are then finished with various toppings like egg foam or whipped cream, creating unique ways for people to enjoy their daily dose of caffeine. However, Nguyen says that the most distinctive quality of Vietnamese coffee is condensed milk.
The sweetness of the condensed milk combined with the bitterness of the coffee replicates a level of richness akin to dark chocolate, said Nguyen.
Caphelia also offers a variety of food items, including bánh mì, a Vietnamese sandwich.
One customer, Alaya Le, ordered the BBQ pork bánh mì and lemongrass chicken bánh mì. “I liked how they marinated the meat,” she said. “The barbecue pork was really good and I recommend getting it spicy.
Le also tried the tiramisu cookie — one of Caphelia’s standout desserts — and highlighted its punchy coffee flavour.
The café is nestled within walking distance from both University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University — the perfect place for students and nine-to-fivers to break away from the city’s chaos.
The café’s name alone invites coffee-lovers to connect in Nguyen’s space. “The first part is ‘caphe’ [cà phê],” he said. “That’s the Vietnamese word for coffee and the second part is ‘philia,’ a Greek word meaning love and fondness.”
Another customer, Gabriel Mosca, describes Caphelia as studious and calm with a community-feel.
The atmosphere reflects Nguyen’s goal to establish “a space that feels familiar…something like your living room,” he said.
Since opening this past summer, Caphelia Coffee has started welcoming customers after hours. Its casual atmosphere makes the café an ideal spot to host community book clubs or social gatherings.
“A coffee shop [is] a lot of people’s first interaction of the day,” he said. “We want to create positive interactions.”
Comments
Very informative article, will have to check it out!!