Rosie Robin - A Touch of Convenience blends into the Dovercourt Park neighbourhood just north of Bloor & Dufferin but it really is something extraordinary. It's everything you could have dreamed a classic corner store would have without any hipsters or marked-up vintage products.
Both convenience store and cafe, Rosie Robin has a small selection of all the essentials and serves breakfast, lunch and weekly dinners from a galley kitchen behind the cash.
There really is a Rosie and she is a ray of sunshine! Hailing from Dominica, Rosie never forgets a face and really makes this place special. When you stop in, It's like going to visit an old friend. This concept was something I had never known until discovery RR a few years ago. Before that I had only known the austerity of your typical corner store.
There are a few tables in the back of the store but more importantly there's a nice sizeable patio to enjoy your food and drinks during the warmer months. On my first visit I stopped in to pick up some Reunion Island coffee beans but was so taken in my Rosie's charm and warm character that I've been coming back ever since. Update: she now carries and serves I Deal Coffee instead of Reunion.
She sells locally-made guava cheese (which is not an actual cheese but a soft fruit candy), a tasty West Indian treat. It is just as juicy and flavourful as the kind you get on the islands. Even better was a guava jam filled puff pastry, the likes I had never come across before in Toronto. It is very good and the perfect accompaniment to a morning coffee.
It's ridiculous to think that this awesome little spot is on the same block as a massive Tim Horton's. If you can't tolerate that stuff, you need to try Rosie's brew. Whenever I'm in the area or working at the Bloor-Gladstone library, I take shank's mare(my leg horse) north on Gladstone, deep into the neighbourhood to uncover this little corner store gem.