Today’s blog post is about the cute Almond Butterfly, an all natural and 100% gluten-free bake shop and cafe located in the heart of Harbord Village.
Almond Butterfly is located right around the corner of my office and it has became an easy favourite. I often grab lunch, a snack and coffee. Everything is so delicious and made with healthy, whole ingredients.
The cafe is a great place to sit down with friends or enjoy a quick lunch. The space is small and cozy, but offers bar seating and a communal rustic table seating- a perfect combination of modern and rustic decor.
Almond Butterfly specializes in gluten-free goodies, however they offer a lot of dairy-free, vegan and paleo friendly options. They have a large selection of cupcakes, brownies, cookies, muffins, biscuits and date squares. They also have a great selection of savoury breakfast and lunch items including their amazing gluten-free bagel! The products are made with unique flour blends, specially formulated for each product. You would not be able to tell that any of the products are gluten-free, which is what they strive to achieve according to co-owner Melody. I love any place that offers those on a seemingly restrictive diet to indulge and eat delicious food. Almond Butterfly has something for everyone, which makes healthy eating in Toronto so easy!
The cafe opened their Toronto doors in June 2014, after establishing a Montreal-based business in 2011. Melody originally operated Almond Butterfly out of her home kitchen in Montreal, offering products online, to the crossfit community and wholesale to cafe customers. After establishing a well-loved following, Melody joined forces with her partner David and moved her home-based operation from Montreal and expanded into the vibrant food market here in Toronto. Together, David brought his corporate background and Melody her background working in the food and beverage industry to open a food business that would allow both to excel at what they do best. So far, it is working!
Since opening, they have gained a loyal clientele and expanding community. Both Melody and David, with their staff, love to interact with their customers daily.
When asking Melody her favourite part of owning and operating Almond Butterfly she answered that she loves the creativity of creating new products, having fun with the staff and absolutely loves chatting with regular customers. From a customer perspective, this passion infiltrates the shop and creates a warm, inviting space.
So, what is the first thing you should try? I personally love the veggie bagel, all cookies and cupcakes. Other customer favourites include the chocolate espresso cupcake, chocolate chunk cookies, breakfast cookies, paleo lava cake, GFT sandwhich, the breakfast sandwich and their Americano. As for staff favourites? They love the cheese biscuits, cupcakes and dairy-free pumpkin pie. All sound great to me!
To stay updated on all happenings at Almond Butterfly and to see what is happening next (including lots of new delicious products) follow their Instagram and Facebook.
If you have not already, Almond Butterfly is a place you must try next time you are Out&About in Toronto.
-SG
Special thanks to Melody for the interview and all photos are curtesy of Almond Butterfly.