I recently had the pleasure to speak with Elie, one of the owners of Toronto’s newest cookie, tea and froyo bar, The Red Bench, located on Yonge, south of Bloor. The name, The Red Bench, was inspired by an actual red bench near co-owner (and Elie’s wife) Deena’s home in Paris, France. According to Elie, the red bench was used as a meeting place for people in the area to share stories with each other and to reflect. The decor of the location reflects this. The cozy space, with only 21 seats, the use of reclaimed wood, walls decorated with shipping pellets and a bare brick wall that is well over 100 years old, in addition to a vast tea menu, there is definitely a tranquility about the place.
Five different choices of dough, including one gluten-free (made with rice flour)
While the city has seen its share of frozen yogurt bars – self-serve places where there’s an abundance of flavours and toppings to choose from – there are very few places where you can get delicious cookies made to order. With five different doughs (“original” – basically chocolate chip without the chocolate chip, oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate and gluten-free) to choose from and numerous toppings on top of it, a package of five tiny cookies (two toppings) are ready within five or six minutes and have a slightly crispy, but mostly chewy taste. According to Elie, one will need to come every day for TWO YEARS in order to try every single cookie combination. And that’s if nothing changes or is added. The yogurt portion of The Red Bench, is, on the other hand, is self-serve, charge by weight – pretty standard. There are also sorbets for those who prefer something dairy-free.
The many different toppings!
Currently, the beverages menu includes teas and hot chocolates. Though there is some demand, coffee is not on the menu. The teas are organic, with a menu of black, green, herbals and roibois. Recently, tea lattes were added. Milks available include both cow’s milk and almond. As the weather grows warmer, ice teas will also be added to the menu.
Some of the lovely cookies on display!
The Red Bench is located on 611 Yonge Street. The space is also available for private event bookings.
