This Toronto cafe does triple-duty as a bar and restaurant

One Toronto cafe is one of many pulling more triple shifts than the employees who work there, functioning as a bar, restaurant, and venue all in one.

They may look like the average cafe on the outside, but these businesses are now one-stop shops for everything from hanging out to eating to attending events, day and night, in Toronto.

“Vu was never conceived as simply a cafe, bar or studio,” Vu Cafe Studio CEO Mahwish Zeeshan tells yourcitywithIN. “It brings together things we genuinely love: hospitality, architecture, travel, food, art and bringing people together, all interpreted through one space in Toronto.”

Vu Cafe Studio is a new all-in-one hotspot that coffee and wine lovers alike have been flocking to for its unique atmosphere. During the day, Vu serves coffee and cafe fare; at night, it shifts to a focus on food, wine, and other drinks.

It’s not the only coffee shop working triple duty, shapeshifting from a cafe into a wine bar, restaurant, venue, and/or art gallery.

Osler Records is a newly opened cafe and bar that also serves small plates, functions as a venue, and, as the name suggests, operates as its own record company. New coffee shop Ratelier calls itself a “sensory bar,” also running perfume workshops in its space and putting on gallery shows.

For local small businesses in Toronto, this isn’t a strategy born out of desperation, but intentional creativity. It’s not about throwing random ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks, but rather gathering things that naturally belong together, like coffee, food, wine, art and music.

“We wanted to create a space that feels different depending on when you visit, but always feels like Vu,” says Zeeshan.

“Coffee in the morning. Breakfast and lunch during the day. Healthy shots when you need them. Cocktails and drinks at night. Art, music, design, food, and community throughout. The combination is the point.”

In fact, Zeeshan is seeing at Vu that the open-mindedness of the business concept allows patrons to be as imaginative as the operators, dreaming up their own uses for the multi-faceted space.

“We are already seeing people experience Vu in very different ways, and that’s one of the most interesting things for us. During the day, there’s the cafe side, people coming in for coffee and food, meeting friends and having conversations, but we are also seeing people intentionally choose Vu as somewhere to slow down. We have had guests come specifically to sit and finish a book,” says Zeeshan.

“Then there are uses of the space we hadn’t necessarily expected so early. Students from the University of Toronto’s architecture program have come in to study and research the space for their university projects. We’re receiving enquiries for photo shoots and private event hires organically, as well as from people interested in hosting art events and creative workshops here.”

Vu Cafe Studio is continuing to develop evening food and bar offerings while working on building more creative programming, collaborations, community gatherings and events, such as paint and sip evenings, crafting sessions, trivia nights, tote bag painting and art exhibitions.

“We’re beginning to see different communities finding their own reasons to use the space. That’s very much what we hoped would happen,” says Zeeshan.

“The interest we’re seeing in art events, workshops, photoshoots and private gatherings is helping us understand what Vu can become beyond its everyday cafe experience.”

Vu Cafe Studio can be found at 844 Dundas St. W., near Trinity Bellwoods.