I’ve been aching to try out Little Brick Cafe, tucked in among the pretty homes in the beautiful community of Riverdale, an almost secret community tucked in the bend of the North Saskatchewan river.

Today, we were heading downtown for the street party on 104th street, by got bamboozled off our trail by marathon festivities blocking our way. We turned the car around and were heading towards a Starbucks in Capilano as a consolation prize, when, as we were descending Rowland Road, I remembered at the last possible second about Little Brick Cafe, and did a speedy, but rather impressive right turn down 92 Street.

After a few, “go this way, no that way, no not there, down here’s”, we found it. There is plenty of street parking, and was pleased to see that Little Brick is aware of their impact to the neighbourhood and have put up signs asking people to keep some parking space clear for residents. This impresses me down to my toes.

Entering the gate I was immediately smitten with the large garden, with tables and chairs set up on the lawn. Reminded me of proper English pubs you see on Masterpiece Theatre where people take their pints outside and sit at tables on lawns, under trees.

The shop itself was nice and tidy. Our order was taken and we took our number and found ourselves a sunny table for two. Shortly thereafter our coffees, and a tomato ricotta tartine arrived.

The coffee was delicious, Michael’s cappuccino done in the perfect classical way, and the tartine was fresh and delicious. Our bill was $16.54.

As we always do, the question was, “would you come here again?”.  Michael wasn’t as smitten as me. He didn’t think he’d make it a destination place, but thought if he were wandering in the valley and came upon it, he certainly would. I on the other hand think its the perfect destination place! I can see meeting friends here for coffee regularly, and think how lucky the neighbourhood is to have such a delightful place right on their doorstep. I was also delighted to see people purchasing beer and wine, which gave it another impressive nod from me.

After coffee, we took a stroll through the neighbourhood. I fell in love with the community. We had some fun guessing the price of the homes, and after a MLS search, most of the homes are a bit out of our league. However, we did fall upon the Riverdale Cooperative Housing, and between the woman walking her cat on a leash, the Hippie Parking Only, All Others Will Be Stoned sign, abundant vegetation and the overall homey feel, we thought this might be a viable option for us.

Highly recommend Little Brick Cafe. It’s a treasure.