Cake lab to replace beloved Kensington Market spice store
Members of a tight-knight downtown Toronto community came together earlier this year in support of a 42-year-old business that was at risk of shutting down.
That business was Reg Natural Food — a longstanding spice and snack store at 202 Baldwin Avenue. The community was Kensington Market — an eclectic, highly multicultural blend of small businesses that are disappearing one by one thanks to skyrocketing rent and property taxes.
Their efforts were unsuccessful — though $8,000 raised through a GoFundMe campaign will go into a retirement fund for the store's beloved 78-year-old owner Maria Sandu.
Marie and her husband, Alexandru, announced last month that it would be closing for good on June 15.
Sad as the loss may be, locals will be pleased to know that the space won't be taken over by an evil conglomerate.
DaanGo Cake Lab, known for its super cute character macarons and wild, next-level custom cakes, has confirmed that it will be opening a second location at 202 Baldwin Ave sometime in the near future (the shop is still under construction, according to staffers.)
The first location of DaanGo opened this past fall at Midland and McNicoll, but is clearly doing quite well thanks to the talents of its owner Christopher Siu — a finalist on Masterchef Canada Season 2 and pharmacist by trade.
Siu's meticulously-crafted "butter ganache"-filled macarons are delicious, but they're far from the only thing you should be excited for.
With the opening of his Kensington Market lab, Siu will also be bringing his own Asian-inspired pastries — think miso butter tarts and "zen cakes" (shortbread, sesame, crunchy rice puffs, white sesame cream, matcha gel, and black sesame cheesecake) — into downtown Toronto.
Buy in bulk if you get the chance, 'cause if the sheer volume of Instagram posts from DaanGo's first store is any indication, this place is going to be busy.
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