Café Rico (Long Live Indepedent Cafés!)

As a Mexican, I am instinctively drawn to anything Latin and even anything with a Spanish word in the title. I turn my head every time I hear my native language and I am definitely guilty of buying overpriced Mexican groceries (jalapeños, frijoles, tortillas, etc.) from those little depanneurs on St-Lawrence. (I am not complaining, though, as I would die without my jalapeños!...)

Thus, it didn't take me long to notice a small café called Café Rico, on Rachel street (corner of Boyer).

It's a place that feels warm and homey with its big windows, its small mismatched tables and chairs, its ceiling painted in different shades of orange, blue, yellow and red and the world (mostly Latin) rhythms on the stereo - an atmosphere equally appealing to students, book lovers, writers and groups of friends getting together for a cup of tisane or coffee.

Speaking of which, Café Rico offers a great variety of coffee imported from the finest fields in Latin America as well as Ethiopia, Turkey, Indonesia and Tanzania. All grains are certified "equitable", which makes Café Rico more appealing than your average "chain" coffee shop.

Café Rico is also an art exhibition room with expositions changing every month to showcase a new photographer or artist. The prints, focusing on the lives and the cultures of people of Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, India and other countries, are usually for sale.

Many organic and equitable products are also for sale at Café Rico, so you can buy your coffee in bulk and order an exotic mix from a different country, you can request it to be grinded according to your coffee maker. Also, you can buy teas and tisanes, honey, sugar, rice, cacao and other products...

The location of this café is definitely advantageous in that it's not overshadowed by larger cafés or shops. I have seen many people rush by the door only to backtrack a few seconds later to peek in. Obviously intrigued, they open the door and enter the charming space that somehow feels improvised (with many strange objects from old and new chairs and a few couches to the odd SUV seat all sharing it). And actually, sharing is almost inevitable here as when there are no free (small) tables, people sit down at one large communal table in the middle of the café.

Every time I have a new book in my hands (or my purse), I am drawn subconsciously towards Café Rico, despite the fact that I live in a neighbourhood dotted by many other trendy places. One always looks for inspiration in the place she finds the most charming.