Marché (181 Bay Street - Brookfield Place)

Marche (Movenpick) has always been known for their exciting and unique live market approach to food. After a stint being under the Richtree brand, the location at Brookfield Place has re-opened and in my opinion is better than ever in terms of amazing atmosphere. They've went overboard improving the whole space - it's really something to see and experience.

I used to go to their location at College Park (now a Richtree) for my morning coffee and berry muffin (fresh baked in store from scratch), so I thought I'd grab an espresso at the new flagship location.

Though a bit pricey ($3.29+ tx) for a double, the coffee was pretty tasty. I know that they are obsessive about their quality here, so they only use fair trade Arabica beans. The mini espresso cup was pretty unique too!

Since they have an in-house bakery directly across from the cafe this makes for a great visit as you can pick up a freshly made treat to go with your coffee. There are just too many delicious things to choose from!

Next time I'm going back for the food first :)

Crème (705 College St West - Little Italy)

Besides coffee, the second thing that I think Italians are known for is amazing gelato. Well, at Crème you can have both.

Naturally, they brew only Illy coffee here - the essential Italian quality brew that is known the world over for its wonderful flavour and chic reusable coffee tins. I really enjoy this coffee and I ordered a double espresso as usual :)

For the gelato, they have a diverse selection and I went with the Fiero Rocher flavour, which was really decadent and full of dark chocolate goodness - a great match for fine espresso. They have many favourites such as pistachio and lemon, along with many unique others - 20 flavours in all.

This is a great summer time place with a nice patio in the heart of Little Italy!