A Night Out at Creeds Coffee Shop

Last updated on April 26th, 2021 at 12:45 am

Be a content creator long enough and plenty starts blurring together. Events run the same way. The same routine of reviewing the products left at the doorstep. One thing that’s always put me off as a creative is too much routine, and that’s without a doubt how I feel about the blog at times after writing it for so long.

Which is why I’m over the moon when something not only surprises me but also leaves an impact on my world and the way I see things!

Some weeks back, I got an invite to a casual event at Creeds, an upscale coffee shop and dry cleaners up by Dupont and Spadina. I admittedly didn’t think much of it at first—I didn’t like coffee, and already had a well-established relationship with my local dry cleaner—but I figured why not; as a fashionable Dad it’s always good to know about what’s out there, and it’d be a good change of pace.

And you know what? It’s a good thing I did because that evening changed a few things about my world I thought I knew for sure.

Creeds—Because Coffee and Dry Cleaning Can Be Better Than You Think!

It was a low-key kind of night. Save some comments from Shai DeLuca-Tamasi and Creeds’ owner, Jonah Creed, on the reason we were there that evening and what Creeds offers to its clientele, the event gave us access to a few local businesses to get to know them better:

• LodinG, a premium menswear establishment offering clothing at a fair price and represented by Michael Alday, general manager of the First Canadian Place location
• Marlon Durrant of Md Bespoke who blew my mind with offerings like shirts with swappable cuffs and collars
• Province Apothecary, who offered natural facelifts that evening (though I was way too busy talking to get my groom on)
• And Naso Contadino, offering Italian wines we likely weren’t even aware of so we could experience what flavours there are across the Atlantic.

But our moments of clarity can come from the most interesting places—let me tell you three things that stuck with me from the evening I spent at Creeds!

Three Things I Took With Me From My Night at Creeds

1) I Don’t Hate Coffee! I’ve Just Never Had a Good One!

This completely changed the game for me. For decades I’ve thought coffee wasn’t my thing, but I think someone put it best on my last trip to Mexico:

“The only reason you don’t like coffee is because you’ve never had a good one.”

And I didn’t know how right he was.

What Creeds does differently is put science behind the way they brew coffee. As Jonah Creeds put it—how do you make artisanal bread and Wonderbread taste the same? You burn the hell out of them both!

And the same goes for coffee—the reason why I didn’t enjoy the brews from mainstream joints is that they burn their beans which makes coffee taste way more bitter. At Creeds, they weigh, taste and time their coffee to get the perfect brew, knowing that making the perfect cup is an artform and not some mechanical process.

And you know what? It makes a difference. I challenged the baristas to offer up a drink for someone who didn’t like coffee, and they killed it with a flat white! I remember once ordering one not knowing what it was and hating it, but this—this flat white had the coffee flavour so subtle that I couldn’t believe what I was drinking!

Guys. I like coffee! I just need to find the right spots.

2) Keep Talking to Everyone—You Never Know What Will Inspire You!

The MVP for the night for me was Mat—Creeds’ new barista who let me get deep with expressing my role as a father and relating my realisations in my journey to record it all for my kids to Robert Bly’s Iron John: A Book About Men which I’m now planning to read soon as I get a chance. I also learned a ton from Marlon Durrant, who taught me that “bespoke” wasn’t as simple as I thought—one should expect nothing less than something custom-built from the ground up if they’re investing in it! I chatted with people I’d lost touch with because life’s too busy, made great new connections… it was a great night for just being human, and I love doing that sometimes.

3) If I Don’t Tell the Father’s Story, Who Will?

As I looked at my peers and saw a lineup of male fashion bloggers all dressed in black as if in uniform, I realised I had a responsibility to hold it down for my fellow Dads. To show that we don’t somehow become irrelevant amongst men because we get a new calling in our lives. Too many people still believe the Dad to be this lesser character from years of typecasting, and the conversations I had showed me not only is there plenty of room to change that, people aplenty are also hungry for it. If I doubted it before, I’m sure about it now!

Let’s get it.

If You Don’t Know Creeds, Get to Know It—They’ve Got So Much to Offer!

Be a content creator long enough, and you start expecting more from your experiences. You can fly the highest heights and explore the lowest of lows with your access, but sometimes what you need is an experience that’ll help you grow personally, and that’s what I got from Creeds. It surprised me. It educated me. My evening there was one that’ll have some impacts in the future, and I think I’ll be a better me for it!

I hope you’re out there finding the things you need in your life!

All the best, and until the next, I remain,

Disclaimer: Creeds invited me to an event with coffee, canapés and an invitation to come back and sample some of their services, but this post wasn’t fabricated or even required. It’s what I felt inspired to write after an unexpected night out, and I wanted to share it with you.

‘Til the next!