Canada's insider blog

Whenever I’m in a new place, the first piece of advice I ask the locals for has to do with coffee.  Where do I get a great espresso and where do they go to drink their coffee of choice? In my opinion, coffee houses are indicative of that city’s social DNA.  Interesting characters and great thinkers have always appointed the coffee house as a place to congregate. 

So, it’s no surprise that many people here recommended for us to visit the Grind & Brew, a coffee shop that not only locals favour, but as we found out, hockey-stars, world leaders and Hollywood-types also like to visit.

From the outside, the dust coloured wooden house stands no taller than 6 feet, if that.  The door was ajar and the room was dimly lit.  No Starbucks jazz music playing here, but only the blurry sounds of the CBC entertain those wishing to sit down for a while.

The square-shaped room had kitsch:  The canary yellow paint on the walls added a nice accent to the  dozens of pieces of memorabilia on the shelves: hockey-jerseys, ground-coffee displayed in brown lunch bags, and foreign license plates. The most famous one?  The license plate from one of the cars that the motorcade used for the 1969 Inauguration of Richard Nixon.

(NOTE: It was sent to the owners, Brian Twerdin and Mayor Elisape Sheutipik, by someone who visited Iqaluit and heard about their passion for collecting license plates.)

Sipping a cup of Columbian, we got to chat with Brian and the former Minister of Education and Health, Ed Picco, who just happened to be there for some coffee.  He said that because many private jets and commercial transatlantic flights refuel in Iqaluit (the airport is also known as a “cold weather testing facility”), many famous people have a few hours to spend in town, so they go to the Grind & Brew. 

Who has been to the brew you ask?  How about Nelson Mandela, Madonna, JFK Jr., Jordin Tootoo, Rick Mercer, Salma Hayek and Sir Richard Branson, to name just a few.

As a locals-know recommendation, you can feel the heartbeat of the city in the Grind & Brew after talking to Brian and Ed.  Not only does the shop make delicious breakfast items, sells coffee and offers a place for locals to come together and discuss issues, Brian also makes a point to help the local youth get inspired: He buys signed hockey jerseys from Ebay, brings them into town and sells them to locals at an affordable price.  He says otherwise some people might never get the chance to buy one.  Now that’s something to talk about.

So what’s your favourite local “black-watering” hole? Any recommendations for us to grab a nice hot cup of coffee in Ottawa or Ontario?