Restaurants

Now Open: Novella Coffee Is Your New Fave Breakfast Spot

The team at Published and Bar Susu brings a new counter-service hangout spot to Main Street.

By Stacey McLachlan /

As someone with a just-starting-to-walk baby, I have a specific preference for cafes and restaurants that have cozy, can’t-bang-your-toddler-skull seating around low-slung coffee tables. Being able to plop down my spawn for a tear around the coffee table while I tuck into a bowl of savoury oatmeal? This is my small and realistic dream at this stage of my life—and with the addition of Novella Coffee to Main Street, that dream has easily been achieved.

The coziest spot is right in the window. Photo: Sarah Annand
Novella is intended to be a hang-around-all-day kinda place, so you’ll find both coffee and beer on the menu. Photo: Sarah Annand
The maroon door opens up to lead to a little shop next door, which will open in the near future. Photo: Sarah Annand

Of course, beyond the inadvertently baby-friendly seating, there’s lots and lots to like about this new coffee and breakfast bar, a new counter service addition from the folks who brought us the Restaurant Award-winning Bar Susu and Published on Main.

Did I eat a biscuit and exclaim “That’s a moist biscuit!”? Yes, and I’m sorry. But it’s true! The baked goods are phenomenal—croissants come from Butterboom, while the rest of the treats are baked in house—and the heartier fare easily impresses, too. With a menu crafted by Chef Ashley Kurtz and Executive Chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson, that’s no surprise. Order yourself the daily tartine (perhaps a thick slice of fresh toast covered in thin-sliced smoked salmon and a gorgeous green herb spread?); there’s also creamy, risotto-like steel-cut oats, topped with earthy mushrooms and a just-so poached egg, and a French omelette that can only be desired (so sorry again) as luscious.

The daily tartine. Photo: Sarah Annand
Pickled beet salad with “meadowsweet” tahini dressing. Photo: Sarah Annand
A selection of the breakfast menu at Novella, including the Turbo breakfast sandwich, French omelette and outrageous Butterboom croissant. Photo: Sarah Annand
The French omelette. Photo: Sarah Annand

Coffee beans come from House of Funk, but if you’re craving something a little stronger than an espresso, Novella’s wine and beer program will keep the hangout vibes going into happy hour. A soon-to-open mini-grocery next door will eventually serve up to-go items like fresh breads, house-made pantry staples, and a curated selection of cookbooks.

Unlike sister restaurants Bar Susu and Published, Novella is counter-service only. Photo: Sarah Annand

 

Steel-cut oats with wild and cultivated mushrooms—and a perfectly runny soft poached egg, of course. Photo: Sarah Annand

It just opened last week, but the lineups at the counter on our visit hint that it’s already a neighbourhood fave. Get their early to fuel up for the day—just please don’t take my seat. I need this.

Novella Coffee
2650 Main Street