Last Drop Cafe

"We have our moments. We are sisters after all," jokes Marie Rocha, who owns Last Drop Cafe with her sister Paula. “But we've been at this since 2008 so have learned how to complement one another. It's like the pieces of a puzzle fitting together." The homegrown philosophy at the core of the café ripples out into the way the sisters operate, from the businesses they choose to work with to the art hanging on the walls.

Goods and ingredients at the cozy neighbourhood café come from suppliers in the area. The muffin you have with your coffee is from a bakery down the road and the vegetables in your winter soup are sourced from around the corner. The same goes for the art on the walls and the live music that creates a party atmosphere, making friends of customers who were simply neighbours before.

There's a lot of down-to-earth sense behind Marie and Paula's preference to go local. The way they see it is they are a small business, so partnering with similar grassroots entrepreneurs in the neighbourhood is a good fit. "We like to support fellow small businesses because that way we grow together as a community," says Marie. "One local lady makes our cookies. Another makes special Argentinian pastries."