Cafe Rista

After working most of his life in the restaurant business, Simon Taylor knew he wanted to run his own place. In 2010, his dream became reality with the opening of Café Rista in the Grovenor neighbourhood of Edmonton. Even though he thought he was ready, nothing could prepare him for running a small business. “There was a pretty steep learning curve,” says Simon. “The big thing was learning how much of your own personal time you have to put into it. It’s not like you punch a clock and go home. It’s a 24/7/365 thing.”

Whether you just want to chat with friends over local artisan-roasted coffee, enjoy a bagel or breakfast wrap at the start of your day or grab a deli sandwich and homemade soup for lunch, Café Rista is designed to suit an eclectic range of customers. “Our attitude is that I own this place but in a way it’s not mine; it’s whatever the customers want it to be,” says Simon. “It’s hard to say this is what the café is because every person that comes in here contributes to what its definition is. It’s about them making the space theirs and using it for whatever purpose they want.”