Dan Wahlen rails off a line of Cortados, Double Mochas, and Americano Mistos as his tiny shop rustles with the stir of Sunday morning. It’s 11:00 AM in Bloordale and there’s a line-up out the door. Dan’s sense of ease and calm keeps everyone in Wallace Espresso chipper as they wait their turn; he greets most customers by name and asks if they’ll be having their usual. How he keeps track of the doubles, the singles, the non-fat and the half-sweet while he cranks delicious beverages out of the Italian-made La Marzocco espresso machine is impressive. But what customers really appreciate is the personality Dan brings to what is, for many, one of the most important parts of the day: their morning coffee.
Dan was working as a west-side realtor when he came upon the crowded and heavily draped residential space at the charming intersection of Lansdowne and Wallace. “Even with the bed that took up the whole room, it’s huge potential was obvious,” he says. “I knew there was a big change happening in Bloordale, and I knew people needed a great neighbourhood spot for ethical coffee.”
And so, in February 2013, Wallace Espresso officially opened — with much less furnishing and a lot more natural light — but not before Dan did some major sussing out of the local coffee scene. “I did a lot of heavy research,” he says. “I basically visited every shop in the city to see what everyone else was doing, to check out machines, and just to pick people’s brains as far as what roasters they were using.”
