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Artisanale Cafe Bistro and Bakery
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
4 reviews for Artisanale Cafe Bistro and Bakery
4 reviews in English
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Review from Stephanie C.
Toronto, ON
9/2/2011 1 Check-in Here
Passing through Guelph, we were in need of a caffeine pick up and this restaurant was open. It's a lovely and cozy place, and the atmosphere was relaxed and inviting. It was quiet enough to come in to do some work or sit with friends over coffee.
We ordered an Americano which was good and strong, and between my friends and me, we shared a grilled veggie sandwich with goat's cheese and a perfectly-made lemon tart. We were told that all of ingredients are fresh and made with local products, and you can really taste it.
I'd love to return here during the evening and try some of the food because the menu looked great. -
Review from Minh S.
9/14/2011 1 Check-in Here
I had their lamb which was not very good. They have friendly staff but service is slow.
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Review from Catherine F.
Guelph, ON
9/20/2009 1 photo
Our first full day in Guelph! HG spent the day waiting for the phone company to turn our phone and internet on (the technician never came); I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to get everything else set up. Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's that freaked-out American, trying to leap tall administrative hurdles in a single bound! (And failing spectacularly.) I met the widest, most diverse array of customer non-service I've ever experienced. And given our very short timeline (and given how awful the move had been), this was putting me close to the panic line. We had less than a week before I started graduate school, we had no phone, no internet, no stuff, no idea when or how we were going to get our stuff, no way to contact the moving company, no means of contacting our families or creditors, businesses, banks, insurance companies or prospective employers... Exhausted, disheartened, and at the point where black humor kicks in as a survival mechanism (you either have to laugh or you'll start sobbing), I headed home for HG. Neither of us had eaten a thing all day. He was less grumpy with me once he realized I'd starved all day, too (I couldn't *call* him to let him know what was going on, as I waited in line after line, met with failure after failure). I wanted *good* food this evening, to salve my stinging soul. And thanks to a recommendation by our landlord, we found it.
Artisanale Bistro is attached to The Book Shelf, a lovely bookstore and art house movie theater (more on that later). It's also attached to The Green Room, an upstairs balcony bar (which I stared at all evening, the golden light filtering through the lush vines and winking conspiratorially on the glasses of the murmuring happy drinkers above me... must try this, soon!) When we entered, it was still in the pre-dinner-hour hush, and we were able to choose indoor or out -- on a glorious late-summer evening, why not choose out? The table I chose was right next to a great climbing vine, which, as it turned out, was home to an entertainingly feisty family of small birds -- they kept raining feathers down on us (we learned to move our glasses to the other side of the table).
Menu: marvelous. Fresh local ingredients, fully in support of the farm-to-table philosophy (which we completely espouse, ourselves); the meal showcased simple, elegant French-inspired cooking technique and presentation of the food, with perfect proportions (not indecently large, so we left the table sated, not stuffed). Local wines and beers to complement the meal? Yes, please! Alas, the wines I've tried so far in Ontario frequently have a harsh acidity to the finish that I do not like; I switched to drinking a Manhattan (I figured I'd earned it). Our efficient, informative, and personable waitress, Angie, was also our bartender; she made a magnificent Manhattan (despite the lack of Amarena cherry). Price was less than I would have paid for as lovely an evening in Portland. Including dessert, which was a buttery, hazelnut confection unlike anything I'd ever had before. Remarkable how a perfect dining experience can alter one's frame of mind -- after the meal, I wandered from Artisanale into The Bookshelf, happy and bemused, completely able to put my disastrous day behind me. -
Review from Liz B.
Markham, ON
11/16/2010
Love it. Artisanale is a quality spot you shouldn't overlook. The quality of food is high due to it's talented chefs and local ingredients. Their emphasis on sourcing locally and cooking according to the season adds an appreciated value to the meal that is hard to come by. Artisanale ; love it.
