Urban Cafe-Profile Piece-Originally published in North of the City Magazine

Urban Café: A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name

By Neilia Sherman

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got. Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot. Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go Where everybody knows your name
And they’re always glad you came

Cheers ("Where Everybody Knows Your Name" by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo)
Remember these words from the theme song to the popular Sitcom Cheers? Part of the reason for the popularity of the show and this song is that we all want to have somewhere to go, where we can have a drink or bite and feel welcome and among friends.

There is such a place in York Region; you may have passed it as you drive by its Bayview and Highway 7 location and not even realized that it is there.
It is called the Urban Café and although it has been around for less than a year-it already came in at Number 4 of the top 10 coffee shops in the GTA, voted on through a survey by Toronto.com. It was the only York Region coffee shop to make the list, a remarkable achievement for such a new place.

The Urban Café is really much more than a coffee shop. It is a lunch hangout,
a bistro, and a night club that features live music and performers. It is an oasis for those who know about it. Because let’s face it, in a time when so many
many people have embraced the drive-through because of its quickness and
anonymity, we need places where we can connect with others in a relaxed atmosphere.

And that is exactly what you’ll experience at the Urban Café.

At the heart of this café’s success is Diana Harrop, the owner, who has inspired a fiercely loyal group of regular patrons.

Ms. Harrop spends a good portion of her days and nights serving customers at the counter, so she has her laptop and her phone nearby. She is everything to this place. Baker, chef, manager, public relations director, and talent scout. She has managed to locate talented York region performers and to put them on stage every Saturday night and sometimes more often. She is definitely a bundle of energy-and she leaps into an explanation of her upcoming charity fundraiser, Urban Music Fest, a day long event that will provide entertainment, a BBQ and a silent auction, with all of the proceeds going to Yellow Brick House.

While talking, she offers up amazingly delicious treats, such as her famous sugarless apple pie, her soya iced cappuccino, and her main dish of the day, pasta el forno, while also managing to personally greet and chat with at least 5 customers. The surprising thing is that she knows their names, how long it’s been since they were last in the place and their preferences. A woman who works next door comes in and mentions that her son is hungry and she asks for a coffee. Ms. Harrop
is worried and runs and gets him some plums from the back. She also gives the lady a coffee on the house. “ After all she’s my neighbour,” she says.

Her interest in providing healthy foods was sparked by the fact that her father is diabetic and she has learned how to make sugarless pie for him. Then she realized that people are concerned about sugar intake and health so she started to make it for the café. At less than 200 calories a piece, it is no wonder that the pie is a draw for customers. Harrop is dedicated to catering to her client’s special needs.
“ Low fat, low carb, sugar free…free range chickens, organic coffee”, she lists all of her specialties that you usually don’t find in a suburban coffee shop.

“ We also vary the food by changing the menu daily and everything is made on the premises " she adds.

The food may be healthy but it is also really tasty, according to all accounts. Regular customer, Lisa Bynoe, was drawn in by the sign advertising the sugarless apple pie,
which she tried and found to be great. Now she comes for lunch at least three times a month. “The food is eclectic and good,” she says. It is also a great retreat for lunch. As for her hostess, she says, ‘’ She is the real meaning of the word—Hospitable.”

Don Maitland and his wife, Marion, were two of the Urban Café’s first customers and have also become regular performers. He sees the place as different from your typical coffee shop experience. “It is a different place because of Diana. When you go for coffee and snacks you visit with Diana so there is a very personal, ‘dropping by to see a friend’ atmosphere.” Mr. Maitland also likes the fact that the venue is smoke free which means that young people can enjoy the food and the atmosphere and be exposed to live music. Young people are welcome to perform there as well.

There aren’t many places that offer venues for York Region artists to perform so many make the trek downtown, where they end up in smoke filled bars. As a place that primarily serves food and coffee, Harrop is able to serve liquor without being classified as a bar, therefore she offers a uniquely smoke-free place for both patrons and performers. She is glad that she has been able to create a place like this in York Region. “Why not have a little downtown uptown?” she says.

“ Diana is a little stick of dynamite. She is quick to smile which grows rapidly into a big grin when she sees you arrive,” says Mr. Maitland.

“She has worked very hard to get the café up and running and has had the support of her entire family…” he adds.

Ms. Harrop acknowledges that her mother helps out with a lot of the cooking, yet she still spends almost all of her waking moments at the Café. “My husband misses me,” she says.

It is important to her to make a success of this place as she believes that a
community needs gathering places. In her previous life, she was the director of a private vocational college. Through her travels, she realized that in every small town there always a place where locals went to socialize and listen to music. She set out to create such a place in her own community. “I want my customers to feel comfortable and forget for a little while their daily life challenges “, she says.
Even the needs of business people have been considered. The Urban Café is one of the few coffee shops to offer wireless Internet access-very appealing to computer users who like a change from home or the office.

The move into showcasing local talent happened naturally. Kevin Zarnett, a Richmond Hill singer/songwriter, walked into the Urban Café in August of 2002, soon after its opening and asked Ms.Harrop if she had considered having live music in her café. Her response was, ‘We were just talking about that.”

He came back to audition and ended up giving the first live Urban Café performance. Although he had extensive experience as a musician, Mr. Zarnett says “it is only in the last couple of years that I’ve been performing as a solo artist…gaining local exposure and a local audience was my main focus.” He found the experience to be rewarding. “In contrast to many music venues, the Urban Café is tasteful, elegant, and bright in its décor, and I have yet to talk with someone who hasn’t responded positively,” he says.

Soon, the Urban Café began to have Open Mike Nights. Tammi Geraci, a solo musical artist and composer, took on the role of host. “The Urban Café is unique in York Region because it is a home for the artists who reside here,” says Ms.Geraci.

Ms. Harrop would invite back the best of the lot to perform regularly. She has also made contacts through word of mouth and a newspaper article that discussed her interest in promoting local talent.

That is how Terri Elise and Stephane of the organization, Ritmik, came to perform at the Urban Café. They do interactive drum and percussion shows which have been very successful in this small venue. “We are …entertainers that use …hand drums and percussion instruments. The unique part of our concept is the interactive part of our shows where we involve the audience in the performance so that people become part of the band…it is an uplifting and healing experience but is also great fun.”

The café seems well suited to their unique type of performance. “The Urban Café is nice because it is casual and relaxed and we can meet good friends that come back regularly. It is the type of environment where you feel at home and welcomed.” they say. “The fact that offers a showcase for local talents … is the good thing about it. There is a great need for places like that; many people want to express their music but have no place to do it.”

Self expression, not necessarily fame and fortune but you never know. Several of the performers have made valuable contacts through this exposure. But the main thing is it brings together performer and audience. “No matter how diverse an artist you are there will always be a place for you on the stage at the Urban Café and a receptive and enthusiastic audience to share your art,”
Says Ms. Geraci.

And by the end of the evening, everybody will know your name.


Urban Café
8763 Bayview Ave,
Richmond Hill, ON
L4B 3V1
(905) 707-1311
urbancafe@bellnet.ca